Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/27/2012

For 2/22-26/12 sports fact & book recs, visit my LJ: http://apckrfan-2.livejournal.com/222211.html


2/272/1959:
The Celtics crush the Minneapolis Lakers, 173-139, at the Boston Garden. It is the highest-scoring game in NBA history up to this point. The previous record for a single team was 146 by the St. Louis Hawks in 1957. Bob Cousy records a record with 28 assists. Commissioner Maurice Podoloff is shocked when he hears the result, calling it "unbelievable" and launches an investigation to determine if defensive assignments were carried out or if the teams were "goofing off." The 173 points by the Celtics is still the record in a regulation 48-minute game. It will be tied by the Phoenix Suns in 1990. The overall record for points in a game will be set by the Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets in a three-overtime 186-184 contest in 1983, which the Pistons win. The 28 assists by Cousy will stand as the record until Kevin Porter amasses 29 for the New Jersey Nets in 1978.

Birthdays:
Raymond Berry b. 1933
John Davidson b. 1953
James Worthy b. 1961
Kent Desormeaux b. 1970
Duce Staley b. 1975

WHODUNIT

In the third book of this highly acclaimed series, Slovakian detective Jana Matinova is transferred to Europol headquarters in The Hague following the bombing death of her prosecutor boyfriend on the same day a young student is gunned down in a hotel. There, she teams up with the titular magician, uncle of the dead boy, and their sleuthing uncovers an international conspiracy. Written by a former consultant for the U.S. State Department, it should be the first stop on your tour of Eastern Europe.

THE MAGICIAN’S ACCOMPLICE, by Michael Genelin (Soho Crime, 2010)