On This Day in Sports: March 23, 1979
On March 23, 1979, the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets completed the final 17 minutes 50 seconds of a game that had begun more than four months earlier. A successful protest required part of the November 8 contest to be replayed. In the interval, the teams made a trade, creating the only NBA box score in which three players officially appeared for both clubs in the same game.
The original dispute followed technical fouls assessed during the third quarter. The league upheld New Jersey’s protest and ordered play to resume from the point before the disputed sequence, with Philadelphia leading 84–81. On February 7, the teams traded Harvey Catchings, Ralph Simpson and cash to New Jersey for Eric Money and Al Skinner, so the resumed rosters reversed several of the names recorded earlier.
Catchings, Simpson and Money all took the court for their new teams during the replayed portion after appearing for their old teams in November. Skinner had been listed but did not play for both sides. Money produced the strangest line: he scored for New Jersey in the original portion and added points for Philadelphia when the game continued. The 76ers eventually won the official contest 123–117.
After finishing the suspended game, the teams rested and played their regularly scheduled matchup the same day, which Philadelphia also won. The episode required scorekeepers to merge action separated by a trade and an entire season’s worth of context. It remains a procedural curiosity that is almost impossible to repeat, illustrating how a correct officiating remedy can create a box score more confusing than the original error.
The teams replayed the final 17 minutes 50 seconds.
The original game had started on November 8, 1978.
A February trade moved four players between the clubs.
Catchings, Simpson and Money played for both sides officially.
Philadelphia won the completed game 123–117.
The teams then played another scheduled game the same day.
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