Has an NBA game ever ended 72-71?
Yes. NBA has seen a final score of 72-71 8 times. It first happened on January 21, 1947, when Toronto Huskies beat St. Louis Bombers, and most recently on April 17, 2004, when Los Angeles Lakers beat Houston Rockets.
That makes 72-71 the 1492nd most common final score out of 3,189 that have ever occurred in NBA. One point away, 73-71 has happened 8 times and 72-72 has happened never. At one point the score disappeared for 50 years, between 1953 and 2003.
Every 72-71 in NBA history
| Date | Result | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-04-17 | Los Angeles Lakers over Houston Rockets | 2003 | Playoff |
| 1954-03-01 | Ft. Wayne Zollner Pistons over Milwaukee Hawks | 1953 | |
| 1950-11-29 | Rochester Royals over Washington Capitols | 1950 | |
| 1950-11-15 | Minneapolis Lakers over Syracuse Nationals | 1950 | |
| 1950-02-16 | Minneapolis Lakers over St. Louis Bombers | 1949 | |
| 1948-12-11 | New York Knicks over Baltimore Bullets | 1948 | |
| 1947-03-06 | Chicago Stags over Pittsburgh Ironmen | 1946 | |
| 1947-01-21 | Toronto Huskies over St. Louis Bombers | 1946 |