What Happened in Sports: April 15, 2022

2019: Los Angeles Clippers completed the largest comeback (31 PTS) in NBA postseason history when they surprisingly defeated the reigning 2x Champions Golden State Warriors in the Bay during Game 2 of the 1st round to tie the series 1-1

2019: Chicago Cubs SP Yu Darvish somehow took out the batter, Catcher, and umpire behind the plate with a 99 MPH fastball that was dubbed a “triple kill”  

2015: Toronto Blue Jays OF Kevin Pillar made an all-time spectacular catch by climbing the 10-foot wall in left field to rob Tampa Bay Rays SS Tim Beckham of a HR at the Rogers Centre

2015: Miami Marlins OF Giancarlo Stanton surpassed Dan Uggla for the most HR (154) in franchise history. Stanton would extend his record to 267 HR until being traded to the Yankees in 2017

2008: Defeating the New Jersey Nets to finish at 66-16, the “Big 3” Boston Celtics completed the greatest single-season turnaround in NBA history with 42 more wins than the previous season

2007: During the Dallas Mavericks’ victory over the San Antonio Spurs, referee Joey Crawford infamously ejected Spurs PF Tim Duncan while he was sitting on the bench; Crawford would be suspended by the NBA just a few days later for improper conduct

2006: Chicago White Sox 2B Tadahito Iguchi made an unbelievable off-balance throw to 1B to get the out and preserve the 4-2 lead in the 9th inning

1997: On the 50th anniversary of his historic debut, MLB officially retired the #42 jersey for all teams in honor of former Brooklyn Dodgers 2B Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier

1991: Los Angeles Lakers PG Magic Johnson passed Oscar Robertson to become the NBA’s all-time assist leader as Magic recorded 19 AST in a win over the Dallas Mavericks bringing his career total to 9,898. Magic has since been surpassed by John Stockton, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, and Mark Jackson

1984: San Antonio Spurs PG John Lucas recorded 14 AST in the 2nd QTR of a victory over the Denver Nuggets, setting an NBA record for a single quarter that has never been surpassed to this day

1968: 3 records were set in the Houston Astros’ 1-0, 24-inning victory over the New York Mets as the longest NL game played to completion, longest MLB night game, longest scoreless game (6:06)

1965: In a game defined by “Havlicek stole the ball!”, the Boston Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in NBA East Finals Game 7 during Wilt Chamberlain‘s 1st year with PHI to advance to the NBA Finals where BOS won their 7th of 8 straight Championships

1947: Brooklyn Dodgers 2B Jackie Robinson officially broke baseball’s color barrier, becoming the very 1st African-American to play in an official MLB game as he went on to win the inaugural Rookie of the Year award which is now named after him