Setting a franchise record in any statistical category in the NBA is no doubt something to be celebrated. But when you do it in an area that’s traditionally dominated by big men, for a franchise that’s had two of the greatest frontcourt players of this era, it’s even more impressive.
Allow me to introduce you to Nikola Vucevic, who scored a career-high 20 points and pulled down a franchise record 29 rebounds for the Orlando Magic in their overtime loss to the Heat on Monday.
You can see how active Vucevic was in the clip above -- granted, the Heat aren’t exactly known for their dominant presence inside, and opposing team’s bigs regularly go to town on this season’s version of the defending champs.
But 29 rebounds is a [bucket] load, and in fact, that number has been matched or exceeded only twice in a game since the 1985-86 season.
Kevin Love hauled in 31 rebounds against the Knicks back in 2010, and Kevin Willis equaled the 29 back in 1991. That’s it; no one else besides these two has achieved the feat at any time in the last 27 years.
Add all that to the fact we’re talking about a team that had several seasons of two of the most dominant big men we’ve seen in the past couple of decades in Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard, and you’ve got something really special.
That’s what Vucevic was on this night, shattering the Orlando franchise record of 28 set by O’Neal back in 1993.