A year ago today, Klay Thompson scored 37 points in the third quarter against the Kings. He set a new NBA record for points in a quarter.
**Thompson was perfect from the field in that quarter. He was 4-4 inside the arc and 9-9 outside the arc. He was also 2-2 from the free throw line.
He shot an effective field goal percentage of 135% and scored 2.85 points per shot attempt!
Thompson assisted on the only other field goal scored in the quarter by the Warriors.
**In NBA history, there have been approximately 93,300 games. That is approximately 373,300 quarters.
Unofficially, there have been 9 instances of a player recording a 30-point quarter.
That is 1 in 41,500.
While an NBA player has long odds to score 30 points in a quarter, other notable achievements have long odds as well, some easier to attain than others.
Chances of:
-Writing a best-selling novel (1 in 220)
-Winning an Oscar (1 in 11,500)
-Hitting a hole-in-one (1 in 12,500)
-Winning an Olympic gold medal (1 in 662,000)
-Being killed by an asteroid strike (1 in 700,000)
-Winning the most recent Powerball Jackpot (1 in 292 million)
Peter Newmann is an analyst and writer who spent 10 years at ESPN, 8 as the NBA senior researcher working 24/7 on the league. He wrote game notes for crews, articles for ESPN.com, analysis for studio shows, and regularly assisted reporters and writers. Follow him on Twitter, and check out his Web site, www.allball365.com.