A single game had produced two records, and they had come from two different teams. That was indeed extremely rare.
Twenty-two three-pointers in a playoff game, third-most in history. The Houston Rockets had pushed their "Moreyball Theory" to the absolute limit tonight.
Out of their 87 total shot attempts, an astonishing 49 had been three-point attempts!
Looking across the entire history of the league, few teams would dare shoot that many threes. Only the Rockets, obsessed with Moreyball, could pull off something like this.
Twenty-two made threes meant the Rockets had scored 66 points from beyond the arc alone.
That kind of three-point firepower was enough to put any team to shame.
Yet at that moment, the Rockets fans watching their team break a record could not feel happy at all.
Because their three-pointers had not brought them any closer to victory.
All because of Link's 40-point triple-double!
During the timeout, the entire FedExForum chanted "MVP" in unison.
The big screen also displayed the rankings for 40-point triple-doubles in NBA playoff history.
The list was not long, making it easy to take in at a glance. Since the NBA had begun officially recording statistics, only five players had ever posted a 40-point triple-double in the playoffs.
"The Flying Pig" Barkley and Westbrook were tied for third in history with one apiece.
James and another triple-double machine, Oscar Robertson, were tied for second with two apiece.
Link alone had become the only player in NBA history to record three 40-point triple-doubles on the playoff stage!
Even after breaking countless records already, Link had still managed to leave his name in the league record books.
Twenty or thirty years from now, when fans of that era opened the league's record book, they would be shocked to find—
Link's name practically formed a