What was Unique on Opening Day of NBA Season?

You could be surprised how often unique stat-lines occur in the NBA and it’s a series designed to celebrate that fact. The rules are simple: it has to be something that happened less than 26 times during last 26 regular seasons [for a total of 58.686 team’s boxscores]. Incidentally it’s a tribute to Basketball-Reference.com for great tools and an emphasis how badly underused is enormous database owned by Elias Sports Bureau.

NBA games are back!
Which means Casually Unique series can not only live again thanks to new batch of numbers every day but it can also thrive from constant stream of sneaky uniqueness.

There will be some changes to the format though, I’ll post it only once per week [Sunday or Monday] with some kind of “best of the week” theme and the rest unique stat-lines I’ll just tweet @Exploring_NBA.
Also I’ll try to include more rare individual accomplishments and personal gems.

But back to the point…
What was Unique on the Opening Day of 2011/12 NBA Season?

Rajon Rondo reminded everyone why he shouldn’t be traded cheaply

He finished with 31 Points, 13 Assists and 5 Steals which happened only 16 times in the last 25 years.
Unsurprisingly Doc Rivers really liked that performance…

“This is the Rondo we want,” Rivers said after the game. “This is what we talked about last year. Getting to the free-throw line. Taking the shots when they’re open. I thought he was the aggressor in the game. I don’t know if [he] can do that every night, but overall, that’s the Rondo that we want. It was terrific.”

Shouldn’t they like Rondo also in the offseason? ;-)

Tyson Chandler had a really weird debut for NY Knicks

His stat line of 3 Rebounds and 6 Blocks in 36 Minutes Played has only been matched 8 times.
It was also his career low for rebounds in games in which he played so many minutes!
But hey, they won a game so clearly it means he is a winner ;-)

Mario Chalmers contributed to Heat’s convincing win in a sneaky way

He had 4 Steals, 4 Assists and only 1 Field Goal Attempt which happened only 14 times since 1985-86.
Interestingly only 3 of those games were losses so such small contribution shouldn’t be overlooked?

Ryan Anderson shined in extended minutes

Finally unleashed! He collected 25 Points, 10 Rebounds, 2 Steals, 6 3-Pt Field Goals and made all of his Free Throws which happened only 11 times in available database. He was also the youngest of the aforementioned group which is just another remainder that Glen Davis’ contract can’t be a good move…

Even though Thunder started very well their quest for championship…

Kevin Durant had a career-low in one category

He shot 6/11 from the free throw line which became his worst percentage with so many attempts.
For a career 88% shooter that was an unique way to start a season, no?

Fans watching this game witnessed another shooting extreme… but surprisingly Redick’s stat-line of zero field goals made and a perfect accuracy from the free throw line on 8 attempts wasn’t as unique as you might have expected: it happened 38 times in the last 26 RS with maximum of 15 points scored that way.

Finally…

The most unique stat-line of the opening day… DeAndre Jordan delivered greatness on one end of the court and the opposite on the other end

He blocked 8 shots… and hit below 35% of his 12 free throws… which never happened in used timeframe!
Congratulations!
Judging by his career statistics – FT=41,2% and 2,4 blocks per 36 minutes we could see it again soon ;-)