Hoops Habit
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Top 15 Super Bowl Sunday Performances In NBA History

By Phil Watson

Feb 6, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; General view of the Blue Angels during a fly over at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 6, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; General view of the Blue Angels during a fly over at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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UNITED STATES – MAY 06: Basketball: ABA Championship, New York Nets Dr, J Julius Erving (32) in action, making dunk vs Denver Nuggets, Uniondale, NY 5/6/1976 (Photo by Manny Millan/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images) (SetNumber: X20494)
UNITED STATES – MAY 06: Basketball: ABA Championship, New York Nets Dr, J Julius Erving (32) in action, making dunk vs Denver Nuggets, Uniondale, NY 5/6/1976 (Photo by Manny Millan/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images) (SetNumber: X20494) /

1. Julius Erving, New York Nets vs. San Antonio Spurs (ABA), Jan. 18, 1976

The New York Nets were chasing the Denver Nuggets as the ABA wound down its final season, but the San Antonio Spurs were also in the mix when the teams collided at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island on Super Bowl Sunday in 1976.

Julius Erving saved the day for the Nets, hitting the 50-point mark for the fourth and final time as the ABA’s signature star. Erving wound up with 51 points in a 134-130 overtime win over the Spurs, who played without star George Gervin but got a combined 67 points from former Nets Billy Paultz (34) and Larry Kenon (33).

Erving wound up with his third straight ABA MVP award in 1975-76 (he would win the NBA honor in 1980-81, the only player to win the award in both leagues), leading the ABA with an average of 29.3 points per game to go with 11 rebounds, five assists, 2.5 steals and 1.9 blocks a night.

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New York won the ABA’s final title later that year, upsetting Denver in a six-game ABA Finals before joining the Nuggets, Spurs and Indiana Pacers in the NBA.