Jeff Green just had one of (if not the) least efficient 29 point games in NBA history

Think this one went in?

Normally when a guy scores 29 points in an NBA game you'd consider it a fairly nice accomplishment.  However, Jeff Green's performance last night in Sacramento was anything but.  Green played 43 minutes, and made just 7 of 25 field goal attempts (28%).  He also went 2-9 on three-pointers (22%), and 13-18 from the free throw line (72%).  For comparison, if Green had managed to shoot at a 50-33-83 percent clip he would have scored 40.

Dating back to the 1985-86 season (as far back as basketball-reference.com keeps track), there were a total of 11 previous occasions where a player scored at least 29 points in an NBA game while shooting 28% or less (James Harden did it most recently last year, Allen Iverson pulled it off twice.  Dwyane Wade and Paul Pierce are on the list as well).

In order to score that many points despite such awful field goal percentages, many players made up for it at the free throw line.  In Harden's game he went 19-21, as did Pierce as well.  Wade made 18-20, and Richard Hamilton once scored 30 points in a game while going 5-18 from the field and 20-20 at the charity stripe.

Jeff Green's 72% foul shooting last night was lower than all 11 other performances on the list, making him the first NBA player in at least 28 years to score 29 or more points while shooting less than 30% from the field and below 75% from the free throw line.



Follow Mark Vandeusen on twitter @LucidSportsFan