A history of Knickerbocker Leap Day games

It’s February 29 and tonight the New York Knicks will host the Golden State Warriors in a leap day game. Per Wikipedia:

February 29 is a leap day (or “leap year day”)—an intercalary date added periodically to create leap years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the 60th day of a leap year in both Julian and Gregorian calendars, and 306 days remain until the end of the leap year. It is the last day of February in leap years, with the exception of 1712 in Sweden.

Weird. Anyway, over the years the Knicks have played nine games on February 29 and hold a 4-5 record. For your pleasure, a game-by-game summary follows.

February 29, 1964: The Knicks took a beating from the San Francisco Warriors, 136-110. Wilt Chamberlain (pretty good leaper) scored 37 points, 28 rebounds, and seven assists for the Warriors (in 46 minutes). Bill McGill led the Knicks with 28 points in 22 minutes.

February 29, 1968: The St. Louis Hawks beat New York, 105-102. The Captain Willis Reed (another excellent leaper) scored 28 points and 19 rebounds and played 49 minutes in the overtime loss. For the Hawks, Bill Bridges scored 22 points and grabbed 22 boards in 43 minutes, and Lenny Wilkens added 16 points.

February 29, 1972: The New York Knicks lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, 114-111. Wilt the Stilt was at it again, this time with the Lakers. He logged 20 points and 19 rebounds in 46 minutes. The stars played Thibodeau minutes back in the day! Jerry West contributed 32 points for L.A. For New York, Jerry Lucas recorded 32 points and 10 rebounds, Dick Barnett added 20, and Bill Bradley scored 19.

February 29, 1984: New York defeated the Boston Celtics, 102 to 98. Always love when that happens. The Knicks held the Celts to 14 fourth-quarter points and were led by Bernard King with 35 points and nine boards. Rory Sparrow added 17 points. For Beantown, Larry Bird scored a double-double with 30 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists and Kevin McHale recorded 24 with the bench squad.

February 29, 1992: New York schooled the Minnesota Timberwolves, 103-87. For New York, Patrick Ewing (my personal favorite leaper) scored 19 points and snagged 11 rebounds for the Knicks, and X-Man Xavier McDaniel logged a 12-point, 13-board double-double. Off the bench, Tony Campbell scored 20 points for the T’Wolves.

February 29, 2004: The Denver Nuggets defeated the Knicks, 107-96. Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points for the Nugs, while shooting 3-of-3 from deep and 6-of-6 at the foul line. For the Knicks, Kurt Thomas had an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double. Stephon Marbury managed five points in 32 minutes. Starbury!

February 29, 2008: The Atlanta Hawks beat the Knicks, 99-93. Rookie Al Horford scored 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Birds, and Josh Smith led them with 25 points and nine boards. For New York, Zach Randolph recorded 29 points and 17 rebounds in 45 minutes, and Jamal Crawford scored 21 in his 41 minutes.

February 29, 2012: The Knicks won against the Cleveland Cavaliers, 120-103. For New York, Melo scored 22 and Tyson Chandler (not a bad leaper) had a 13-point, 15-board double-double. Steve Novak notably contributed 17 points off the bench, aiding the Knicks in rallying back from a 17-point deficit. New York outscored the Cavaliers 71-42 in the second half, and Jeremy Lin added 19 points and 13 assists in the victory. For Cleveland, Antawn Jamison had a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds. Kyrie Irving added 22.

February 29, 2020: New York beat the Chicago Bulls, 125-115. For New York, sophomore reserve center Mitchell Robinson (another favorite leaper) led the team with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and three stocks. Julius Randle scored a 22-10 double-double and was a +17, while Elfrid Payton dropped a whopping three points in 33 minutes. For Chicago, Zach LaVine scored 26 points and dished seven dimes, and Coby White made four of eight three-point attempts to rack up 22 points.

Did you attend any of those games? If so, share about it in the comments. And let’s even up your Leap Day record tonight, Knickerbockers!