Exactly 43 years ago to the day — on October 21, 1977 — Pete Maravich and the New Orleans Jazz were welcomed to Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey, as the Nets played their first game in their new home as an NBA franchise.
Although the Nets put up a good fight, they couldn’t stop Maravich, who went off for 41 points in New Orleans’ 111-103 win. Al Skinner was New Jersey’s leading scorer with 28 points, while Bernard King posted a double-double (18 points and 12 rebounds) and Bubbles Hawkins scored 19 points off the bench.
The 1977-78 season was the Nets’ second season in the NBA, having made the transition with the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs from the ABA — after the then-New York franchise won two of the upstart league’s last three titles.
43 years ago today, the Nets took the floor in New Jersey as an NBA team for the first time 🙌 pic.twitter.com/PsZWM40gXh
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) October 21, 2020
The loss to the Jazz (full box score) was one of 58 in the 1977-78 season, in which the Nets would only muster 24 wins.