They Found a Historic Way to Pass the Time

An eclectic group of NBA personalities sat in the bleachers of a 20-minute high school exhibition game in Syracuse, N.Y., 50 years ago today, observing the birth of the 24-second clock.

Danny Biasone, owner of the Syracuse Nationals and one of the NBA’s founders, had been lobbying for a shot clock and had planned a demonstration at the high school.

In the group he had invited to watch the game were the Nationals’ star player, Dolph Schayes; Boston Celtic Coach Red Auerbach; Madison Square Garden’s Ned Irish; Philadelphia Warrior Coach Eddie Gottlieb; and the Baltimore Bullets’ Clair Bee.

“There wasn’t really a clock,” Schayes, now 76, told Associated Press. “There was a guy on the sideline, keeping time with his watch and yelling out, ‘20, 10, 5, 4, 3 ... ‘ None of us at the time realized the significance of it. Arguably, it can be said it’s been the most important rule change in the history of the game.”

Trivia time: What was the lowest-scoring game in NBA history before the use of a shot clock, and what was the lowest-scoring game since then?

Desired effect: The 24-second shot clock made its NBA debut on Oct. 30, 1954, with the Rochester Royals defeating the Boston Celtics, 98-95.

According to NBA records, scoring jumped that first year from 79.5 points per game per team to 93.1.

Why 24: Biasone came up with 24 seconds. In a 1992 interview with Associated Press, he explained why.

At the time, an average of 120 shots were taken during a 48-minute NBA game. There are 2,880 seconds in 48 minutes, so Biasone divided 2,880 by 120 to come up with 24.

Space needed: Shaquille O’Neal is buying a $20-million, 19,000-square-foot home in Miami. Does anyone need a home that big?

Consider what Greg Cote of the Miami Herald wrote about the Heat’s plans to increase its arena seating capacity by 3,100: “And that’s just to accommodate the relatives on Shaq’s payroll.”

Looking back: On this day in 1996, Dare And Go, a 39-1 shot trained by Richard Mandella and ridden by Alex Solis, charged past favored Cigar to win the Pacific Classic at Del Mar by 3 1/2 lengths. The loss ruined Cigar’s bid to set a record of 17 consecutive victories. He wound up sharing the record of 16 with Citation.

Trivia answer: The Fort Wayne (Ind.) Pistons defeated the Minneapolis Lakers, 19-18, in 1950, outscoring the Lakers, 3-1, in the fourth quarter of the all-time low-scoring game. In the record-low game with a shot clock, Boston defeated the Milwaukee Hawks in 1955, 62-57. Second on the list is a 65-56 Charlotte Hornet victory over the Miami Heat in 2000.

And finally: Smarty Jones’ owners announced last week that their horse was being forced into retirement because of chronic bruising in his joints.

“I feel bad for Smarty Jones,” wrote Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune. “Seabiscuit’s book ran longer than he did.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.