March 2, 1963, is famous in NBA history for Wilt Chamberlain`s 100-point game. On March 2, 2025, another unique statistic joined this legendary record.
The game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs concluded with a score of 146-132. This marked the 3,159th unique final score in NBA history, and the 14th of this season. This is known as a `scorigami.`
Increased scoring in the NBA recently has led to point totals never before seen in the league`s almost 80-year history. Hakob Chalikyan decided to ensure these interesting facts are noticed.
Inspired by the NFL scorigami tracker, Chalikyan launched an NBA version in September. His site, scorigaminba.com, stores over 70,000 NBA scores, including those from the Basketball Association of America, which existed from 1946 to 1949 before merging into the NBA.
The X account, NBA_Scorigami, posts daily scores, noting how often each score has occurred and when it last happened. Teams like the Boston Celtics, Portland Trail Blazers, and Utah Jazz follow the account.
Chalikyan, 25, believes unique final scores happen more often in the NBA than the NFL (which has 1,091). This made him curious if an NBA version would be popular. With over 35,000 followers, it`s clear fans enjoy these unusual score outcomes.
`It`s still interesting because you can see how different eras have different score types,` Chalikyan told ESPN. `In today`s high-scoring era, we`re seeing unprecedented scores. I think that`s still fun, and it`s what people enjoy.`
The concept of scorigami began in the mid-2010s. Jon Bois from SB Nation`s Secret Base introduced the term in his `Chart Party` series in September 2014, initially spelling it `scoragami`.
`Scoragami is a term I invented for a final football score that has never happened before,` Bois explained.
Bois, who didn`t respond to interview requests, told ESPN`s Mina Kimes in a 2021 SportsCenter segment that after his post, people began sharing unusual scores with him on social media.
Two years after his article, he created a video analyzing NFL scores and highlighting the most unique. Dave Mattingly then created a Twitter account in 2017 with a bot to track all scores.
`I spent a weekend building the algorithm and learning Twitter`s backend to post tweets,` he told Kimes. `I launched it thinking no one would notice.`
Eight years later, the account has nearly 500,000 followers, creating a community for fans of unique NFL scores. Andrew Merriman developed a related website with a chart of every NFL score. The X account and website are separate from Bois.
Merriman and Mattingly have communicated, with Mattingly helping Merriman with code. Merriman hasn`t spoken to Bois but credits Bois`s video as the inspiration for his website.
`Getting a new unique score in any sport is really cool,` Merriman told ESPN. `The NBA version is just as interesting.`
Chalikyan knew about NFL scorigami and wondered why there wasn`t an NBA version. While others had tried, Chalikyan felt he could do it properly.
He started collecting data on every NBA game about three years ago. However, he lacked the skills to build and launch a website.
The scorigami project was paused until he had more time.
`I stopped working on it for a few years,` Chalikyan said. `But last summer, before the season, I thought, “I`m better with this technology now, I can use the data to make a website.” But then I realized I lost all the data.`
Chalikyan had to restart from scratch.
He wrote code to access NBA.com`s API – an interface allowing software to exchange data – to collect scores year by year, team by team, and store them in a database. Chalikyan described this `automated` process as taking three days.
After gathering data, he built the website.
The X account followed, but someone else had already created one.
`I made an account and saw someone else had created one a few weeks earlier with about 18,000 followers. I was surprised,` he said.
Ethan Peterson had a similar idea. Inspired by the NFL account, he also wanted to create an NBA version. He initially planned to manage it manually before automating it, which he lacked the experience for.
Peterson announced the NBA scorigami X account launch on September 16, 2024. Ten days later, Chalikyan contacted him, sharing his similar project.
`Hakob messaged me about collaborating, saying he had also created one,` Peterson told ESPN. `I thought it was great to use his bot to post on the account I had announced.`
When Chalikyan reached out, Peterson thought, `I can help him showcase his code, since this account already has many followers.`
Chalikyan handles `the backend` – the coding for the database and automated posting. X`s API allows Chalikyan`s bot to automatically post results within five minutes of a game ending.
`My database allows the bot to check how often a score has occurred and tweet if it`s new or how many times it`s happened,` he explained.
Mistakes happen, like when the bot posted a Rising Stars game score during All-Star Weekend. `That surprised me, but we fixed it,` Chalikyan said.
Chalikyan and Peterson double-check scores and correct errors manually. The bot, database, and website are synced, updating daily.
The NBA scorigami website can initially seem like a lot of data. Colored dots represent scores, filterable by year to see scoring changes.
While era-based trends are hard to pinpoint, Chalikyan has noticed a pattern in scorigamis per season.
`There`s a period where scoring was also high,` he noted. `Sometimes scorigamis and high scores happened once or twice before in 1980 due to fast-paced offenses. But many scorigamis this year are from offenses becoming so good and scoring more.`
Pace, possessions per 48 minutes, is key. More possessions mean more points. High unique scores often link to pace.
Ten highest pace seasons were pre-1986-87, with 1973-74 leading at 107.8. The highest this century is 2019-20 at 100.3, 16th overall.
Only one of five NBA scorigamis with a 170+ point team happened this century: a 176-175 Kings win over the Clippers in 2023. The Pacers nearly hit 170, beating the Wizards 162-109 last month for another scorigami.
Pace trends don`t directly cause unique scores, but they increase the possibility. On March 30, two games had new final scores, the first time since April 14, 2024.
Scorigamis vary greatly.
The highest is a 1983 triple-overtime game: Pistons 186-184 Nuggets. The lowest is a 1950 game: Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 19-18 Minneapolis Lakers.
Scorigamis add interest to seemingly ordinary scores, though they can be hard to spot at first. Chalikyan`s work helps find these scores, a new aspect of NBA history.
Consider March 2, 1963.
Wilt`s 100-point game final score? 169-147. A scorigami.