Undated photograph of George Mikan
The slow-paced game was epitomized by George Mikan, pictured above. Mikan was the 6’ 10” forward for the Minneapolis Lakers, and dominated the game. He was a big man who liked to play in "the post," the space right below the basket. Mikan was lumbering and a bit slow, but if he got the ball in the post, he was going to score. The Lakers would take ages setting up to get Mikan the ball, which brought the game nearly to a standstill.
Other teams' offense was also slow. If a team managed to get ahead of the Lakers, they would slow the game down, playing keep-away. They knew that if they scored, the Lakers would get possession of the ball, and Mikan would inevitably score. In one of these games of attrition, the Fort Wayne Pistons beat Mikan’s Lakers 19-18. That’s a total of 37 points. Today, thanks to the 24-second rule, the average NBA game has about 224 points per game.