March 2, 1963, is famously known in NBA history as the day Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points. On March 2, 2025, another unique statistical event occurred, adding to the league`s rich history.
A 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 the current season. This is what fans call a `scorigami.`
The recent surge in scoring across the NBA has led to final scores never before seen in the league`s nearly 80-year history. Hakob Chalikyan recognized this trend and wanted to ensure these unique statistical moments didn`t go unnoticed.
Inspired by the NFL scorigami concept, Chalikyan launched an NBA version in September. His website, scorigaminba.com, archives over 70,000 NBA scores, including those from the Basketball Association of America, which existed from 1946 to 1949 before merging to form the NBA.
The X account, NBA_Scorigami, posts daily scores, noting how often each result has occurred and when it last happened. Even teams like the Boston Celtics, Portland Trail Blazers, and Utah Jazz are among the account`s followers.
Chalikyan, 25, notes that achieving a new final score is more common in the NBA compared to the NFL. This made him curious if an NBA scorigami account would gain traction. With over 35,000 followers, it`s clear that fans appreciate these unusual score outcomes.
`It`s still interesting because you can observe how different eras produce different score types,` Chalikyan told ESPN. `In today`s high-scoring environment, we are seeing scores that have never happened before. I believe that`s what appeals to people.`
The term `scorigami` originated 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 created to describe the act and art of achieving a final score in a football game that is unprecedented,` Bois explained.
After Bois`s initial post, people began sharing unique scores with him on social media. In a 2021 SportsCenter feature, Bois mentioned to ESPN`s Mina Kimes that this is how the phenomenon grew.
Two years later, Bois created a video version, analyzing NFL score charts and highlighting the most unusual ones. In 2017, Dave Mattingly created a Twitter bot to automatically track and post these unique scores.
`I spent a weekend developing the algorithm and learning the Twitter API to automate the tweets,` Mattingly told Kimes. `I launched it, not expecting much attention.`
Eight years later, the account has nearly 500,000 followers, creating a community for fans who appreciate unique NFL scores. Andrew Merriman developed a companion website with a chart of every NFL score. The X account and website are independent of each other and Bois.
Merriman and Mattingly have communicated, with Mattingly assisting Merriman with code. Merriman acknowledges Bois`s video as the inspiration for his website.
`Discovering a new unique score in any sport is exciting,` Merriman told ESPN. `The NBA version is just as compelling.`
Chalikyan, familiar with NFL scorigami, wondered why an NBA equivalent didn`t exist. Despite prior attempts, Chalikyan believed he could create a comprehensive NBA scorigami resource.
He began collecting data on every NBA game about three years ago, but website development proved challenging.
The project was paused until Chalikyan`s technical skills improved.
`I set it aside for a few years,` Chalikyan said. `But last summer, before the season, I thought I could revisit the data and build the website. However, I realized I had lost all the data.`
Chalikyan had to restart the data collection process.
He wrote code to access NBA.com`s API – an application programming interface that facilitates data exchange between software applications – and systematically gathered scores year by year, team by team, storing them in a database. He described this `automated` process as taking three days.
With the data collected, he built the website. The X account followed, but he discovered someone else had launched a similar account shortly before.
`I created an account, and then saw someone else had created one a couple of weeks earlier,` he said. `They already had around 18,000 followers, which surprised me.`
Ethan Peterson had a similar idea, also inspired by NFL scorigami. He initially planned to manage the account manually but lacked the expertise to automate it.
Peterson announced the NBA scorigami X account launch on September 16, 2024. Ten days later, Chalikyan contacted him, proposing collaboration and showcasing his automated system.
`Hakob messaged me about collaborating, mentioning his bot,` Peterson told ESPN. `Given my account`s initial following, partnering to use his bot seemed ideal.`
Peterson recognized the value of Chalikyan`s coding expertise, saying, `I could help him showcase his code through this already popular account.`
Chalikyan manages the `back end,` including the database and automated posting. Using the X API, his bot automatically tweets game results within five minutes of completion.
`The bot accesses my database and checks score history to determine if a score is unique and posts accordingly,` he explained.
Despite automation, occasional errors occur, like the bot posting a Rising Stars game score. `That was unexpected, but we corrected it,` Chalikyan mentioned.
Chalikyan and Peterson manually verify scores to ensure accuracy. The bot, database, and website are synchronized for daily updates.
The NBA scorigami website initially appears as a dense collection of data. Colored dots represent scores, filterable by year to observe scoring trends.
While era-based patterns are subtle, Chalikyan noticed a trend in scorigami frequency.
`There’s a mid-era period with high scoring,` he noted. `Some recent scorigamis echo high scores from the 1980s, often from fast-paced offenses. However, many current scorigamis are driven by today`s exceptionally high-scoring offenses.`
Pace, or possessions per 48 minutes, is crucial. Higher pace correlates with more points. Many unique high scores are linked to pace.
Ten of the highest pace seasons occurred before 1986-87, with 1973-74 leading at 107.8. The highest this century is 2019-20 at 100.3, ranking 16th overall.
Only one of the five NBA scorigamis involving a 170+ point team happened this century: a 176-175 Kings win over the Clippers in 2023. The Pacers nearly reached this with a 162-109 win over the Wizards recently, another scorigami.
Pace indirectly influences scorigamis by expanding the scoring possibilities. On March 30, two games resulted in new final scores, the first such double scorigami day since April 14, 2024.
Scorigamis vary widely.
The highest is a 1983 triple-overtime game: Pistons 186, Nuggets 184. The lowest was in 1950: Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 19, Minneapolis Lakers 18.
Scorigamis add a layer of intrigue to seemingly ordinary final scores. Chalikyan`s work provides a tool to identify these unique scores, adding a new dimension to NBA history.
Consider March 2, 1963.
Wilt`s 100-point game final score? 169-147. A scorigami.
