It was a great Saturday night for Portland Trail Blazers center Enes Kanter of Edirne, Turkey. The 10-year NBA veteran broke the Trail Blazers franchise record for most rebounds in a game with 30 in a 118-103 Portland win over the Detroit Pistons at the Moda Center in Portland.
Kanter had 18 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive rebounds. He also was an impressive +19 for the Trail Blazers in their 15-point win.
The previous Trail Blazers record for most rebounds in a game was 27. That belonged to power forward Sidney Wicks of Los Angeles, California, who had 27 rebounds in a 117-116 Portland win over the Los Angeles Lakers on February 26, 1975.
To put what Kanter accomplished on Saturday needs to be put into further context, to understand the sensationalism of the statistic. According to ESPN, only three other players in the last two decades have had 30 rebounds in a game.
Kevin Love of Santa Monica, California, had 31 rebounds (and 31 points) for the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 11-103 win over the New York Knicks on November 12, 2010. Andrew Bynum of Plainsboro, New Jersey, had 30 rebounds for the Los Angeles Lakers in a 98-84 win over the San Antonio Spurs on April 11, 2012. Dwight Howard of Atlanta, Georgia had 30 rebounds (and 32 points) for the Charlotte Hornets in a 111-105 win over the Brooklyn Nets on March 21, 2018.
Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz had the second most rebounds in a game this season. He had 28 in a 131-119 Jazz loss to the Golden State Warriors on March 14.
The NBA record for most rebounds in a game belongs to Wilt Chamberlain, who had 55 rebounds for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 132-129 Warriors loss to the Boston Celtics on November 24, 1960. Chamberlain also has the NBA record for most points in a game with 100.
