ABSTRACT:

It was his only game at the Garden, but for Johnny Mathis., it helped seal the end of a potential NBA career. Having to guard Earl Monroe will do that to you.

After playing with the ABA’s New Jersey Americans in 1967-68, the 6-foot-8 Mathis was trying to make the Detroit Pistons the following season. Before the final cuts, the Pistons played and exhibition game at the Garden against the Baltimore Bullets.