Editing Shot clock (section)

===Background===
[[File:GeorgeMikan.jpg|thumb|Stall tactics to limit big man [[George Mikan]] (#99) led to the shot clock's creation by the NBA.]]
The NBA had problems attracting fans (and positive media coverage) before the shot clock's inception.<ref name="Pluto">{{Cite book |last=Pluto |first=Terry |year=1992 |title=Tall Tales: The Glory Years of the NBA, in the Words of the Men Who Played, Coached, and Built Pro Basketball}}</ref>{{rp|23–31}} Teams in the lead were [[running out the clock]], passing the ball incessantly. The trailing team could do nothing but commit fouls to recover possession following the free throw. Frequent low-scoring games with many fouls bored fans. The most extreme case occurred on November 22, 1950, when the [[Fort Wayne Pistons]] defeated the [[Minneapolis Lakers]] by a record-low score of 19–18, including 3–1 in the fourth quarter.<ref name="nbahistory">[http://www.nba.com/analysis/00422949.html "History of the Shot Clock"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424231859/http://www.nba.com/analysis/00422949.html|date=April 24, 2012}} NBA.</ref> The Pistons held the ball for minutes at a time without shooting (they attempted 13 shots for the game) to limit the impact of the Lakers' dominant [[George Mikan]]. It led the ''[[St. Paul Dispatch]]'' to write, "[The Pistons] gave pro basketball a great black eye."<ref name=Pomerantz>{{cite book |last=Pomerantz |first=Gary M. |year=2005 |title=Wilt, 1962: The Night of 100 Points and the Dawn of a New Era |location=New York |publisher=Crown |isbn=1-4000-5160-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/wilt1962nightof00pome }}</ref>{{rp|31–2}} NBA President [[Maurice Podoloff]] said, "In our game, with the number of stars we have, we of necessity run up big scores."<ref name=Pomerantz />{{rp|33}} A few weeks after the Pistons/Lakers game, the [[Rochester Royals]] and [[Indianapolis Olympians]] played a six-overtime game with only one shot in each overtime: in each overtime period, the team that had the ball first held it for the entirety of the period before attempting a last-second shot. The NBA tried several rule changes in the early 1950s to speed up the game and reduce fouls before eventually adopting the shot clock.