There's no question that scoring plays a huge role in the NBA or basketball in general. It's the most direct way of winning a game. But while NBA teams today are capable of finishing way past the century mark in regulation, that wasn't always the case. For this piece, let's take a look at the 10 lowest scoring point total by a NBA team.

10. Boston Celtics – 44 (12/8/1946)

It's crazy to think that the Boston Celtics once registered only 44 points in a single game, making only 18 field goals. Moreover, the Celtics were outlasted by the New York Knicks by 18 points, thanks to a poor five-point fourth-quarter performance.

Wyndol Gray and Al Brightman paced the Celtics with 13 and 11, respectively. It was the second-lowest output for the Celtics in franchise history.

9. Cleveland Rebels – 44 (12/19/1946)

Another team that scored only 44 points were the Cleveland Rebels, as they were outlasted by the Philadelphia Warriors' 58. The Rebels only had one player who finished in double figures, which turned out to be Frankie Baumholtz, who finished with 11 points on four field-goal conversions and making all three of his free-throw attempts.

8. Boston Celtics – 43 (1/21/1947)

Roughly a year after they only scored 44 points, the Celtics broke the franchise record for the lowest output by only tallying 43 in a game against the Philadelphia Warriors. In the 16-point loss, the Celtics only converted 15 field goals and 13 free throws. Only Johnny Simmons finished in double digits with 10.

7. Pittsburgh Ironmen – 43 (1/23/1947)

In a tight, low-scoring affair, the Celtics beat the Pittsburgh Ironmen, 48-43. In the game, the Ironmen struggled in the fourth quarter by only coming up with eight points. Coulby Gunther and Stan Noszka paced the Ironmen with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

6. Pittsburgh Ironmen – 40 (11/30/1946)

If you think 43 points was low, the Ironmen actually posted a lower output prior to that game. Against the Washington Capitals, the Ironmen fell short with the score of 49-40. In fact, the team only made 13 field goals.

Moreover, the Ironmen also struggled with their free-throw shooting. They only made 14 out of 25 free-throw attempts for a lowly 56%. The team also failed to get a double-digit performance from any of its players. Michael Bytzura led the Ironmen with nine points.

5. Toronto Huskies – 40 (3/23/1947)

In a game against the St. Louis Bombers, the Toronto Huskies struggled mightily. They only shot 18% out of 83 attempts. Moreover, they also struggled at the charity stripe, with the Huskies going 10-of-18.

With poor second- and third-quarter performances, the Bombers took advantage and came away with a 20-point win. The Huskies were led by Mike McCarron, who had 14 points while shooting 40% from the free-throw line. The only other player to finish in double figures was Red Wallace, who scored 11 points but on 4-of-18 shooting from the field overall.

4. Washington Capitols – 38 (11/16/1947)

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In a low-scoring affair from the start, which saw the scoreboard tally 9-5 at the end of the first quarter, the Celtics gained enough steam to pull away with a 47-38 victory. Although the Washington Capitols shot better from the free-throw line, they only made 14 field goals to the Celtics' 18.

In addition to this, while Fred Solari led his team with 17 points, he received little to no help from his teammates with no one else finishing in double figures.

3. Detroit Falcons – 33 (11/2/1946)

It's hard to believe that a team is capable of registering only a maximum of 10 points in a quarter in a game. However, that's what happened to the Detroit Falcons, who managed to score nine, 10, 10, and four in the first, second, third, and fourth quarters respectively.

Overall, the Falcons only made 10 field goals in the entire contest. Given the low-scoring output, it isn't surprising that not a single Falcons player finished with at least 10 points. Stan Miasek led his team with nine points.

2. Fort Wayne Pistons – 19 (11/22/1950)

Although low-scoring outputs don't often lead to wins, it was different for the Fort Wayne Pistons, who only scored 19 points in the entire game. In an era when the 24-second shot clock had yet to be imposed, the Pistons took advantage by stalling the game.

Six out of eight Pistons players scored in the game. John Oldham led all Pistons scorers with five. However, it was Larry Foust's lone field goal in the final seconds that led the team to a one-point victory.

1. Minneapolis Lakers – 18 (11/22/1950)

In the same game that saw the Pistons stall the game, the Minneapolis Lakers set the record for the lowest-scoring output by a NBA team. In fact, Hall of Famer George Mikan made 15 of the team's total output.

Unfortunately, the team barely had any touches with the Pistons stalling the game. In fact, both teams combined for only 31 attempts. In other words, thank goodness the NBA eventually implemented the 24-second shot clock.