2012 sports year in review: records, achievements, plus sundry feats and streaks from Brees and Bryant to Cain and Ko

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2. Howard returns to free throw line again and again

Dwight Howard, while with the Orlando Magic, broke Wilt Chamberlain’s 50-year-old NBA record for attempting the most free throws in a game. He had 39 foul shots compared with Chamberlain’s 34 in 1962. Like Wilt, Howard is notably a poor three-throw shooter, which has made fouling him a strategy for opposing teams, just as the Hack-a-Shaq defense that was employed against Shaquille O’Neal. Entering Orlando’s game against the Golden State Warriors, Howard had the league’s lowest free throw shooting percentage (42.6 percent), and was only slightly better on this occasion, making 21 (53.8 percent).