"Fantastic!"

The big man scored with driving lay-ups. He hit from the outside. His huge hand flashed out of melees under the hoop to tap in rebounds. Agile as an acrobat, he seemed to hang suspended in mid-air while he faked his man, then got off shots whirring with English that flicked wickedly off the backboard and into the basket. When the need arose, he simply used his football lineman's build (6 ft. 5 in., 235 Ibs.) to overpower any player foolish enough to block his path. In the first quarter alone, Elgin Baylor, 25, Negro star of the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers, scored 15 points against the hapless New York Knicks. At half time, he had 34. By the third quarter he was up to 47, and even the most jaded fan hidden back in the smoky blue haze of Madison Square Garden was screaming like a teenager. In the fourth quarter, with teammates feeding him passes until he was arm-weary from shooting, Baylor sank 24 more points to put a rousing finish on the most spectacular scoring spree in pro basketball history. Baylor's 71 points totally eclipsed the N.B.A. record of 64 that he himself had set a year ago. Knick Coach Carl Braun had only one word to describe Baylor: "Fantastic!"

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