1968 NBA Finals

1968 basketball championship series August 2023 NBA 1968 Los Angeles Lakers Butch van Breda Kolff 2 Boston Celtics Bill Russell (player-coach) 4 April 21–May 2 Celtics: Sam Jones (1984)John Havlicek (1984)Bailey Howell (1997)Don Nelson (2012, coach)Bill Russell (1975)Satch Sanders (2011, contributor)Wayne Embry (1999)Lakers:Elgin Baylor (1977)Gail Goodrich (1996)Jerry West (1980)Coaches:Bill Russell (2021)Officials:Mendy Rudolph (2007)Earl Strom (1995) Celtics defeated 76ers, 4–3 Lakers defeated Warriors, 4–0 The 1968 NBA World Championship Series pitted the Boston Celtics from the East, against the Los Angeles Lakers from the West, for the sixth time in ten years. The Celtics won their tenth NBA Championship in twelve seasons, by defeating the Lakers in six games. Significantly, Game 6 marked the first time that any NBA competition had taken place during the month of May. This was the last NBA Finals without a Finals MVP named as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award was introduced the following year. Series summary Game Date Home team Result Road team Game 1 April 21 Boston Celtics 107–101 (1–0) Los Angeles Lakers Game 2 April 24 Boston Celtics 113–123 (1–1) Los Angeles Lakers Game 3 April 26 Los Angeles Lakers 119–127 (1–2) Boston Celtics Game 4 April 28 Los Angeles Lakers 119–105 (2–2) Boston Celtics Game 5 April 30 Boston Celtics 120–117 (OT) (3–2) Los Angeles Lakers Game 6 May 2 Los Angeles Lakers 109–124 (2–4) Boston Celtics Celtics win series 4–2 Team rosters Boston Celtics Boston Celtics 1967–68 28 Wayne Embry C/F 6 8 240 1937-03-26 Miami (Ohio) 11 Mal Graham PG 6 1 185 1945-02-23 NYU 17 John Havlicek F/G 6 5 203 1940-04-08 Ohio State 18 Bailey Howell SF 6 7 210 1937-01-20 Mississippi State 27 Johnny Jones basketball, born 1943 PF 6 7 205 1933-03-12 Cal State LA 24 Sam Jones basketball, born 1933 SG 6 4 198 1933-06-24 North Carolina Central 19 Don Nelson F 6 6 210 1940-05-15 Iowa 6 Bill Russell C 6 9 215 1934-02-12 San Francisco 16 Satch Sanders SF 6 6 210 1938-11-08 NYU 20 Larry Siegfried G 6 3 190 1939-10-14 Ohio State 12 Tom Thacker basketball G/F 6 2 170 1939-11-02 Cincinnati 26 Rick Weitzman PG 6 2 175 1946-04-30 Northeastern Bill Russell Los Angeles Lakers Los Angeles Lakers 1967–68 30 Cliff Anderson SG 6 2 200 1944-09-07 Saint Joseph's 23 Jim Barnes Jim "Bad News" Barnes PF 6 8 210 1941-04-13 Texas-El Paso 22 Elgin Baylor SF 6 5 225 1934-09-16 Seattle University 21 Archie Clark basketball SG 6 2 175 1941-07-15 Minnesota 31 Mel Counts C 7 0 230 1941-10-16 Oregon State 12 Freddie Crawford SG 6 4 189 1941-12-33 St. Bonaventure 11 Gail Goodrich SG 6 1 170 1943-04-23 UCLA 52 Dennis Hamilton PF 6 8 210 1944-05-08 Notre Dame 33 Tom Hawkins basketball SF 6 5 210 1936-12-22 Notre Dame 14 Darrall Imhoff C 6 10 220 1938-10-11 California 34 Erwin Mueller C 6 8 230 1944-03-12 San Francisco 44 Jerry West PG 6 3 175 1938-05-28 West Virginia 24 John Wetzel basketball SF 6 5 190 1944-10-22 Virginia Tech Butch van Breda Kolff Game summaries #eee April 21 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 101 Boston Celtics 107 28–29 33–19 24–33 16–26 Jerry West 25 Darrall Imhoff 14 Archie Clark 5 Bailey Howell 20 Bill Russell 25 John Havlicek 8 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 9,546 Boston leads series, 1–0 April 24 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 123 Boston Celtics 113 28–27 26–27 36–27 33–32 Jerry West 35 Darrall Imhoff 11 Erwin Mueller 7 John Havlicek 24 Bill Russell 24 Bill Russell 5 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 14,780 Series tied, 1–1 #eee April 26 Boxscore Boston Celtics 127 Los Angeles Lakers 119 36–28 33–34 34–25 24–32 John Havlicek 27 Bill Russell 16 Bill Russell 9 Jerry West 33 Elgin Baylor 18 Jerry West 9 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,011 Boston leads series, 2–1 April 28 Boxscore Boston Celtics 105 Los Angeles Lakers 118 21–26 23–26 31–28 30–38 Bailey Howell 24 Bill Russell 22 John Havlicek 8 Jerry West 38 Darrall Imhoff 20 Darrall Imhoff 6 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,147 Series tied, 2–2 #eee April 30 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 117 Boston Celtics 120 OT 20–34 34–22 18–30 36–22 9–12 Jerry West 35 Elgin Baylor 15 Baylor, West 6 each John Havlicek 31 Bill Russell 25 John Havlicek 8 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 14,780 Boston leads series, 3–2 May 2 Boxscore Boston Celtics 124 Los Angeles Lakers 109 35–28 35–22 24–28 30–31 John Havlicek 40 Bill Russell 19 John Havlicek 7 Elgin Baylor 28 Mel Counts 25 Elgin Baylor 6 The Forum, Inglewood, California 17,392 Boston wins series, 4–2 See also 1968 NBA playoffs 1967–68 NBA season External links Sports Illustrated (April 29, 1968) Celtics LA Showdown | Elgin Baylor and Jerry West Sports Illustrated (May 13, 1968) This Was One Worth Shouting About NBA History Category:NBA Finals Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:Basketball competitions in Boston Category:Basketball competitions in Inglewood, California Category:1960s in Los Angeles County, California Category:1968 in Boston NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:Events at the Boston Garden