1965 NBA Finals

1965 basketball championship series August 2023 NBA 1965 Los Angeles Lakers Fred Schaus 1 Boston Celtics Red Auerbach 4 April 18–25 Celtics:John Havlicek (1984)Tom Heinsohn (1986, player - 2015, coach)K.C. Jones (1989)Sam Jones (1984)Bill Russell (1975, player - 2021, coach) Satch Sanders (2011, contributor) John Thompson (1999, coach) Lakers:Dick Barnett (2024)Elgin Baylor (1977; did not play)Jerry West (1980)Coaches:Red Auerbach (1969)Officials:Mendy Rudolph (2007)Earl Strom (1995) Celtics defeated 76ers, 4–3 Lakers defeated Bullets, 4–2 The 1965 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1965 NBA playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association 1964–65 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics. The Celtics won the series over the Lakers, 4–1.http://www.nba.com/history/finals/19641965.html NBA History: 1965 Finals NBA.com 4 July 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20110817235531/http://www.nba.com/home/index.html 17 August 2011 dead The Celtics made their ninth-straight trip to the Finals after beating the Philadelphia 76ers in a highly contested Eastern Division Finals that ended on John Havlicek's steal of the ball. The Lakers made it to their third Finals in four seasons after beating Baltimore in six games, though it came at a cost as Elgin Baylor suffered a knee injury that would sideline him for the rest of the playoffs. This was the last NBA Finals that the Celtics played in that didn't go six or seven games until 2024. Team rosters Boston Celtics Boston Celtics 1964–65 21 Ron Bonham F 6 5 192 Cincinnati 11 Mel Counts C 7 0 230 Oregon State 17 John Havlicek F/G 6 5 203 Ohio State 15 Tom Heinsohn F 6 7 218 Holy Cross 25 K. C. Jones G 6 1 200 San Francisco 24 Sam Jones basketball, born 1933 G/F 6 4 198 North Carolina Central 12 Willie Naulls F 6 6 225 UCLA 6 Bill Russell C 6 10 215 San Francisco 16 Satch Sanders F 6 6 210 NYU 20 Larry Siegfried G 6 3 190 Ohio State 18 John Thompson basketball F/C 6 10 225 Providence Red Auerbach https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1965-nba-finals-lakers-vs-celtics.html Los Angeles Lakers Los Angeles Lakers 1964–65 #0E56A4 #FFFFFF #FFFFFF #0E56A4 5 Dick Barnett SG 6 4 190 1936-10-02 Tennessee State 22 Elgin Baylor SF 6 5 225 1934-09-16 Seattle University yes 25 LeRoy Ellis C 6 10 210 1940-03-10 St. John's 42 Walt Hazzard SG 6 2 185 1942-04-15 UCLA 14 Darrall Imhoff C 6 10 220 1938-10-11 California 21 Jim King basketball, born 1941 PG 6 2 175 1941-02-07 Tulsa 35 Rudy LaRusso PF 6 7 220 1937-11-11 Dartmouth College 40 Bill McGill C 6 9 225 1939-09-16 Utah 20 Don Nelson SF 6 6 210 1940-05-15 Iowa 44 Jerry West PG 6 3 175 1938-05-28 West Virginia 12 Gene Wiley C 6 10 210 1937-11-12 Wichita State Fred Schaus https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1965-nba-finals-lakers-vs-celtics.html Series summary The Celtics' average margin of victory in this series was 12.6 points, as they averaged 123.4 points a game, in contrast to the Lakers' 110.8 points per game. Game Date Home team Result Road team Game 1 April 18 Boston Celtics 142–110 (1–0) Los Angeles Lakers Game 2 April 19 Boston Celtics 129–123 (2–0) Los Angeles Lakers Game 3 April 21 Los Angeles Lakers 126–105 (1–2) Boston Celtics Game 4 April 23 Los Angeles Lakers 99–112 (1–3) Boston Celtics Game 5 April 25 Boston Celtics 129–96 (4–1) Los Angeles Lakers Celtics win series 4–1 Source:https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/1965-nba-finals-lakers-vs-celtics.html 1965 NBA Finals summary basketball-reference.com 4 July 2017 Box scores #eee April 18 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 110 Boston Celtics 142 23–32 26–32 34–39 27–39 Jerry West 26 Gene Wiley 14 Walt Hazzard 5 Sam Jones 25 Bill Russell 28 K. C. Jones 8 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 10,180 Boston leads series, 1–0 April 19 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 123 Boston Celtics 129 29–35 31–27 29–39 34–28 Jerry West 45 Gene Wiley 15 Jerry West 5 John Havlicek 24 Bill Russell 25 Bill Russell 10 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 13,909 Boston leads series, 2–0 #eee April 21 Boxscore Boston Celtics 105 Los Angeles Lakers 126 17–35 31–33 26–24 31–34 Sam Jones 35 Bill Russell 19 Larry Siegfried 5 Jerry West 43 Gene Wiley 28 Jerry West 7 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California 14,243 Boston leads series, 2–1 April 23 Boxscore Boston Celtics 112 Los Angeles Lakers 99 32–24 23–37 33–21 24–17 Sam Jones 37 Bill Russell 23 Russell, K. C. Jones 5 each LeRoy Ellis 24 Gene Wiley 19 Wiley, Hazzard 5 each Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California 15,217 Boston leads series, 3–1 #eee April 25 Boxscore Los Angeles Lakers 96 Boston Celtics 129 26–33 22–24 23–30 25–42 Jerry West 33 Gene Wiley 13 Walt Hazzard 10 S. Jones, Russell 22 each Bill Russell 30 K. C. Jones 9 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 13,909 Boston wins series, 4–1 Tom Heinsohn's final NBA game. Player statistics Boston Celtics Boston Celtics |- | align="left" | Sam Jones Sam Jones (basketball, born 1933) || 5 || || 39.8 || .470 || || .879 || 4.8 || 2.6 || || || 27.8 |- | align="left" | John Havlicek || 5 || || 30.2 || .391 || || .864 || 5.6 || 2.2 || || || 18.2 |- | align="left" | Bill Russell || 5 || || 44.2 || .702 || || .575 || 25.0 || 5.8 || || || 17.8 |- | align="left" | Satch Sanders || 5 || || 31.2 || .391 || || .682 || 8.8 || 2.0 || || || 13.8 |- | align="left" | Tom Heinsohn || 5 || || 20.8 || .361 || || .556 || 6.4 || 1.8 || || || 11.4 |- | align="left" | K. C. Jones || 5 || || 31.0 || .460 || || .786 || 2.6 || 6.6 || || || 11.4 |- | align="left" | Willie Naulls || 5 || || 17.4 || .396 || || .750 || 4.2 || 1.0 || || || 9.6 |- | align="left" | Larry Siegfried || 5 || || 13.6 || .341 || || .786 || 1.6 || 2.4 || || || 7.8 |- | align="left" | John Thompson John Thompson (basketball) || 3 || || 7.0 || .286 || || 1.000 || 4.0 || 0.3 || || || 3.7 |- | align="left" | Ron Bonham || 3 || || 3.7 || .375 || || .800 || 3.7 || 0.0 || || || 3.3 |- | align="left" | Mel Counts || 3 || || 9.0 || .250 || || 1.000 || 3.0 || 0.0 || || || 2.3 Los Angeles Lakers Los Angeles Lakers |- | align="left" | Jerry West || 5 || || 42.0 || .424 || || .864 || 5.6 || 3.4 || || || 33.8 |- | align="left" | LeRoy Ellis || 5 || || 39.8 || .421 || || .676 || 11.0 || 0.8 || || || 17.8 |- | align="left" | Rudy LaRusso || 5 || || 32.0 || .531 || || .656 || 6.8 || 2.4 || || || 14.6 |- | align="left" | Dick Barnett || 5 || || 24.4 || .483 || || .700 || 3.0 || 2.2 || || || 14.0 |- | align="left" | Walt Hazzard || 5 || || 20.0 || .326 || || .778 || 3.0 || 5.2 || || || 8.8 |- | align="left" | Gene Wiley || 5 || || 35.4 || .516 || || .545 || 17.8 || 2.0 || || || 7.8 |- | align="left" | Don Nelson || 5 || || 20.6 || .438 || || .667 || 5.4 || 1.4 || || || 7.2 |- | align="left" | Jim King Jim King (basketball, born 1941) || 5 || || 11.0 || .429 || || 1.000 || 2.0 || 1.4 || || || 4.2 |- | align="left" | Darrall Imhoff || 5 || || 10.8 || .222 || || .500 || 2.4 || 0.6 || || || 1.4 |- | align="left" | Bill McGill || 5 || || 10.0 || .500 || || 1.000 || 3.0 || 1.0 || || || 3.5 Source: May 2016 See also 1965 NBA playoffs 1964–65 NBA season References Category:NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals Finals Category:Basketball competitions in Boston Category:1960s in Boston NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:Basketball competitions in Los Angeles NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:Events at the Boston Garden