1965 NBA Finals
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 Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. The Celtics made their ninth-straight trip to the championship 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. The Celtics won the series over the Lakers, 4–1.[1]
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Dates | April 18–25 | |||||||||
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Hall of Famers | Boston Celtics: K.C. Jones Sam Jones John Havlicek Satch Sanders Bill Russell John Thompson (as a coach) Tom Heinsohn (as a player and coach) Los Angeles Lakers: Jerry West Don Nelson (as a coach) Elgin Baylor Coaches: Red Auerbach Officials: Mendy Rudolph Earl Strom | |||||||||
Eastern Finals | Celtics defeat 76ers, 4–3 | |||||||||
Western Finals | Lakers defeat Bullets, 4–2 | |||||||||
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:[2]
Game 4
Boston beat the Lakers 112 to 99. In the closing minutes of the game, ABC cut away to a previously scheduled program.
Player statistics
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
- Boston Celtics
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sam Jones | 5 | 39.8 | .470 | .879 | 4.8 | 2.6 | 27.8 | ||||
John Havlicek | 5 | 30.2 | .391 | .864 | 5.6 | 2.2 | 18.2 | ||||
Bill Russell | 5 | 44.2 | .702 | .575 | 25.0 | 5.8 | 17.8 | ||||
Satch Sanders | 5 | 31.2 | .391 | .682 | 8.8 | 2.0 | 13.8 | ||||
Tom Heinsohn | 5 | 20.8 | .361 | .556 | 6.4 | 1.8 | 11.4 | ||||
K. C. Jones | 5 | 31.0 | .460 | .786 | 2.6 | 6.6 | 11.4 | ||||
Willie Naulls | 5 | 17.4 | .396 | .750 | 4.2 | 1.0 | 9.6 | ||||
Larry Siegfried | 5 | 13.6 | .341 | .786 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 7.8 | ||||
John Thompson | 3 | 7.0 | .286 | 1.000 | 4.0 | 0.3 | 3.7 | ||||
Ron Bonham | 3 | 3.7 | .375 | .800 | 3.7 | 0.0 | 3.3 | ||||
Mel Counts | 3 | 9.0 | .250 | 1.000 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 2.3 |
- Los Angeles Lakers
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jerry West | 5 | 42.0 | .424 | .864 | 5.6 | 3.4 | 33.8 | ||||
LeRoy Ellis | 5 | 39.8 | .421 | .676 | 11.0 | 0.8 | 17.8 | ||||
Rudy LaRusso | 5 | 32.0 | .531 | .656 | 6.8 | 2.4 | 14.6 | ||||
Dick Barnett | 5 | 24.4 | .483 | .700 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 14.0 | ||||
Walt Hazzard | 5 | 20.0 | .326 | .778 | 3.0 | 5.2 | 8.8 | ||||
Gene Wiley | 5 | 35.4 | .516 | .545 | 17.8 | 2.0 | 7.8 | ||||
Don Nelson | 5 | 20.6 | .438 | .667 | 5.4 | 1.4 | 7.2 | ||||
Jim King | 5 | 11.0 | .429 | 1.000 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 4.2 | ||||
Darrall Imhoff | 5 | 10.8 | .222 | .500 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 1.4 | ||||
Bill McGill | 5 | 10.0 | .500 | 1.000 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
Source:[2]
Team rosters
Boston Celtics
Los Angeles Lakers
See also
- 1965 NBA Playoffs
- 1964–65 NBA season
References
- "NBA History: 1965 Finals". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- "1970 NBA Finals summary". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 4 July 2017.