SWC75
Bored Historian
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(Again, due to length, i'll do this in separate posts.)
The Elephant’s Graveyard
The pages kept turning and some prominent names were at the end of their book. The most prolific player in pro basketball history, Wilt Chamberlain, jumped form the Lakers to the ABA, signing on as coach of the San Diego Conquistadors. Unfortunately, his contract with the Lakers still had a year to go and a lawsuit prevented him from playing for the Conquistadors so his playing career ended with a whimper instead of a bang. Hardly anybody showed up to watch him sit on the bench and he retired after a one-year coaching record of 37-47.
His Laker teammate Jerry West was limited to 31 games due to a nagging groin injury. He performed credibly in those games, averaging 20.3 ppg, 3.7rpg and 6.6 apg at age 36. There were two new stats one of which was right up his alley: steals and blocks. In the final year of his career, he averaged 2.6 steals, which would have been second in the league had he played enough to qualify. Jerry was always famous for playing the passing lanes.
West was willing to come back for more but a dispute with Jack Kent Cooke ended his career: “West wanted to re-negotiate his contract and keep playing, however he said Cooke "basically told my agent to go to hell. I felt I was deceived. When you feel that you're deceived you don't want any part of the organization that deceived you. I could've played another very good year. Every athlete says that. But I could've, and I knew I could've. But I could never have played for the Lakers again, and I wasn't going to play for anybody else." (Wikipedia). However the dispute didn’t prevent Jerry from coming back later as first the Laker’s coach and then their long-time general manger where the championships that eluded him as a player became almost routine.
Another giant of the game had a last season. Oscar Robertson averaged 12.7p/4.0p/6.4a/1.1s in his final season with the Bucks. He helped the team to an NBA-best 59-23 record and to the 7th game of the finals. He then retired as a player and the team went 38-44 the next year with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar still at center. he left an even greater mark as a founder and head of the NBA players union: In the “landmark Robertson v. National Basketball Ass'n, an antitrust suit filed by the NBA's Players Association against the league. As Robertson was the president of the Players Association, the case bore his name. In this suit, the proposed merger between the NBA and American Basketball Association was delayed until 1976, and the college draft as well as the free agency clauses were reformed.[3] Robertson himself stated that the main reason was that clubs basically owned their players: players were forbidden to talk to other clubs once their contract was up, because free agency did not exist back then.[16] Six years after the suit was filed, the NBA finally reached a settlement, the ABA–NBA merger took place, and the Oscar Robertson suit encouraged signing of more free agents and eventually led to higher salaries for all players.”
For the Knicks, Willis Reed’s knees final game out. He played only 19 games in the regular season and tried to come back for the playoffs but played only 12 minutes a game, averaging 3.4p and 2.0r and decided to retire. Earl Monroe hurt his leg and played only 41 games, although he did return full time for the playoffs and was able to continue his career. But the Knick’s glory days were over.
The Return of the Celtics
Meanwhile, the Celtic’s glory days were back- sort of. They didn’t re-establish themselves as the dominant team they were in the Russell Era but they were again perennial contenders and perennial contenders are going to win the championship at some point – maybe two as the Celtics did in this period. I remember being disgusted that nobody else had really picked up the dynasty torch after Bill Russell retired and now it was the Celtics that seemed to be grabbing it. I still had hopes that Kareem’s Bucks could establish themselves as the team of the 70’s and win at least a couple more titles before they were done. But when the Celtics beat them in the ’74 final, that slipped away and we were left with the same old champs. I was an undergrad at SU at the time and surrounded by disgusted Knicks fans who were also rooting for Kareem, who was from their city.
But from the Celtic perspective, which I have through a book I bought years ago just to add to my sports library, “The Picture History of the Boston Celtics”, this was the triumphant conclusion of a long climb back to the top that began with the 34-48 record they’d had in 1969-70, the year after Russell’s retirement. They were 44-38 the next year with John Havlicek emerging as a star and Dave Cowens proving he could play center at 6-9 in this league. Then they won the East with a 56-26 record in 1971-72 but were upset by the Knicks in just 5 games. They had the Celtics greatest regular season record ever in 1972-73 with 68-14, just one game off the Laker’s record season the year before but were again knocked off by the Knicks, this time in 7 games, thanks, in part, (a big part), to an injury to Havlicek. Cowens for years later lauded this team as the best he’d ever played on, better than the two later title teams.
The waves parted in 1973-74. The Knicks were crippled by the injuries to Reed and Monroe. They still managed to finish 49-33. The only other winning teams in the East were the Bullets, now in Washington as the “Capitol Bullets”, who finished 47-35, despite the acquisition of Elvin Hayes from the Rockets, (Wes Unseld, Archie Clark and Nick Witherspoon all had injuries), and the Buffalo Braves, who were kept afloat at 42-40 by the league’s leading scorer Bob McAdoo, (30.6p 15.1r). In the West the Bucks went their usual 59-23, beating out Dick Motta’s Bulls, who went 54-28 playing fanatic defense. The Pistons had a rare strong year behind the inside-outside combination of Bob Lanier and Dave Bing, finishing 52-30. The Wilt-less Lakers went 47-35, (13 games worse without the big guy, even at the end of his career). The Warriors were 44-38. The Celtics would face the survivor of the battles between the Bucks, the Bulls and the Pistons – but only one of those teams. No other potential playoff opponent won 50 games.
The Celts were led by Havlicek and Cowens, two perpetual motion machines. Cowens out-hustled the bigger centers he always faced inside and Havlicek ran defenders ragged on the outside. John averaged 22.6p/6.4r/5.9a and Dave 19.0p/15.7r/4.4a. Jo-Jo White manned the point and scored 18.1p/4.3r/5.5a. Paul Silas averaged 11.5p/11.2r and the two Dons- Chaney and Nelson, also averaged in double figures. It was not a very big team: 6-9 at center, 6-7 and 6-5 at forward, 6-3 and 6-5 in the backcourt. But they hustled for 48 minutes. Their games fit together. Like the Knicks in their championship years, you could kick the doors and nothing rattled - or so it seemed.
They blew out to a 29-6 start but then limped to a 27-20 finish. They still won their division by 7 games and had the second best overall record to the Bucks. Coach Tommy Heinsohn: “The league is better this year. Last year, they didn’t believe we were that good. Now they know: they are getting out the siege guns.” Okay… there were grumblings about Heinsohn’s direction of the team. Silas: “It’s like falling in and out of love with someone. We have fallen out of love with Heinsohn.” Heinsohn: “I know the players are grumbling. But you have to understand the situation. This is rubber room time. The players are griping at each other. They can’t stand each other’s smelly feet and they’re looking for something to complain about. It’s a tough time of the season. But we’re doing it the way the old Celtics did it. Get a big lead and let them catch us.” When the Celtics clinched the division title Don Nelson said “What I’d like to do would be to get together a few of the thinking players at somebody’s house and go over the films with a six-pack. But it’s not going to happen. We won 56 games but it was a disappointing season. There’s just not the same attitude as last year.”
It was the Celtics vs. McAdoo in the opening series. Buffalo promptly took a 31-20 lead in the first quarter of the first game and still led 81-69 going into the third quarter. The Celtics blew them away in the fourth quarter, 38-16 for a 107-97 Boston win. McAdoo scored 29 points and a fella named Garfield Heard had 15 points and 20 rebounds. Havlicek was 5 for 18 and scored only 14 points but had 12 assists. Cowens was 30/18 while White scored 24 and Nelson 21. Still in the Boston Garden, the Braves won the second game, 115-105. Again they dominated the first quarter 31-19 but the Celtics closed to 51-49 at the half. It was the closest they would get. McAdoo had 23/20, Heard 22/10 among six Braves with at least 14 points. The Celtics restored order in Buffalo with a 39-22 first quarter leading to a 120-107 win. Now things got really sticky.
The next three games were won by a total of seven points. The Braves won game four, 104-102. The first quarter was 22-22 and the rest of the game wasn’t much different. The Celtics led 74-72 going into the fourth quarter but couldn’t hold that margin. McAdoo scored 44 points and the Braves needed every one of them. The Braves out-rebounded the Celtics 62-38 and they needed every one of those, too. Back in Boston the Braves took a 31-25 first quarter lead but the Celtics won each of the next three quarters by exactly 3 points to win 100-97. This time they out-rebounded the Braves 54-47. McAdoo had 25 points but so did Havlicek. The Braves had 6 double figure scorers to 5 but got only 3 points from other players to 11 for the Celtics. The Celtics then closed out the difficult series with a 106-104 win in Buffalo. The Braves won the first quarter again 26-20 but the Celtics forged an 87-82 lead after three quarters and 97-88 and held on to win, despite two turnovers in the last 20 seconds, both of which led to thunderous McAdoo dunks. Two Jo Jo White free throws clinched it after McAdoo fouled him at the buzzer. McAdoo had 40 points and 15 rebounds. Havlicek had 30/10 Cowens 15/17 and Silas 16/13. Both teams had 51 rebounds. The Celtics had won but how much better than the 42-40 Braves were they?
Next came their old friends, the Knicks, who had eliminated them despite superior Celtic regular season records the previous two years. But this was a very different Knick team with Willis Reed and Jerry Lucas reduced to playing 90 minutes between them in the five games and Earl Monroe and Dave DeBusschere hobbled with injuries. The Celtics won games one and two 113-88 and 111-99 and games four and five 98-91 and 105-94. The one loss was by three points, 100-103. Walt Frazier tried his best, averaging 24.6p/7.4r/3.6a but it wasn’t nearly enough. The Celtics had four players average 15+ points, including Havlicek at 29.6p/3.6r/5.8a. The trend in each game was the Celtics taking control in the second half with superior balance and depth.
That set up a fascinating final between the NBA’s best half-court team, (the Bucks, with Kareem’s sky-hook) and the Celtics, who with their 6-7, 6-9, 6-5 front line had to use defensive pressure and the fast break to offset their height disadvantage. Milwaukee got a bad break when, in a late-season game, Lucius Allen slipped on a warm-up jacket and hurt himself. He was out for the playoffs. That left 36 year old Oscar Robertson, playing the last games of his storied career, to take on the Celtics press. The Celtics shocked the Bucks in the opener in Milwaukee with a 35-19 first quarter. The Bucks worked it back to 69-61 with considerable difficulty by the end of the third quarter but the Celtics pulled away again to a 98-83 finish. Jabbar scored 35 on Cowens, who had to guard him one on one but Kareem’s teammates were 23 for 62 from the field with 18 turnovers.
In the second game, Larry Costello brought everyone but Robertson down-court to set up their offense and let Robertson deal with Don Chaney’s harassment alone. The result was 22 turnovers but a better half-court offense when Robertson did get the ball across. Jabbar scored 36 but Bobby Dandridge scored 24 and three other Bucks were in double figures and the home team won in over-time 105-96. Kareem blocked Cowens running hook shot at the end of regulation.
Cowens went outside, hoping to draw Kareem out in game 3 and it worked. Dave was 13 for 18 from the field and scored 30 points, holding the big guy to 26. The Celtics press was as good as it’s ever been, forcing 11 first quarter turnovers and jumping to a 32-13 lead they never lost before the screaming Boston fans in a 95-83 win. Back came the Bucks as Costello replaced the demoralized Ron Williams, Allen’s replacement, with 6-7 Mickey Davis who scored 15 points, forcing the 6-5 Chaney to cover him and taking the pressure off Robertson. A 21-12 second quarter keyed a 97-89 Milwaukee win to again even the series. Kareem had 34 and Dandridge 21 vs. Havlicek’s 33 and Cowen’s 24 so Davis’ unexpected 15 point performance, (he averaged 5.9 for the season), was the difference.
Now the series alternated and back in Milwaukee the Celtics disappointed the hometown fans with a 96-87 win. Havlicek and Cowens both scored 28 but Jabbar had 37 and Robertson channeled his former self with 23. But White had 18 and Chaney 16 while the only other double figure scorer for the Bucks was Dandridge, who was 4 for 17 and scored just 10 points. Davis scored only 7.
Then came the best game of the playoffs. Milwaukee took a 27-19 first quarter lead and extended it to 12 in the third quarter. But the Celtics rallied in the fourth quarter and “With a little over a minute left in regulation, Havlicek hit a long jumper to tie it at 86, then Robertson was caught in a 24 second violation as time expired. In the first extra period, Milwaukee led 90-88 when Chaney got a steal and zipped the ball to Havlicek. Kareem was back on defense and forced him to take a pull-up jumper. Havlicek missed but got the long rebound and scored to send the game into a second overtime. There Havlicek scored 9 of Boston’s 11 points. With 7 seconds left, he had the ball on the right baseline, and the Boston bench screamed for a timeout. Instead, Havlicek lifted a rainbow over Kareem’s outstretched hand, good for a 101-100 lead. It looked like champagne time.” (“The NBA Finals”)
“But the Bucks called for a time-out and for some strange reason they decided that Kareem shouldn’t take the shot. Instead, he was to set a pick for McGlocklin, who had been hampered by a sprained ankle.
When McGlocklin couldn’t get free, Abdul-Jabbar, with the ball moved to the right of the lane. He looked for the open man but Boston had all options covered. So he dribbled to the baseline, turned and put up the skyhook from 17 feet. Swish, 102-101, Milwaukee.” (Same)
Now the Bucks could return home and wrap up the series before their home fans, winning their second championship of the decade and, with Kareem, get a couple more to establish themselves as the team of the decade. Or not. Heinsohn came up with the last of the strategic adjustments that were the key to the series. He decided to sag back on Abdul-Jabbar and dare the other Bucks to beat his team with outside shots. Cowens front the big guy and Silas played behind him. Kareem missed 11 of 21 shots but still scored 26 and Dandridge and Davis shot 12 for 21 and scored 29 points between them. But Oscar Robertson in his last game went 2 for 13. Cowens had 28 points and 14 rebounds. Havlicek was 6 for 20 and only scored 16 points. But White scored 16, Silas 14 and future star Paul Westphal 12. The Celtics pulled away with a 31-20 second quarter. Abdul-Jabbar led a 26-19 third quarter comeback but the Celtics put it away with a 31-21 finals quarter and a 102-87 win, giving Boston its first ever championship without Bill Russell. Auerbach, the GM puffed away on another victory cigar.
From the “Picture History of the Boston Celtics”: Bob Cousy: “I think defensively, this is the best team ever to come along. We used to play the same way but I’m not sure these kids don’t play it better.” And how did the Celtics feel about Heinsohn’s coaching now? Paul Silas: “I must admit I was wrong about him. The longer the season went on, the better he got. Like a player, he rose to the occasion.”
There’s nothing like winning.
The Nets' Power Play
The ABA continued to reshuffle. Mike Storen, who had built the Indiana Pacers and then the Kentucky colonels into powers, became the new Commissioner, (the 5th in seven years). “The city of San An Antonio enthusiastically welcomed the Dallas Chaparrals and took the rechristened Spurs to heart, turning out in respectable numbers to see the club.” (The Sports Encyclopedia: Basketball). Meanwhile the Virginia Squires could no longer afford Julius Erving and traded him to the New York Nets, giving the league a superstar in the nation’s media capital. However they still didn’t have a TV contract to televise their games regularly.
Erving led the league in scoring for the second straight year with 27.4ppg. He (10.7), Larry Kenon (11.6) and Billy Paultz (10.2) gave the Nets an all double-figure rebounding front line. Brian Taylor and John Williamson were a solid backcourt but it was Dr. J who led the team in assists with 5.5 The Nets got off to a slow start but wound up with a 55-29 record for first place in the East. Storen’s former employer, the Colonels, were second at 53-31. Dan Issel averaged 25.5p/10.2r while Artis Gilmore was 18.7/18/3. Louie Dampier added 17.8p. Billy Cunningham developed a kidney problem that limited him to 52 games but the Carolina Cougars still managed to go 47-37. In the west, it was again a battle of the Utah Stars (51-33) and Indiana Pacers (46-38) but they were joined at the top by the new San Antonio team, (45-39), who had gotten George Gervin in the Virginia Squires sell-off.
The Nets put on a real power play in the playoffs. People wondered if inexperience - they were the youngest team in pro basketball – would be a problem. In the playoffs, they had very little experience losing, beating the remnants of the Squires in 5 games, sweeping the Colonels and beating the Stars in 5 games. They won their games by 12, 19, 28, 12, 13, 19, 2, 13, 4, 24, 3(OT) and 11 points. Overall they out-scored their opponents by 10.6 ppg. Doctor J was the leading scorer in the playoffs for the third straight year with 27.9 ppg with a high of 47 in the opener against the stars. He added 9.6 rpg and 4.8 apg. The ABA had a true superstar and he was in the right place – New York.
Julius Erving (35pts) vs. Colonels (1974 ABA Playoffs)
The Elephant’s Graveyard
The pages kept turning and some prominent names were at the end of their book. The most prolific player in pro basketball history, Wilt Chamberlain, jumped form the Lakers to the ABA, signing on as coach of the San Diego Conquistadors. Unfortunately, his contract with the Lakers still had a year to go and a lawsuit prevented him from playing for the Conquistadors so his playing career ended with a whimper instead of a bang. Hardly anybody showed up to watch him sit on the bench and he retired after a one-year coaching record of 37-47.
His Laker teammate Jerry West was limited to 31 games due to a nagging groin injury. He performed credibly in those games, averaging 20.3 ppg, 3.7rpg and 6.6 apg at age 36. There were two new stats one of which was right up his alley: steals and blocks. In the final year of his career, he averaged 2.6 steals, which would have been second in the league had he played enough to qualify. Jerry was always famous for playing the passing lanes.
West was willing to come back for more but a dispute with Jack Kent Cooke ended his career: “West wanted to re-negotiate his contract and keep playing, however he said Cooke "basically told my agent to go to hell. I felt I was deceived. When you feel that you're deceived you don't want any part of the organization that deceived you. I could've played another very good year. Every athlete says that. But I could've, and I knew I could've. But I could never have played for the Lakers again, and I wasn't going to play for anybody else." (Wikipedia). However the dispute didn’t prevent Jerry from coming back later as first the Laker’s coach and then their long-time general manger where the championships that eluded him as a player became almost routine.
Another giant of the game had a last season. Oscar Robertson averaged 12.7p/4.0p/6.4a/1.1s in his final season with the Bucks. He helped the team to an NBA-best 59-23 record and to the 7th game of the finals. He then retired as a player and the team went 38-44 the next year with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar still at center. he left an even greater mark as a founder and head of the NBA players union: In the “landmark Robertson v. National Basketball Ass'n, an antitrust suit filed by the NBA's Players Association against the league. As Robertson was the president of the Players Association, the case bore his name. In this suit, the proposed merger between the NBA and American Basketball Association was delayed until 1976, and the college draft as well as the free agency clauses were reformed.[3] Robertson himself stated that the main reason was that clubs basically owned their players: players were forbidden to talk to other clubs once their contract was up, because free agency did not exist back then.[16] Six years after the suit was filed, the NBA finally reached a settlement, the ABA–NBA merger took place, and the Oscar Robertson suit encouraged signing of more free agents and eventually led to higher salaries for all players.”
For the Knicks, Willis Reed’s knees final game out. He played only 19 games in the regular season and tried to come back for the playoffs but played only 12 minutes a game, averaging 3.4p and 2.0r and decided to retire. Earl Monroe hurt his leg and played only 41 games, although he did return full time for the playoffs and was able to continue his career. But the Knick’s glory days were over.
The Return of the Celtics
Meanwhile, the Celtic’s glory days were back- sort of. They didn’t re-establish themselves as the dominant team they were in the Russell Era but they were again perennial contenders and perennial contenders are going to win the championship at some point – maybe two as the Celtics did in this period. I remember being disgusted that nobody else had really picked up the dynasty torch after Bill Russell retired and now it was the Celtics that seemed to be grabbing it. I still had hopes that Kareem’s Bucks could establish themselves as the team of the 70’s and win at least a couple more titles before they were done. But when the Celtics beat them in the ’74 final, that slipped away and we were left with the same old champs. I was an undergrad at SU at the time and surrounded by disgusted Knicks fans who were also rooting for Kareem, who was from their city.
But from the Celtic perspective, which I have through a book I bought years ago just to add to my sports library, “The Picture History of the Boston Celtics”, this was the triumphant conclusion of a long climb back to the top that began with the 34-48 record they’d had in 1969-70, the year after Russell’s retirement. They were 44-38 the next year with John Havlicek emerging as a star and Dave Cowens proving he could play center at 6-9 in this league. Then they won the East with a 56-26 record in 1971-72 but were upset by the Knicks in just 5 games. They had the Celtics greatest regular season record ever in 1972-73 with 68-14, just one game off the Laker’s record season the year before but were again knocked off by the Knicks, this time in 7 games, thanks, in part, (a big part), to an injury to Havlicek. Cowens for years later lauded this team as the best he’d ever played on, better than the two later title teams.
The waves parted in 1973-74. The Knicks were crippled by the injuries to Reed and Monroe. They still managed to finish 49-33. The only other winning teams in the East were the Bullets, now in Washington as the “Capitol Bullets”, who finished 47-35, despite the acquisition of Elvin Hayes from the Rockets, (Wes Unseld, Archie Clark and Nick Witherspoon all had injuries), and the Buffalo Braves, who were kept afloat at 42-40 by the league’s leading scorer Bob McAdoo, (30.6p 15.1r). In the West the Bucks went their usual 59-23, beating out Dick Motta’s Bulls, who went 54-28 playing fanatic defense. The Pistons had a rare strong year behind the inside-outside combination of Bob Lanier and Dave Bing, finishing 52-30. The Wilt-less Lakers went 47-35, (13 games worse without the big guy, even at the end of his career). The Warriors were 44-38. The Celtics would face the survivor of the battles between the Bucks, the Bulls and the Pistons – but only one of those teams. No other potential playoff opponent won 50 games.
The Celts were led by Havlicek and Cowens, two perpetual motion machines. Cowens out-hustled the bigger centers he always faced inside and Havlicek ran defenders ragged on the outside. John averaged 22.6p/6.4r/5.9a and Dave 19.0p/15.7r/4.4a. Jo-Jo White manned the point and scored 18.1p/4.3r/5.5a. Paul Silas averaged 11.5p/11.2r and the two Dons- Chaney and Nelson, also averaged in double figures. It was not a very big team: 6-9 at center, 6-7 and 6-5 at forward, 6-3 and 6-5 in the backcourt. But they hustled for 48 minutes. Their games fit together. Like the Knicks in their championship years, you could kick the doors and nothing rattled - or so it seemed.
They blew out to a 29-6 start but then limped to a 27-20 finish. They still won their division by 7 games and had the second best overall record to the Bucks. Coach Tommy Heinsohn: “The league is better this year. Last year, they didn’t believe we were that good. Now they know: they are getting out the siege guns.” Okay… there were grumblings about Heinsohn’s direction of the team. Silas: “It’s like falling in and out of love with someone. We have fallen out of love with Heinsohn.” Heinsohn: “I know the players are grumbling. But you have to understand the situation. This is rubber room time. The players are griping at each other. They can’t stand each other’s smelly feet and they’re looking for something to complain about. It’s a tough time of the season. But we’re doing it the way the old Celtics did it. Get a big lead and let them catch us.” When the Celtics clinched the division title Don Nelson said “What I’d like to do would be to get together a few of the thinking players at somebody’s house and go over the films with a six-pack. But it’s not going to happen. We won 56 games but it was a disappointing season. There’s just not the same attitude as last year.”
It was the Celtics vs. McAdoo in the opening series. Buffalo promptly took a 31-20 lead in the first quarter of the first game and still led 81-69 going into the third quarter. The Celtics blew them away in the fourth quarter, 38-16 for a 107-97 Boston win. McAdoo scored 29 points and a fella named Garfield Heard had 15 points and 20 rebounds. Havlicek was 5 for 18 and scored only 14 points but had 12 assists. Cowens was 30/18 while White scored 24 and Nelson 21. Still in the Boston Garden, the Braves won the second game, 115-105. Again they dominated the first quarter 31-19 but the Celtics closed to 51-49 at the half. It was the closest they would get. McAdoo had 23/20, Heard 22/10 among six Braves with at least 14 points. The Celtics restored order in Buffalo with a 39-22 first quarter leading to a 120-107 win. Now things got really sticky.
The next three games were won by a total of seven points. The Braves won game four, 104-102. The first quarter was 22-22 and the rest of the game wasn’t much different. The Celtics led 74-72 going into the fourth quarter but couldn’t hold that margin. McAdoo scored 44 points and the Braves needed every one of them. The Braves out-rebounded the Celtics 62-38 and they needed every one of those, too. Back in Boston the Braves took a 31-25 first quarter lead but the Celtics won each of the next three quarters by exactly 3 points to win 100-97. This time they out-rebounded the Braves 54-47. McAdoo had 25 points but so did Havlicek. The Braves had 6 double figure scorers to 5 but got only 3 points from other players to 11 for the Celtics. The Celtics then closed out the difficult series with a 106-104 win in Buffalo. The Braves won the first quarter again 26-20 but the Celtics forged an 87-82 lead after three quarters and 97-88 and held on to win, despite two turnovers in the last 20 seconds, both of which led to thunderous McAdoo dunks. Two Jo Jo White free throws clinched it after McAdoo fouled him at the buzzer. McAdoo had 40 points and 15 rebounds. Havlicek had 30/10 Cowens 15/17 and Silas 16/13. Both teams had 51 rebounds. The Celtics had won but how much better than the 42-40 Braves were they?
Next came their old friends, the Knicks, who had eliminated them despite superior Celtic regular season records the previous two years. But this was a very different Knick team with Willis Reed and Jerry Lucas reduced to playing 90 minutes between them in the five games and Earl Monroe and Dave DeBusschere hobbled with injuries. The Celtics won games one and two 113-88 and 111-99 and games four and five 98-91 and 105-94. The one loss was by three points, 100-103. Walt Frazier tried his best, averaging 24.6p/7.4r/3.6a but it wasn’t nearly enough. The Celtics had four players average 15+ points, including Havlicek at 29.6p/3.6r/5.8a. The trend in each game was the Celtics taking control in the second half with superior balance and depth.
That set up a fascinating final between the NBA’s best half-court team, (the Bucks, with Kareem’s sky-hook) and the Celtics, who with their 6-7, 6-9, 6-5 front line had to use defensive pressure and the fast break to offset their height disadvantage. Milwaukee got a bad break when, in a late-season game, Lucius Allen slipped on a warm-up jacket and hurt himself. He was out for the playoffs. That left 36 year old Oscar Robertson, playing the last games of his storied career, to take on the Celtics press. The Celtics shocked the Bucks in the opener in Milwaukee with a 35-19 first quarter. The Bucks worked it back to 69-61 with considerable difficulty by the end of the third quarter but the Celtics pulled away again to a 98-83 finish. Jabbar scored 35 on Cowens, who had to guard him one on one but Kareem’s teammates were 23 for 62 from the field with 18 turnovers.
In the second game, Larry Costello brought everyone but Robertson down-court to set up their offense and let Robertson deal with Don Chaney’s harassment alone. The result was 22 turnovers but a better half-court offense when Robertson did get the ball across. Jabbar scored 36 but Bobby Dandridge scored 24 and three other Bucks were in double figures and the home team won in over-time 105-96. Kareem blocked Cowens running hook shot at the end of regulation.
Cowens went outside, hoping to draw Kareem out in game 3 and it worked. Dave was 13 for 18 from the field and scored 30 points, holding the big guy to 26. The Celtics press was as good as it’s ever been, forcing 11 first quarter turnovers and jumping to a 32-13 lead they never lost before the screaming Boston fans in a 95-83 win. Back came the Bucks as Costello replaced the demoralized Ron Williams, Allen’s replacement, with 6-7 Mickey Davis who scored 15 points, forcing the 6-5 Chaney to cover him and taking the pressure off Robertson. A 21-12 second quarter keyed a 97-89 Milwaukee win to again even the series. Kareem had 34 and Dandridge 21 vs. Havlicek’s 33 and Cowen’s 24 so Davis’ unexpected 15 point performance, (he averaged 5.9 for the season), was the difference.
Now the series alternated and back in Milwaukee the Celtics disappointed the hometown fans with a 96-87 win. Havlicek and Cowens both scored 28 but Jabbar had 37 and Robertson channeled his former self with 23. But White had 18 and Chaney 16 while the only other double figure scorer for the Bucks was Dandridge, who was 4 for 17 and scored just 10 points. Davis scored only 7.
Then came the best game of the playoffs. Milwaukee took a 27-19 first quarter lead and extended it to 12 in the third quarter. But the Celtics rallied in the fourth quarter and “With a little over a minute left in regulation, Havlicek hit a long jumper to tie it at 86, then Robertson was caught in a 24 second violation as time expired. In the first extra period, Milwaukee led 90-88 when Chaney got a steal and zipped the ball to Havlicek. Kareem was back on defense and forced him to take a pull-up jumper. Havlicek missed but got the long rebound and scored to send the game into a second overtime. There Havlicek scored 9 of Boston’s 11 points. With 7 seconds left, he had the ball on the right baseline, and the Boston bench screamed for a timeout. Instead, Havlicek lifted a rainbow over Kareem’s outstretched hand, good for a 101-100 lead. It looked like champagne time.” (“The NBA Finals”)
“But the Bucks called for a time-out and for some strange reason they decided that Kareem shouldn’t take the shot. Instead, he was to set a pick for McGlocklin, who had been hampered by a sprained ankle.
When McGlocklin couldn’t get free, Abdul-Jabbar, with the ball moved to the right of the lane. He looked for the open man but Boston had all options covered. So he dribbled to the baseline, turned and put up the skyhook from 17 feet. Swish, 102-101, Milwaukee.” (Same)
Now the Bucks could return home and wrap up the series before their home fans, winning their second championship of the decade and, with Kareem, get a couple more to establish themselves as the team of the decade. Or not. Heinsohn came up with the last of the strategic adjustments that were the key to the series. He decided to sag back on Abdul-Jabbar and dare the other Bucks to beat his team with outside shots. Cowens front the big guy and Silas played behind him. Kareem missed 11 of 21 shots but still scored 26 and Dandridge and Davis shot 12 for 21 and scored 29 points between them. But Oscar Robertson in his last game went 2 for 13. Cowens had 28 points and 14 rebounds. Havlicek was 6 for 20 and only scored 16 points. But White scored 16, Silas 14 and future star Paul Westphal 12. The Celtics pulled away with a 31-20 second quarter. Abdul-Jabbar led a 26-19 third quarter comeback but the Celtics put it away with a 31-21 finals quarter and a 102-87 win, giving Boston its first ever championship without Bill Russell. Auerbach, the GM puffed away on another victory cigar.
From the “Picture History of the Boston Celtics”: Bob Cousy: “I think defensively, this is the best team ever to come along. We used to play the same way but I’m not sure these kids don’t play it better.” And how did the Celtics feel about Heinsohn’s coaching now? Paul Silas: “I must admit I was wrong about him. The longer the season went on, the better he got. Like a player, he rose to the occasion.”
There’s nothing like winning.
The Nets' Power Play
The ABA continued to reshuffle. Mike Storen, who had built the Indiana Pacers and then the Kentucky colonels into powers, became the new Commissioner, (the 5th in seven years). “The city of San An Antonio enthusiastically welcomed the Dallas Chaparrals and took the rechristened Spurs to heart, turning out in respectable numbers to see the club.” (The Sports Encyclopedia: Basketball). Meanwhile the Virginia Squires could no longer afford Julius Erving and traded him to the New York Nets, giving the league a superstar in the nation’s media capital. However they still didn’t have a TV contract to televise their games regularly.
Erving led the league in scoring for the second straight year with 27.4ppg. He (10.7), Larry Kenon (11.6) and Billy Paultz (10.2) gave the Nets an all double-figure rebounding front line. Brian Taylor and John Williamson were a solid backcourt but it was Dr. J who led the team in assists with 5.5 The Nets got off to a slow start but wound up with a 55-29 record for first place in the East. Storen’s former employer, the Colonels, were second at 53-31. Dan Issel averaged 25.5p/10.2r while Artis Gilmore was 18.7/18/3. Louie Dampier added 17.8p. Billy Cunningham developed a kidney problem that limited him to 52 games but the Carolina Cougars still managed to go 47-37. In the west, it was again a battle of the Utah Stars (51-33) and Indiana Pacers (46-38) but they were joined at the top by the new San Antonio team, (45-39), who had gotten George Gervin in the Virginia Squires sell-off.
The Nets put on a real power play in the playoffs. People wondered if inexperience - they were the youngest team in pro basketball – would be a problem. In the playoffs, they had very little experience losing, beating the remnants of the Squires in 5 games, sweeping the Colonels and beating the Stars in 5 games. They won their games by 12, 19, 28, 12, 13, 19, 2, 13, 4, 24, 3(OT) and 11 points. Overall they out-scored their opponents by 10.6 ppg. Doctor J was the leading scorer in the playoffs for the third straight year with 27.9 ppg with a high of 47 in the opener against the stars. He added 9.6 rpg and 4.8 apg. The ABA had a true superstar and he was in the right place – New York.
Julius Erving (35pts) vs. Colonels (1974 ABA Playoffs)