On this day in 1968, Boston Celtics big man luminary Bill Russell won his first NBA championship as player-coach of his Celtics when Boston dispatched the Los Angeles Lakers 124-109 on the road in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
Celtics forward John Havlicek led all players with 40 points and 10 rebounds, forward Bailey Howard added 30 points and 11 boards, and point guard Larry Siegfried chipped in 22 points and 6 assists in the win.
It would be the Celtics’ tenth banner hung as a franchise, and the first championship won without legendary general manager Red Auerbach serving in the role of head coach.
It was the first time NBA play had taken place in the month of May, and first of the four major U.S. sports to see an African American head coach win a championship in the modern era.
It is also former Celtic big man Troy Murphy’s birthday; Murphy was born in 1980 in Morristown, New Jersey, and would play for Notre Dame in college and the Indiana Pacers and New Jersey (at that time) Nets before being dealt to the Golden State Warriors in 2011.
Murphy would be bought out, and would sign with Boston for the remainder of the season to help shore up the Celtics aging frontcourt. He would appear in 17 regular season games for Boston, averaging 2.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game while with the team.
It is also the anniversary of a 109-99 Game 7 victory over the Chicago Bulls in the 2009 NBA Eastern Conference first round, the Celtics clinching the series with only the third game in that stretch that did not require an overtime to settle.
“Oh, my God. Overtime after overtime after overtime,” offered center Glen Davis on the welcome change of pace, via the Associated Press. Ray Allen led the Celtics with 23 points and 7 rebounds, and Paul Pierce added 20 points and 9 boards.
On this day, point guard Isaiah Thomas scored 53 points in a 129-119 playoff victory over the Washington Wizards in 2017.
The win was especially emotional for IT, as it was on what would have been his sister Chyna’s 23rd birthday, who passed earlier in the week in an automobile accident.
To add insult to injury, the Seattle native had spent hours in the dentist’s chair ahead of the game addressing a tooth which had gotten knocked out earlier in the series.
It was the second-highest postseason point total logged by a Celtic, a point behind forward John Havlicek’s 54-point record and just ahead of Ray Allen’s 51-point performance from Game 6 of the 2009 first round series against the Bulls.
“The least I can do is go out there and play for her,” Thomas said after the game via the A.P. “I knew once game-time came, my guys would get me going … There was no way I was sitting out.”
