1961 Nba Finals

Contents

Introduction
Background
The Game
The Aftermath
Legacy
Statistics
Media Coverage
Reactions
See Also
References
External References-

The Boston Celtics and the St. Louis Cardinals faced off in a game that would determine who would win the 1961 NBA Finals The Cardinals were down by one point with less than 10 seconds left on the clock, but they managed to tie it up and force overtime. In overtime, the Cardinals took a lead and won Game 7 of the series, bringing an end to Boston’s streak of eight consecutive championships.

The 1962 NBA Finals is the final game of the NBA’s first ever Championship Series The Boston Celtics were victorious over the St. Louis Hawks in what was a hard fought battle.

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Introduction

The 1961 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 196061 NBA season The series was played between the Western Conference champion Minneapolis Lakers and Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics with the Lakers holding home-court advantage The Lakers defeated the Celtics 4 games to 1 to win their 5th straight title, and 9th in franchise history. After undergoing season-ending surgery on his left ankle, Laker star Elgin Baylor missed the entire series but was still voted MVP by a narrow margin over teammate Jerry West

It was also announced prior to Game 1 that long-time Boston coach Red Auerbach would step down after this series and hand over the coaching duties to assistant Bill Russell who had beencoaching since 1956. This marked the first time a player-coach would appear in an NBA Finals

Contents

1 Series summary

2 Team rosters

3 Road to the Finals

3.1 regular season standings (by division)

3.2 Playoffs

4 1961 NBA Finals summary

5 player statistics

6 Television and radio broadcasters

7 References

Background

The 1961 NBA Finals was the Championship Series of the 196061 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics with the Celtics winning in Game 7, 110109. It was the first NBA Finals played under the 22111 format (the opponent hosting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7).

The series featured future Hall of Famers Bill Russell and Bob Pettit of the Celtics and Bob Cousy and Cliff Hagan of the Hawks. All four men would end up as head coaches This was also the first year that ABC aired an NBA Finals game on television, with Curt Gowdy and Chris Schenkel calling Game 4 from Boston Garden.

The Game

The 1961 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 196061 NBA season The series was played between the Western Conference champion Chicago Packers (now the Washington Wizards) and Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics with the Celtics winning in five games.

This was the first NBA Finals played under the 2-2-1-1-1 format (the last best-of-seven NBA Finals played using the 322 format was in 1957); it would remain in use through 1985, after which the current 232 format was adopted. It was also Bobby McDermott’s only appearance in an NBA Finals The legendary Bill Russell scored 21 points and pulled down 32 rebounds, which remains a record for rebounds in an NBA Finals game by a rookie.

The Aftermath

The 1961 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s 196061 season, and the conclusion of the season’s playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics with the Celtics defeating the Hawks four games to one. This was Celtics coach Red Auerbach’s ninth and final NBA Championship victory, as well as Bill Russell’s first of his 11 championships. All seven games in the series were played at Boston Garden.

The 1962 NBA Finals were mostly remembered for one of the most famous moments in Basketball History as 62-year-old Boston coach Red Auerbach lit up a victory cigar while sitting courtside after Game 7. It later turned out that Auerbach had actually forgotten to bring a victory cigar with him to Boston Garden that day, and had to borrow one from a fan sitting nearby. Regardless, the image of Auerbach triumphantly puffing on a cigar became one of the most enduring images in Basketball History

Legacy

The 1961 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 196061 NBA season The Boston Celtics who had posted an impressive 5921 win-loss record during the regular season defeated the Houston Rockets 4 games to 1. Celtics center Bill Russell was named as the Finals MVP his second out of five such awards.

The series featured two young stars Celtics’ point guard Bob Cousy and Rockets’ forward Rudy Tomjanovich. Between them, they would play a combined total of 42 seasons in the NBA (Tomjanovich would play only 13 seasons) and be elected to 29 All-Star Games (Cousy was selected to 13, Tomjanovich to 16). One of the more interesting aspects of this series is that it matched up two teams that played completely opposite styles of basketball; the fast-breaking Celtics led by Cousy against the methodical Hawks under coach Ed Macauley.

Statistics

The 1961 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1961 NBA playoffs which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s 196061 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion St. Louis Hawks and Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics with the Celtics holding home-court advantage This was the Celtics’ sixth trip to the NBA Finals in the last seven years. The two teams had met five times previously in the NBA Finals with Boston having won four of those series, including a four-game sweep in their most recent meeting in 1957.

The Hawks defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in six games to win their first Western Division title since moving from Milwaukee in 1955 and earned a trip to the Finals for just the second time (their first appearance being a loss to Syracuse in 1957). However, despite having made the Finals just once in their history up to that point, they were actually favored by many to win due to their superior Regular Season record (4826) and home court advantage

Media Coverage

The 1961 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 196061 NBA season The Boston Celtics who had acquired center Bill Russell in a draft day trade, defeated the Hawks in five games to win their first of eight consecutive titles.

All games were played at the Boston Garden. This was the first Finals series for both teams, who had only arrived in the NBA after the 194950 season as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League (NBL) and Basketball Association of America (BAA).

The series was also notable for two particularly significant moments. In Game 5, when the score was tied at 118 with nine seconds left in regulation, Hawk’s player-coach Cliff Hagan refused to call a timeout which would have given the ball back to Boston. Instead, he instructed his players to foul Celtic guard Sam Jones so that he would take two Free throws instead of having a chance to attempt a game-winning shot Then, with three seconds left in overtime and the score tied at 122, Celtic rookie John Havlicek made what has since become known as “Havlicek Stole The Ball”, which gave Boston possession and ultimately allowed them to win 124-122.

Reactions

The 1961 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 196061 NBA season The series was played between the Western Division champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics and was won by Boston, four games to one.

It was the first title for the Celtics in franchise history. Bill Russell was named as the series MVP. This was the first appearance by a team from Boston in an NBA Finals game, which would not happen again until 1984. It was also the first time that two black head coaches met in an NBA Finals which would not happen again until 2014.

The Hawks were making their second consecutive trip to the NBA Finals having lost to the Philadelphia Warriors in four games in their only other appearance in 1958. They would not return to the Finals for another 31 years after losing to Boston in this series, finally winning a championship against the Detroit Pistons in 199091.

This was only the second time that two teams from opposite coasts met in an NBA Finals series; previously, it had happened only when the New York Knicks defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in 1952.

References

The 1961 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 196061 NBA season The series was played between the Western Division champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics with the Lakers holding home-court advantage. The Lakers won the series 42 to capture their second straight title.

The two teams met again in the Finals in 1962, 1963, and 1964, with Boston winning each time. This was the last time that all three of those players ( Chamberlain, Baylor, and West) would be on the same team. In 1962, light-colored uniforms were introduced in an effort to reduce eye strain in night games this resulted in Boston wearing green at home (as they had before 1957) and Los Angeles wearing white at home (as they had until 1960).

The “1961 NBA Finals mvp” is a basketball game that was played between the Boston Celtics and the St. Louis Hawks. The Celtics won in 7 games.