1966 NBA Finals

1966 NBA Finals

Bill Russell and Red Auerbach after winning their eighth consecutive NBA title
Team Coach Wins Boston Celtics Red Auerbach 4 Los Angeles Lakers Fred Schaus 3
Dates	April 17–28
Hall of Famers	Celtics: John Havlicek (1984) K. C. Jones (1989) Sam Jones (1984) Don Nelson (2012, coach) Bill Russell (1975) Satch Sanders (2011) Lakers: Elgin Baylor (1977) Gail Goodrich (1996) Jerry West (1980) Officials: Mendy Rudolph (2007) Earl Strom (1995)
Eastern finals	Celtics defeated 76ers, 4–1
Western finals	Lakers defeated Hawks, 4–3

The 1966 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1966 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1965–66 season. The Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics faced the Western Division champion Los Angeles Lakers in a best-of-seven series that the Celtics won 4 games to 3. For the Celtics this was their tenth straight finals appearance, which tied a North American professional sports record set by the NHL's Montreal Canadiens from 1951 to 1960, and the NFL's Cleveland Browns from 1946 to 1955.

Thus Boston won its eighth consecutive league title, which no other team has achieved in North American professional sports competition. Before Game 2, after the Los Angeles Lakers' comeback overtime win in Game 1, Red Auerbach, who had challenged the entire league to topple the Celtics from their reign by announcing he would retire after 1965–1966 before the season had started (thus giving his detractors "one last shot" at him), announced Bill Russell as the Celtics' coach for 1966–1967 and beyond. He would be the first African-American to coach in the NBA. Laker coach Fred Schaus privately fumed that Auerbach's hiring had taken away all of the accolades his Lakers should have received following their tremendous Game 1 win. The Celtics won the next three games and looked ready to close out L.A. in Game 5. However, the Lakers won the next two games, setting the stage for another classic Game 7 in the Boston Garden. The Celtics raced out to a huge lead, and held off a late Los Angeles rally to capture the NBA title and send Red Auerbach out a champion.

This was the last NBA championship series until 2016 in which a team trailing 3 games to 1 rallied to force a Game 7.

Series summary

Game	Date	Home team	Result	Road team
Game 1	April 17	Boston Celtics	129–133 (OT) (0–1)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 2	April 19	Boston Celtics	129–109 (1–1)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 3	April 20	Los Angeles Lakers	106–120 (1–2)	Boston Celtics
Game 4	April 22	Los Angeles Lakers	117–122 (1–3)	Boston Celtics
Game 5	April 24	Boston Celtics	117–121 (3–2)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 6	April 26	Los Angeles Lakers	123–115 (3–3)	Boston Celtics
Game 7	April 28	Boston Celtics	95–93 (4–3)	Los Angeles Lakers

Celtics win series 4–3

Team rosters

Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics 1965–66 Eastern Division Championship Roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From SG 21 Bonham, Ron 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Cincinnati C 11 Counts, Mel 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Oregon State G/F 28 Green, Si 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Duquesne G/F 17 Havlicek, John 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Ohio State PG 25 Jones, K. C. 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) San Francisco SG 24 Jones, Sam 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 198 lb (90 kg) North Carolina Central SF 12 Naulls, Willie 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) UCLA F 19 Nelson, Don 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Iowa C 6 Russell, Bill 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) San Francisco SF 16 Sanders, Satch 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) NYU PF 18 Sauldsberry, Woody 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Texas Southern C/G 20 Siegfried, Larry 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Ohio State C 5 Thompson, John 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Providence F 12 Watts, Ron 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Wake Forest	Head coach Red Auerbach (George Washington) Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

See also

• 1966 NBA Playoffs
• 1965–66 NBA season

External links

• 1966 Finals at NBA.com
• 1966 NBA Playoffs at Basketball-Reference.com