1964-1965 Boston Celtics: Championship #8

The 1964-1965 Boston Celtics continued their stretch of dominance, winning an unprecedented seventh straight NBA title. The Celtics finished with a final record of 62-18, what was, at the time, a Boston Celtics franchise record for single-season wins.
Sam Jones led the way in scoring, averaging a career-best 25.9 points, but it was Bill Russell, averaging only 14.1 points (but leading the league with 24.1 rebounds per game), who was the NBA MVP for the fourth time.

The 1964-1965 Boston Celtics had amazing scoring balance, with six players (Sam Jones, John Havlicek, Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn, Tom “Satch” Sanders, and Willie Naulls) averaging double figure points per game and another three (K.C. Jones, Ron Bonham, and Larry Siegfried) all averaging at least six.

In a little-known fact, the Boston Celtics had a young rookie named John Thompson, Jr. While Thompson never amounted to much as a player (he played two seasons for the Celtics, averaging 3.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game), Thompson would go onto coaching fame, leading the Georgetown Hoyas to their best seasons ever.

The 1964-1965 season also marked the end of Tom Heinsohn’s storied career. The shoot-first player won eight championships in his nine seasons with the Boston Celtics, and could always fill it up.

The 1964-1965 Boston Celtics continued to be a thorn in Wilt Chamberlain’s side, beating his Philadelphia 76ers four games to three in the Eastern Division Finals. After defeating the 76ers, the Celtics played the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals and prevailed in five games, 4-1.