On this day: Celtics win first title; Loscutoff drafted; Barnes, O’Connell, Kappen, Barros, Olowokandi born

On this day, Boston won their 1st of a league-best 17 banners in 1957, 2 years to the date they drafted ex-Celtic forward Jim Loscutoff.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the Boston Celtics won the first of their 17 championships in 1957, a 125-123 double-overtime thriller at the Boston Garden against the (then) St. Louis (now, Atlanta) Hawks.

The Hawks and Celtics had been tied three games to three heading into the critical Game 7 contest and saw rookie and future legendary big man Bill Russell grab a record 32 rebounds, the most ever for a rookie in any NBA Finals game up to that point. It also saw one-day Hall of Famer Tommy Heinsohn, a 6-foot-7 rookie forward, scored 37 points and 23 rebounds in the win.

The victory sparked a short-lived rivalry between the two clubs that would end in the early 1960s, supplanted by the Los Angeles Lakers.