On this day, former Boston Celtic Hall of Fame guard Paul Westphal was drafted by the team tenth overall in the 1972 NBA Draft after playing his college ball at USC.
Westphal would play for three seasons with the Celtics, where he would win a championship in 1974, just his second season in the league.
At the end of the 1974-75 season, Westphal was dealt with a pair of second-round draft picks to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for point guard Charlie Scott. The California native would average 7.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in his time with Boston.
It is also the birthday of Kevin Joseph Aloysius “Chuck” Connors, who was born on this date in 1921.
Better known for his acting role as Lucas McCain — the star of the popular 1960s television show The Rifleman, Connors played not just basketball professionally before becoming a famous actor but major league baseball as well.
He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of U.S. professional sports to play both sports, current Celtics team president Danny Ainge being another.
Connors played both forward and center for Boston despite being just 6-foot-5 for two seasons, averaging 4.5 points and 0.8 assists per game between 1946 and 1948.
It is the anniversary of five wins since the season of the Celtics’ last NBA championship in 2007-08 as well, the first of them being a 105-98 win over the Miami Heat in 2009.
Led by Paul Pierce — who scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half — Boston saw solid outing from center Glen Davis (22 points and 8 boards) and Ray Allen (21 points) as well.
A year later in 2010, the Celtics blew out the Milwaukee Bucks 105-90 with Pierce again leading the team with 24 points and 6 rebounds, this time 18 of which came in the second half.
“”It was a big win. I wish we could come out like this every night,” Pierce said via the Associated Press. “We have to get some momentum going as we head into the playoffs.”
With Kevin Garnett resting, Allen helped carry the scoring load with 21 points of his own, and Davis added 12 points and 7 boards off the bench.
In 2012, Boston beat the Miami Heat 115-107 as Pierce and Garnett scored 27 and 24 points respectively.
Point guard Rajon Rondo extended his streak of double-digit assists to 18 games with 18 points and 15 assists while forward Brandon Bass added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“It took a while,” Rondo noted via the A.P., “but we’re peaking at the right time.”
The Celtics also defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-90 on this date in 2015 as guard Marcus Smart led Boston to the win with 19 points.
Point guard Isaiah Thomas chipped in 17 points and 5 assists off the bench, and guard Avery Bradley logged 15 points as the Celtics remained in the hunt for the playoffs.
Finally, Boston beat the Brooklyn Nets 114-105 as a 27-point night for IT helped stop a late push by the Nets.
Big man Al Horford scored 19 points and 8 boards, and Bradley chipped in 18 points and 5 rebounds to help secure the victory.
“It says a lot about this team,” Thomas said courtesy of the A.P. “We’ve been through ups and downs. … We just kept going. That says a lot about who we are.”
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