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.
The very first title of the storied Boston Celtics franchise’s 17 banners almost wasn’t. The ultimate loser — the (then) St. Louis (now, Atlanta) Hawks — was poised to win the 1957 NBA Finals via a layup as time expired.
But as if out of nowhere, rookie Bill Russell bounded down the court after the breakaway play, committing the league’s very first example of a chase down block. The future Celtics legend would have many, many more rejections to his name as his Hall of Fame career progressed, but this was both Russell’s debut on the stage of basketball greats, and the birth of one of the league’s most dramatic plays.
To see it on film for yourself, watch the video embedded below, courtesy of our fellow history buffs over at CLNS Media’s “NBA History & Legends on CLNS” YouTube channel.
Tommy Heinsohn was so much more than just a Celtics broadcasting icon.
While the bulk of contemporary fans of the Boston Celtics are very familiar with franchise icon Tommy Heinsohn, for most of them he is a broadcasting legend, his time as a player exiting in some remote corner of awareness for many, if at all.
But Heinsohn was a force of nature in his playing days, among the league’s best forwards and something of a template for future frontcourt players to model their game after. He also was a critical part in winning eight NBA titles for the Celtics, and in no small way crucial to securing the first of Boston’s league-tying 17 banners as a rookie, no less.
And to discuss exactly that on a video clip taken from his eponymous podcast, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons discusses Heinsohn’s legendary 1957 Finals Game 7 performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIFmICe8fqg
Check it out for yourself to learn more about how the originator of the Tommy Point helped get the Celtics on the board as a champion franchise with his contribution of a double-overtime win over the (then) St. Louis (now, Atlanta) Hawks.
On this day, the Boston Celtics won their first of a league-best 17 banners in 1957, 2 years to the date they drafted ex-Celtic forward Jim Loscutoff.
On this day in 1957, the Boston Celtics won the first of their 17 championships, a 125-123 double-overtime thriller at the Boston Garden against the St. Louis (now, Atlanta) Hawks.
The Hawks and Celtics had been tied three games to three, and saw rookie and future legendary big man Bill Russell grab a record 32 rebounds, the most-ever for a rookie in a Finals game.
It also saw Tommy Heinsohn, a 6-foot-7 rookie forward, score 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.
It is also the date that former Celtic forward Jim Loscutoff was drafted by Boston in the 1955 NBA Draft — third overall — out of Oregon.
Loscutoff would play for the Celtics for nine seasons, averaging 6.2 points and 5.6 rebounds over that stretch. Boston would win six championships while he was on the team, with his bruising defense being a significant factor in many of them.
He requested “Loscy”, his nickname — not his jersey number, No. 18 — be retired so future Celtics would still be able to wear it in what may someday soon prove a prescient move.
In 1986, Boston ended the 1985-86 season with a 135-107 blowout over the then-New Jersey Nets at Boston Garden.
Larry Bird talks about how the 1986 team went 40-1 in the regular season.
This left the Celtics with a 40-1 record at home, a record for both the most home wins and highest home winning percentage (.976) over a season in league history.
It is also the anniversary of three wins since the season of the team’s last NBA championship in 2007-08. The first was a 112-102 victory over the New York Knicks that saw both teams sit most of their starters.
Guard Avery Bradley scored a then-career high 20 points and center Glen Davis added 17 points and 8 boards.
Boston also routed the Orlando Magic 120-88 on this date in 2013 as the Celtics veterans did not sit for a late season contest, using the game as a bit of a warm-up instead.
Wing Courtney Lee led the team with 20 points off the bench, and forward Jeff Green had 17 points and 6 rebounds. Kevin Garnett added 14 points and 9 boards, and Paul Pierce 12 points and 8 rebounds as all five starters and seven players hit double figures.
Finally, the Celtics beat the Heat 98-88 on this date in 2016 after coming back from being down 26 points.
Point guard Isaiah Thomas had 21 points and 6 assists to lead the team, Bradley added 17 points and 7 rebounds, and wing Evan Turner contributed 16 points from the bench.
