celtics history – Page 35 – Syndication Server

On this day: former Celtics Don Chaney, Ed Macauley, Brian Shaw born

On this day, a trio of former Boston Celtics were born – Don Chaney, Ed Macauley, and Brian Shaw.

On this day, a trio of former Boston Celtics were born.

The first of which is former Celtics guard Don Chaney, born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana today in 1946. Chaney would play his college ball at the University of Houston, and would be drafted 12th overall by Boston in the 1968 NBA Draft.

He would win a championship in his rookie year with the Celtics, and another with them in 1974 before season-long stints with the Spirits of St. Louis in the A.B.A., and rival Los Angeles Lakers.

Chaney would return to Boston to finish his career in 1977, retiring as a player in 1979 with the Celtics, averaging 8.7 points and 3.9 rebounds over 10 seasons with the team.

He would go on to coach basketball for 22 more years, and is the only Celtics who played with both Boston legends Bill Russell and Larry Bird.

It is also the birthday of big man Ed Macauley (born in 1928), who won an NIT championship with St. Louis before being drafted by the St. Louis Bombers in a BAA (a precursor to the NBA) territorial draft.

That team disbanded at the end of the season, and Macauley would be picked up by Boston in a dispersal draft.

The St. Louis native would end up winning MVP of the first NBA All-Star game the following season, and would get the nod five more times while with the Celtics, until the end of the 1955-56 season.

Macauley was traded to the St. Louis Hawks that summer with Cliff Hagan for legendary big man Bill Russell. He averaged 18.9 points, 8.1 boards and 3.7 assists per game with the Celtics.

Guard Brian Shaw was also born on this day, in 1966. He was drafted by Boston 24th overall in 1988 out of UC Santa Barbara, signing a one-year deal to play with the team, then heading to Il Messaggero Roma, an Italian team, for two years.

In January of 1990, Shaw signed a five-year deal with the Celtics, but informed the team he planned on laying the following season with Il Messaggero Roma.

A contract dispute ensued, and Shaw lost, forcing his return to Boston. The Oakland native would be traded to the Miami Heat in 1992 for point guard Sherman Douglas.

Today is also the day that former Celtics coach Alvin “Doggie” Julian was fired after a disappointing 47-81 record over two seasons. Julian had been a college teammate of Celtics luminary Bob Cousy at Holy Cross.

Today is also the anniversary of a pair of wins since the season Boston won its 17th championship. The first was a 100-91 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks that snapped a six-game winning streak by the latter.

Paul Pierce scored 25 points and 9 rebounds to secure the win, and Kevin Garnett added 16 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Guard Rajon Rondo scored 10 points and 14 assists.

Boston also beat the Indiana Pacers on this day in 2017, winning 109-100 behind a 25-point, 5-assist performance by point guard Isaiah Thomas.

Guard Avery Bradley added 18 points and 8 rebounds, and forward Al Horford contributed 15 points, 8 boards and 8 assists in the win.

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Missing March Madness: Walker, Waters and Edwards advance

March 21st was all about the future backcourt of the Boston Celtics, with three wins and two losses for the team’s guards in the collegiate days.

While March 21st may not have been the kindest of days to all the current Boston Celtics in their NCAA Tournament days, it saw three guards advance deeper into the Big Dance.

With this year’s tournament canceled due to the coronavirus, the Celtics Wire has assembled a date-by-date recounting of how this season’s Celtics did in their collegiate days in the NCAA tourney to help us pass these basketball-less months.

In addition to the advancing trio mentioned above, today was a day postseason dreams ended for another two of Boston’s guards, former Pitt Panther Brad Wanamaker and ex-Oklahoma State Cowboy Marcus Smart.

Wanamaker’s Panthers fell today in 2010 to the Xavier Musketeers 71-68 in the round of 32, the future Celtic scoring 16 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in the loss.

It was also a rough day for Smart, who saw his Cowboys tripped up by the Oregon Ducks in the 2013 tourney’s first round.

The Texan logged 14 points, 9 boards, 4 assists and 5 steals in the 68-55 loss.

Purdue product Carsen Edwards advanced to the round of 32 as his Boilermakers defeated Old Dominion 61-48 in 2019, his 26 points and 7 rebounds leading all players.

The win over the Monarchs would see the Texan sharpshooter face Villanova in the second round on his way to an Elite Eight berth.

Then-LSU point guard Tremont Waters also advanced to the second round on the same day, his Tigers sending the Yale Bulldogs packing back to his home state of Connecticut.

The 79-74 win saw Waters record a 15-point, 7-assist performance that would help LSU on their way to the Sweet Sixteen.

Finally, UConn legend Kemba Walker and the Huskies sent home the alma mater of current teammate Robert Williams III — Texas A&M — long before the rim-running center ever stepped on campus.

In the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, a rookie Walker helped Connecticut crush the Aggies 92-66, scoring 8 points and 4 assists in 23 minutes of play.

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On this day: Cousy goes for 50, Vitaly Potapenko, Norman Cook born

The Boston Celtics saw legendary point guard go for 50 points in the team’s first ever series-clincher in a four-overtime thriller on this date in 1953.

On this day, the Boston Celtics won their first-ever playoff series in 1953 behind a 50-point eruption from point guard Bob Cousy.

The win, a four-overtime victory over the Syracuse Nationals at Boston Garden, and saw Cooz head to the charity stripe for 32 attempts in the pre-shot-clock contest, of which he converted 30.

James Harden would be jealous.

It is also the birthday of two former Celtics, center Vitaly Potapenko and forward Norm Cook.

Cook was drafted 16th overall in the 1976 NBA Draft by Boston out of Kansas, and played just one season for the Celtics, averaging 2.5 points and 1.1 rebounds per game with the team.

“Ukraine Train” — as Potapenko was called — was born in Ukraine and played his college ball at Wright State before being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers 12th overall in 1996.

He would later be traded to Boston in 1999, where he would play for four seasons between 1999 and 2002.

He averaged 7.5 points and 5.8 rebounds with the Celtics before being dealt to the Seattle Supersonics as part of the trade that brought Vin Baker and Shammond Williams to Boston.

The Celtics also have a pair of wins to their name on this date since the season of Banner 17.

In 2011, Boston defeated the New york Knicks 96-86 behind 24 points and 11 rebounds from Kevin Garnett and 21 points and 6 boards from Paul Pierce.

Point guard Rajon Rondo added 13 points and 12 assists to the win.

They also beat the Orlando Magic 107-96 on this date five years later, with Isaiah Thomas logging 28 points and 7 rebounds, and Avery Bradley adding 22 points and 9 boards.

Reserve center Kelly Olynyk would contribute 22 points and 5 rebounds off the bench, hitting 4 of 6 of his 3-point attempts.

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On this day: Mook hits the game-winner, and five more wins

On this day, Marcus Morris Sr. hit a last-second shot to give the Boston Celtics a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2018.

On this day, the Boston Celtics have had extraordinary luck against opponents since the season on Banner 17 in 2007-08, with six wins of note we’ll consider today.

The first of which was a 94-90 win over the Dallas Mavericks in 2008 that saw the “Big Three” — Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen — carry the game for Boston.

Garnett had 22 points and 13 rebounds, Pierce 20 points and 13 boards as well, and Allen 21 points, the UConn product hitting a late 3-pointer to secure the win.

“It’s good to see Ray back and healthy,” Posey said via ESPN. “That’s what he does, make big shots. He’s a big part of this team.”

Today is also the anniversary of an 80-77 win over the San Antonio Spurs in 2009 due to another excellent night for the Big Three.

KG logged 26 points on 12-of-23 shooting accompanied by 12 rebounds, and Pierce had 19 points and 8 boards of his own. Allen chipped in 18 points as well.

In 2010, the Celtics beat the Mavs again, this time 102-93.

They did it without Garnett, who was nursing an injured knee — and in spite of 37 points from big man Dirk Nowitzki.

Boston was led by 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting by Pierce, 21 points from Allen, and 14 points and 12 boards from center Kendrick Perkins.

On this day in 2016, the Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 120-105 with a big game from guard Isaiah Thomas.

IT logged 26 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists, while Sully put up 17 points (including 2 3-pointers) and 13 boards. Guard Avery Bradley added 20 points, and Amir Johnson 18 points and 8 rebounds.

Evan Turner chipped in 17 points, 9 boards and 6 assists in the balanced effort.

In 2017, Boston beat the Washington Wizards 110-102 with Thomas returning from a bruised knee to score 25 points to lead the Celtics to their 45th win of the season.

Bradley added 20 points and 9 rebounds, and big man Al Horford 16 points, 9 boards and 5 assists, while forward Jae Crowder chipped in 16 points and 8 boards.

Finally, in 2018, the Celtics defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-99 with a buzzer-beater trey from forward Marcus Morris with 1.2 seconds remaining.

“Probably my biggest [shot],” Morris said at the time via the Associated Press. “I’ve hit a couple to tie it up. But was my first actual to win it.”

Then-rookie forward Jayson Tatum led Boston with 23 points and 11 rebounds and Mook had 21 counting the winning shot, while center Greg Monroe had 17 points and 6 boards off the bench.

Today is also the birthday of Harvard product Wyndol Gray, who was a Boston Celtic in their Basketball Association of America (the precursor to the NBA) in the 1946-47 season.

Wyndol was born on this day in 1922, and averaged 6.4 points per game in his sole season in Boston.

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On this day, Boston defeat the Heat, Hawks, Hornets and Houston

On this day, the Boston Celtics have four signature wins since the Banner 17 season, beating the Atlanta Hawks, then-New Orleans Hornets, Miami Heat and Houston Rockets.

On this day, the Boston Celtics have had a fair amount of success against regular season opponents since the season they won Banner 17.

Most recently, the Celtics defeated the Miami Heat 101-96 on March 19th, 2014 as Boston began its rebuild in earnest.

A LeBron James-less Heat were surprised by the Massachusetts franchise at TD Garden, with late heroics from point guard Rajon Rondo and forward Jeff Green securing the victory.

James sat due to back spasms, but that should take away from the win given both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh played an outmatched Celtics team and lost, carried by Avery Bradley’s 23 points and 18 points from Brandon Bass.

Boston also defeated the Atlanta Hawks on this date in 2012, stealing a road win with a 13-0 fourth-quarter run powered by Ray Allen’s sharpshooting.

Allen would score 19 points, shooting 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and Kevin Garnett added 16 points and 8 rebounds.

“We could have easily been beaten tonight,” Allen said via the Associated Press. “We took their hit and we counterpunched.”

The Celtics squeaked by the then-New Orleans Hornets 89-85 on the road on this date in 2011, with Allen providing another late push to steal the win.

The UConn product clinched the win with free throws in the game’s final seconds, and scored 20 points in the victory. Center Glen Davis — a graduate of nearby LSU — added 20 points and 8 boards off the bench.

Finally, in 2010, Boston stole a road game against the Houston Rockets 94-87, ending a 4-game win streak for Houston.

Paul Pierce led all scorers with 26 points and 5 rebounds, and Allen poured in five 3-pointers on 8 attempts to log 19 points and 6 assists in the win while KG contributed 15 points and 8 boards.

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Missing March Madness: Hayward’s run begins, Brown stumbles early

In lieu of Boston Celtics and NCAA games, we bring you the highlights of the NCAA Tournament games of current Celtics in their college days, and today we have 4 for you.

In the Celtics Wire’s Missing March Madness, we’re looking back at the games of current Boston Celtics when they were making waves in the NCAA Tournament on the day their games occurred.

With a dozen players on the roster with at least some collegiate postseason experience, we’ll have a good amount of games to look back on to help us fill the void, and for March 18th in particular, we have four such games.

Two of the games were in the round of 64, and two the round of 32. The players who played in the Big Dance on this date are shooting guard Jaylen Brown, forward Gordon Hayward, center Robert Williams III and guard Carsen Edwards.

Brown’s 2016 NCAA experience was a short one, though no fault of his own.

His Cal-Berkeley Golden Bears were not especially well-constructed to take advantage of his skillset, and it hurt his stock a bit as a result.

Cal-Berkeley stumbled out of the gate, falling in the first round to a motivated Hawaii 77-66, with the future Celtics star managing just 4 points and 2 rebounds in the loss.

Hayward, on the other hand, launched a deep run with his Butler recording a 77-59 beatdown of the University of Texas El Paso Miners in 2010.

Hayward logged 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in the win.

Then, we had the games beginning in the round of 32, starting with a certain hyper-athletic rim-runner’s win that sent him to the Sweet Sixteen in 2018.

Timelord’s Aggies of Texas A&M had a huge win over North Carolina in the second round, with Williams’ 8 points, 13 boards and 2 blocks helping to secure the 86-65 blowout.

Finally, in 2017 Carsen Edward’s Boilermakers advanced to face Iowa State in the second round, where Purdue defeated the Cyclones 80-76.

The Texan sharpshooter was still a reserve that season, but managed to put up 9 points on 3-of-6 shooting off the bench.

As the date progresses, so will our Celtics’ runs into the tournament, so keep an eye out for increasing stakes and bigger games as the month gets close to April.

We may not have the actual NCAA tournament to watch, but we’ll do our best to fill the basketball void we’re feeling at all levels from a uniquely Celtics point of view.

Be well, all.

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On this day: trio of Celtics St. Patrick’s Day wins, Bob Cousy retires

The Boston Celtics have a trio of outstanding wins over the last dozen years on St. Patrick’s Day; it’s also the 57th anniversary of Bob Cousy’s retirement.

The Boston Celtics have had St. Patrick’s Day off more often than not over the last decade or so, which is probably fitting given the roots of the team in Boston’s Irish-American community.

But they’ve also had three impressive wins on that day since the start of the “Big Three” era of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, two of which belong to the iterations of the Celtics with that trio on the roster.

The most recent such win, in 2017 against the Brooklyn Nets, saw a young Celtics roster emerging from a rebuild secure a tight game with a huge game from forward Jae Crowder.

The Marquette product scored 24 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go with 12 rebounds to lead all scorers 9 of his total coming in the final frame alone.

Crowder leading Boston to a 98-95 win came despite point guard Isaiah Thomas resting for knee soreness, the Georgian stepping up in his absence.

Boston also beat the New York Knicks on that day seven years earlier, winning 109-97 with an excellent effort from Paul Pierce (29 points) and help from KG (22 points).

It was the most points the duo had combined for that season, both having missed considerable time in the second half of the season to injury.

“There were a lot of toos out there,” Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni said at the time (via the Associated Press). “They were too big, too quick, too good, and the road trip a little too long”.

And finally, in the season the Celtics hung Banner 17 — 2007-08 for you reent fans — Boston defeated the might San Antonio Spurs 93-91, with a balanced outing from Pierce (22 points and 8 boards), KG (21 points and 8 rebounds) and point guard Rajon Rondo (20 points and 6 assists).

Reserve guard Sam Cassell added 17 points and 5 boards off the bench in the come-from-behind win against the then-defending champions.

“The Spurs, they’re a well-oiled machine. We knew they were going to come in fired up. They lost some games as of late and any champion is going to come out with its haymakers,” said Garnett at the time (via ESPN).

It is the 57th anniversary of the retirement of Celtic great Bob Cousy, who left the game at 34 in a ceremony held at Boston Garden famous for a fan breaking Cousy’s awkward silence in his emotion-choked retirement speech by shouting, “We love ya Cooz!”.

The legendary Boston point guard even received a message from then-president John. F. Kennedy stating, “The game bears an indelible stamp of your rare skills and competitive daring” (via author Gary M. Pomerantz in The Last Pass).

Cousy would win seven titles with Boston, be elected the league’s Most Valuable Player and would get 13 invitations to the NBA All-Star games, one of the greatest to play the game and a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Today is also the 61st birthday of team president and former Celtics two-time champion Danny Ainge., and former Boston and current Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier, who is 26 today.

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On this day: Celtics beat Magic 92-83 with 17 from Terry Rozier, Greg Monroe

On this day, the Boston Celtics beat the Orlando Magic 92-83 as Scary Terry began to spread his wings and Greg Monroe chipped in.

On this day, point guard Terry Rozier and Greg Monroe led the Boston Celtics to a 92-83 win over the Orlando Magic with 17 points each as the stretch run unfolded in 2018.

Filling in for an injured Kyrie Irving, Scary Terry was in the beginning stages of the run that would eventually see him and Boston’s young wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum lead this team to the brink of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The win came without Brown, who was still recovering from a concussion, and saw center Al Horford score 15 points as well.

“It wasn’t pretty,” head coach Brad Stevens said at the time (via the Associated Press). “We obviously didn’t make a ton of shots, but our defense was pretty darn good.”

Today is also the birthday of former Celtic forward Bob Harris, who played for the team between 1950 and 1954. A product of Oklahoma State, Harris was drafted in 1949 by the Pistons, when they were still in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

He would be traded to Boston the following year for big man Dick Mehen, and average 6.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game over four seasons with the Celtics.

Harris would be traded back to the Pistons in 1954, but never played again in NBA.

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On this day: Celtics defeat Timberwolves 117-104 behind IT’s 27 points

On this day in 2017, the Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-104 behind 27 points from point guard Isaiah Thomas.

On this day in 2017, The Boston Celtics defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves behind 27 points from star point guard Isaiah Thomas.

The 43-25 Celtics beat the 28-39 Wolves with help from Thomas, Al Horford (20 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists) and Avery Bradley (18 points) despite a 23-point, 7-assist game from Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio, and 21 points from forwards Andrew Wiggins and Shabazz Muhammad both.

Hoping for a deep playoff run, Horford was happy with how the team responded even if Minnesota wasn’t a particularly deadly team at that time.

“I think we need to understand the sense of urgency. It doesn’t matter who we play, what their record is. We’re playing for bigger things,” said the now-Philadelphia 76ers (via the Associated Press). “So we have to make sure that we start to build these habits.”

While the Celtics would fall short of a banner, they would make a strong showing in the postseason, ultimately falling to the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers 1-4 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

March 15th also happens to be the birthday of three early Boston Celtics — forward Connie Simmons (with Boston in 1946-47 and 1947-48), guard/forward John Janisch (on the Celtics’ roster in 1947-48), and forward/center Brady Walker, who was with Boston in the 1949-50 season.

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On this day: Paul Silas traded, Celtics become 1st team to 61 games

On this day, Boston Celtics forward Paul Silas was traded to the team from the Suns, and Boston became the 1st team to 61 wins in NBA history.

On March 14 1972, future Boston Celtic forward Paul Silas was traded to the Massachusetts franchise from the Phoenix Suns, and was not happy about it.

As compensation for relinquishing the draft rights for player Charlie Scott, legendary Celtics president Red Auerbach squeezed the Suns for assets, netting him the contract of Silas in return for letting Scott go to Phoenix.

The Arkansas native, having just bought a home in Arizona, was displeased even while aware of the growing mystique surrounding Boston.

“It was difficult … I just didn’t want to go, so Red Auerbach started talking to me and whatnot and I just didn’t have much to say,” explained Silas via Grantland’s Jonathan Abrams. “I did not want to go.”

Eventually, the team and particularly Auerbach would win over the reticent big man, who came around to the organization after some time with Red and his basketball-obsessed mind.

“I’d talk to him about basketball, about this, about that, whatever,” offered Silas . “It was just special. He was so smart and I began to love being there.”

Silas would go on to win two of his three rings with Boston in 1974 and 1976.

The Celtics also happened to become the first team to win 61 games 54 years ago today, as a John Havlicek, Tommy Heinsohn, Willie Naulls, Sam and KC Jones, and Bill Russell-led Celtics took the 1964-65 Celtics to the record number of victories with a 106-98 win against the San Francisco Warriors at home.

That iteration of the team would eventually go on to win the 1965 NBA championship against Boston’s oldest rival, the Los Angeles Lakers.

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