From my notes on this season:
January 20, 1967, Chamberlain shot 15-for-15 for 32 points, 30 rebounds and nine assists in a 119-108 win over the Lakers. It was the 76ers’ 30th in its last 32 games, and 36th straight at home, and they were 45-4 for the season. It gave him 27 consecutive field goals made. February 24, Chamberlain shot 18-for-18 for 42 points in a 149-118 win over Baltimore. From Feb. 17 to Feb. 28, he made 35 consecutive field goals without a miss. Feb. 28, 1967, Chamberlain had 28 points (11-14 FG), 36 rebounds and nine assists in a 127-107 win over Cincinnati at Syracuse. Chamberlain made his first four field goals to set an NBA record with 35 consecutive field goals. March 19, Chamberlain shot 16-for-16 in a 132-129 comeback win over Baltimore on the last day of the season.
Triple doubles. (not complete) 1) Dec. 17, 1966, 28 points, 27 rebounds and 12 assists in a 120-105 win over Detroit; 2) Dec. 26, 38 points, 32 rebounds and 10 assists in a 134-118 win over the Lakers; 4) Jan. 27, 17 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a 110-107 win over Cincinnati; 4) Feb. 15, 1967, 18 points, 28 rebounds and 10 assists in a 127-121 win over the Detroit Pistons; 5) Mar. 5, season-low 10 points, 25 rebounds and 16 assists in a 131-106 win over Detroit; 6) Mar. 18, 26 points, 17 rebounds and 15 assists; 7) Mar. 22, 37 points, 27 rebounds and 11 assists in a 123-102.
Near misses: 1) Dec. 28, Chamberlain had 24 points, 32 rebounds and nine assists in a 113-108 win over Boston in their fourth head-to-head meeting; 2) Jan. 4, 1967, 21 points, 25 rebounds and nine assists in a 136-115 win over Chicago for their 11th consecutive victory; 3) Feb. 28, 1967, 28 points (11-14 FG), 36 rebounds and nine assists in a 127-107 win over Cincinnati at Syracuse.
Feb. 17, 1967, Chamberlain had a season-high 17 assists against Cincinnati. March 2, 1967 he grabbed an NBA season-high 38 rebounds against Detroit.
Defense. Nov. 8, 1966, Chamberlain had 18 points (8-13 FG), 24 rebounds, 17 blocks and four assists in a 118-100 win over New York for their eighth win in nine games. “Defense in the name of the game,” Chamberlain said afterwards. “It’s what I get paid for. When asked about his low point production this year, he said, “Why should it bother me. We’re winning, aren’t we?” Jan. 14, 1967, Chamberlain had 19 points, 25 rebounds and 13 blocked shots in a 110-95 win over Boston to increase its lead to 9½ games.
For the first time in his career, Chamberlain failed to lead the league in scoring. Rick Barry wrote, “I won the NBA scoring title only because Wilt Chamberlain didn’t want it that year. Oscar Robertson averaged 30 points a game and Jerry West 28 and Elgin Baylor 26 (although they both missed a lot of games). Wilt averaged 24. Wilt had decided he’d been scoring champion often enough and he’d be more of a passer than scorer from then on. But anytime he wanted to, Wilt could have scored more than 35 points a game, and I know it, and he knows it, and everyone should know it” (Rick Barry with Bill Libby,
Confessions of a Basketball Gypsy: The Rick Barry Story [Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1972], p. 102). Chamberlain scored an NBA season-high 58 points Feb. 13, 1967 against Cincinnati.
PostseasonEastern Division Semifinals - Philadelphia 76ers (68-13) vs. Cincinnati Royals (39-42)Cincinnati upset Philadelphia in Game 1 120-116 to take a 1-0 lead behind Oscar Robertson’s 33 points (11-20 FG, 11-11 FT) and 16 assists and Connie Dierking’s 29. Chamberlain had a game-high 41 points (19-30 FG, 3-9 FT), 22 rebounds and five assists.
In Game 2, Chamberlain had 37 points (16-24 FG, 5-9 FT), 27 rebounds and 11 assists to lead Philadelphia to a 123-102 win. “Wilt showed why he should be recognized as the greatest player in the history of the game,” said 76er coach Alex Hannum. Hal Greer had 28. Philadelphia shot 49-for-101 (48.5%), Cincinnati shot 40-for-92 (43.5%). Oscar Robertson led Cincinnati with 29 points (9-17 FG, 11-11 FT) with six rebounds and nine assists, Connie Dierking had 21 and 17 rebounds.
In Game 3, Chamberlain had 16 points (8-13 FG, 0-2 FT), 30 rebounds, and a playoff record-tying 19 assists to lead Philadelphia to a 121-106 win over Cincinnati to give them a 2-1 lead. Chamberlain tied the record set by Bob Cousy in the 1957 and 1959 playoffs. “I am pleased because guards have been recognized as the playmakers of the game for so long. This proves that centers can be playmakers. After all, that’s what the pivot was really meant for—for the rest of the players to move around the pivot” (
The Miami News, Mar. 25, 1967).
Philadelphia won Game 4 to eliminate the Royals 112-94, Chamberlain narrowly missing a triple double with 18 points (7-14 FG, 4-13 FT), 27 rebounds and nine assists. Chamberlain made the first two baskets of the game, and the 76ers never trailed. Oscar Robertson was held to 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting in the loss. Chamberlain averaged 28 points, 26.5 rebounds and 11 assists, shooting 61.2 percent from the floor.
Eastern Division Finals - Philadelphia 76ers (68-13) vs. Boston Celtics (60-21)Philadelphia won Game 1 127-113, Hal Greer scoring a game-high 39 (17-35 FG, 5-5 FT), and Chamberlain with 24 points (9-13 FG, 6-10 FT), 32 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked shots. Jones led Boston with 24, Havlicek had 22, and Russell had 20 points (7-14 FG, 6-7 FT), 15 rebounds and four assists. The Celtics shot 32 percent from the floor for the first half; Jones and Havlicek were 4-for-24 at halftime.
Philadelphia won Game 2 in Boston 107-102, Hal Greer leading the way with 23 points, Wally Jones with 22, Hal Greer with 17, Luke Jackson with 15, and Chamberlain with 15 points (5-11 FG, 5-9 FT), 29 rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots (
Kentucky New Era, April 3, 1967) to Russell's 14 points, 24 rebounds and five assists.
BOSTON (AP) — Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers are finally playing together instead of fighting each other, says K.C. Jones, and the result is the most serious threat in nine years to the Boston Celtics, perennial National Basketball Association champions.
“It’s not just Wilt; the attitude of the whole club has changed,” the Celtics’ defensive ace said today as his reeling team looked ahead to the third game of the Eastern Division final playoffs at Philadelphia Wednesday. The 76ers have won the first two games in the best-of-7 series.
“This year for the first time they’re helping one another, complementing one another, instead of bickering on the court the way they used to,” Jones said. “This has put them on the road to success.”
Jones said that the 7-foot-1 Chamberlain appears to have more confidence in his teammates and much more desire than in the past.
“Wilt is getting up and down the court as fast as he can instead of trotting the way he did before,” the Celtics backcourt star added.
Philadelphia won Game 3 115-104 to take a 3-0 lead, Hal Greer leading the Sixers with 30 points, Wally Jones with 21, and Chamberlain with 20 points (8-14 FG, 4-8 FT), grabbed a playoff-record 41 rebounds, passed for nine assists and blocked five shots. Russell had 10 points, 29 rebounds, nine assists and four blocked shots.
Philadelphia coach Alex Hannum had praise for all his players but Boston player-coach Bill Russell singled out Wilt Chamberlain as the key man in the series.
“The key to the game, as he has been throughout the series, was Chamberlain,” said Russell. “His great defense and his rebounding, especially off the defensive board, did it. It wasn’t often that we missed and got a second chance. He seemed to gobble up everything.”
The 7-foot, 1 inch Chamberlain pulled down a playoff-record-total of 41 rebounds, scored 20 points, had nine assists and blocked five shots. Russell, also playing in peak form, had 29 rebounds, scored 10 points,
In Game 4 before a sellout crowd of 13,909 at the Boston Garden, the Celtics won 121-117 to prevent a sweep and keep their season alive. Sam Jones had 32 points and John Havlicek had 31. Russell had eight points, a game-high 28 rebounds, and five assists. Luke Jackson led Philadelphia with 29, and Hal Greer had 28. Chamberlain had 20 points (8-18 FG, 4-11 FT), 22 rebounds and 10 assists.
April 17, 1967
The New Spirit Of The 76ers
Gambling on defense and running relentlessly on offense, both tributes to the dominant play of Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia took a commanding lead over the Celtics in the Eastern Division pro playoffsFrank Deford
The Boston Celtics were falling like the House of Usher—all in a heap, wham! into the depths. They were behind, 3-1, to Philadelphia and their eight years of world supremacy—the finest achievement of any team in the history of professional sports—seemed likely to become just a note in the record books. The approaching hour of defeat, all but inexorable despite a last-stand victory at home on Sunday, brought them one final tribute: they were being beaten by a team that is bigger, stronger and younger but is, nevertheless, patterned precisely after the Celtics themselves. "They are playing the same game that we've played for the last nine years," said K.C. Jones, not patronizingly but with admiration. "And they've gained respect and confidence in each other." Then, undoubtedly recalling the years when Wilt Chamberlain-led teams hardly displayed the selfless dedication that distinguished and inspired the Celtics, he added thoughtfully, "They have a real clean attitude."
That attitude, the essence of a champion that now invests the Philadelphia 76ers, was neatly illustrated by a minor incident in a game many years ago. Sam Jones—Sam, the marvelous shooter—had made the grade with the Celtics of Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman. He heard Cousy call to Red Auerbach on the bench, "Get him out, get him out!" and he wondered what he was doing wrong. A few seconds later, when Cousy called time out, Sam was told: you were not shooting enough. The idea had never occurred to him; it would not have occurred to a player on any other team, either. The reverse—shooting too much, trying for points without regard for his teammates—would have been the likely cause of a player's removal. But the Celtics, aware of Sam's ability, were working hard to set him up, and he had not been shooting enough. That's the kind of team the Celtics were and are, and that's the kind of team the 76ers have become.
It was fair to remember that about the Celtics at a time when strange things were suddenly visible in their play: Sam and John Havlicek missing shots again and again; Hal Greer getting away from K.C.; Tom Sanders wandering aimlessly on defense where once he strode like a little Bill Russell; and Russell himself, dominated by Wilt Chamberlain, looking, finally, like a little Bill Russell, too. Red Auerbach saw it all. He sat near the Boston bench, powerless to do anything but watch, with not even a program to squeeze in anguish.
The loyal Boston fans—displaying the mentality that makes it advisable to continue banning even the mildest sort of provocative literature from their bookstores—were not content to suffer quietly. In the second game, when the Celtics were stumbling and desperate, the boos—real and mean—tore out of the stands. They were directed mostly at Russell, who is, presumably only as good as his last eight straight championships.
The Celtics themselves made no excuse, nor did they have any. Their three defeats were decisive, and they accepted them with style. Yet except for the opening 127-113 rout, those games were close, and there were even times when it seemed they would pull it out as they always had before. Perhaps the most significant came in the second game, the first one in Boston, which the Celtics had to win or fall behind 2-0. That had never before happened in all the championship years. Seven times the Celtics had fallen behind 1-0 or 2-1 but had come back to tie the series. Ten times they had had to win or be eliminated. In those must games they had been 17-0. Now in the 18th, they moved in front 51-47 and then suddenly, as of old, burst far ahead. Russell signaled it by clobbering a Chamberlain shot, and the Celtics were off, all of them. After two quick baskets Sanders-swooping down, trailing, ready for the rebound if Bailey Howell missed the layup—saw it drop in, and in the pure exhilaration of the old Celtic chase he gave a little jump for joy, rising like a kid off his tippy-toes and flapping his arms. But Philly came right back with eight straight points, soon caught up and then moved ahead for good. The only sounds in Boston Garden came from the Celtic bench, the players there pleading for their teammates on the floor to call time-out so they could try to recover.
The Celtics did come back, to within a point, with 1:48 left. They did it with a pressing team, consisting of Russell and Havlicek and three guards—K.C., Larry Siegfried and rookie Jim Barnett. At this point everyone expected that Russell would bring another shooter into the game, Sam or Bailey Howell (who had shot 11 for 15). Instead, he played a pat hand, and after Chamberlain sank a foul the Celtics missed five straight shots before Wilt finally cleared the ball. Boston never scored again.
Afterward, Russell said that the decision not to substitute was his own. At least he had had a time-out to deliberate this point. At other times the Boston bench—looking like the Lost Boys when Peter Pan was away fighting pirates on his own—seemed out of sight, out of mind. It may be true that not even a complete series like this one furnishes the clinching argument against the idea of the playing coach. But logic indicates that a man playing 48 minutes and in the pivot and against Wilt Chamberlain can scarcely hope to match wits with a man like Alex Hannum, presiding vigilantly over the Philly bench.
It is worth noting, too, that St. Louis did not beat San Francisco in the Western playoffs until the only other NBA player-coach, Richie Guerin, removed himself from the starting lineup for the third game. True, Guerin was acting primarily for reasons other than just to obtain thinking room. He wanted to get Joe Caldwell (a 6'5" forward) into the lineup to shadow Rick Barry, and at the same time he wanted to keep his own high-scoring corner man, Lou Hudson, in the game. Caldwell guarded Barry, holding him to 11 points below Barry's playoff average against St. Louis, and then Joe switched with Hudson on offense, playing guard. Guerin used the same strategy in the fourth game and won again, though an ankle injury to Barry also helped the Hawks.
Russell had a lineup change himself for the third game. He started two from his pressing team, Havlicek and Siegfried, in place of Sanders and K.C. The Celtics pressed from the first, and the two teams were soon putting on a running exhibition that would have filled all the requirements for an adequate substitute program at Aqueduct. Such a tempo was bound to produce errors, but at the same time it was superb basketball. It was seesaw, but not in the usual basket-trading sense. Instead, the balance would shift for whole minutes, depending on who controlled the breaks.
Philadelphia won 115-104 because Chamberlain was better than Russell and because, on those occasions when the teams set up outside, the 76er shooting by Hal Greer and Wally Jones was more consistent than Boston's. Except for his petulant expressions at errors and whistles, Chamberlain was magnificent. He set a playoff record of 41 rebounds, many of them coming because he was trailing every Boston break and grabbing missed shots when he should have been gasping for breath at the other end of the floor. "I've never moved so much in my life," he said later. "Not even the night I scored 100." That says more about the way Chamberlain played in the series than all the testimonials offered by others. On offense there was no pressure on the 76ers to set up and wait for him to move into the pivot. On the contrary, by throwing the long lead pass repeatedly, Wilt was taking himself out of the offensive play, giving his fast-breaking teammates the scoring advantage. On defense his conscientious support allowed them to play the aggressive, gambling game that the Celtics have used with Russell for a decade.
A few hours before this game Hannum had gone to his favorite restaurant, Kelly's on Mole Street, a seafood place. With him was Danny Biasone, the man who invented the 24-second clock that saved pro basketball. Danny Biasone also invented the Philadelphia 76ers. At the time, in 1946, they were a semipro team in Syracuse, and all Biasone wanted was to play the Rochester team. But Rochester would not play him. Somebody told Biasone that Rochester belonged to something called the National League, which had an office in Chicago, so Biasone figured one way to make Rochester play him was to get in the National League, too. He called Chicago. "They told me," he said to Hannum, " 'sure you can get in. Just put a $1,000 certified check in the mail.' " Biasone sent the check, and that was the way the Philadelphia 76ers began.
There is not much of Syracuse left on the 76ers now, but Danny Biasone came down to Philly to see how far his $1,000 had gone. Hannum and Biasone had the clams and then the flounder. They were relaxed and cheerful. Their team had given Philadelphia its biggest edge over Boston since young Ben Franklin changed his residence.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm
In Game 5 back in Philadelphia, the 76ers won 140-116 to dethrone the Celtics. Hal Greer led the Sixers with 32 points, Chet Walker had 26, Wally Jones 23, and Chamberlain had 29 points (10-16 FG, 9-17 FT), 36 rebounds, 13 assists and seven blocked shots to Russell's four points, 21 rebounds and seven assists (
The Miami News, April 12, 1967). John Havlicek had a game-high 38 points for Boston, and Larry Siegfried had 24.
For the series, Chamberlain averaged 21.6 points on 55.6 percent shooting, 32 rebounds and 10 assists.
NBA Finals – Philadelphia 76ers (68-13) vs. San Francisco Warriors (44-37)In Game 1, Chamberlain had 16 points, 33 rebounds and 10 assists in a 141-135 win in overtime.
In Game 2, Philadelphia held San Francisco to only their second sub-hundred point game of the season, held them to 29.5 percent shooting, and outrebounded them 101-83 as they won 126-95 to take a 2-0 lead. Hal Greer led Philadelphia with 30 points, Billy Cunningham had 28, and Chamberlain had 10 points, 38 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 blocked shots. With his fourth triple double in as many games, Chamberlain set an NBA record for most consecutive triple doubles in the same NBA postseason. After leading 26-17 after the first period, the 76ers never trailed.
[Game 3 is missing from my notes. Will fill in later.]
Philadelphia won Game 4 122-108 to take a 3-1 series lead. Hal Greer had 38, Chet Walker had 33-14 in the fourth quarter, Chamberlain had 10 points (3-6 FG, 4-9 FT), 27 rebounds, 15 blocked shots and eight assists. “Wilt never played better,” said coach Alex Hannum. “Every time I looked up, he was blocking a shot. […] I don’t believe he ever has had a better defensive game.” Rick Barry had 43 for the Warriors.
Philadelphia won Game 5 125-122 to win the NBA title. Rick Barry scored 44 in defeat. Chamberlain finally won the big one.
For the postseason, Chamberlain averaged 21.7 points, 29.1 rebounds and nine assists. He averaged 28 points, 26.5 rebounds and 11 assists against Cincinnati in the Eastern Division Semfinals, and 21.6 points, 32 rebounds and 10 assists in the Eastern Division Finals against Boston. Chamberlain had quadruple doubles in back-to-back series against Bill Russell and Nate Thurmond, the two greatest defensive centers of his era.
I've said it before: this is the greatest single season in NBA history.
