RealGM

Below are notes on some Russell-era series. All Finals unless otherwise noted.

1957: 7 games, Game 7 was 125-123 in double OT.

1958: 6 games, Russell's only Finals loss (but he was injured), lost last 2 games by 2 and 1 point respectively, the latter as Pettit went 33/21 and then 50/19.

1959: Sweep of the Lakers. 2 games were close. Russell had 28-30 rebounds each game.

1960: Edited because I previously got it wrong.

1961: 5 games. Russell again led the team in scoring in the clincher, going 30/38.

1962 (ECF or whatever they then called it): 7 games. Game 7 was 109-107.

1962 (Finals): Game 7 was 110-107 in OT. Russell AGAIN was the high scorer in the clincher, going 30/40. Game 6 was also a win (Cs had been down 3-2), with Russell as the high assist man.

1963 ("ECF"): Game 7 = 142-131, after a 109-99 loss in Game 6. Sam Jones went off for 47 points.

1963 (Finals): 6 games, 3 of them very close and the 4th by 7 points. Lakers actually outscored the Celtics for the series.

1964: 5 games. Russell was top assist man in 2 wins, one of them the clincher.

1965: 5 games. Russell tied for high scorer in the clincher, going 22/30.

1966: 7 games. Game 7 was 95-93 on the strength of a 33-19 Q4. Russell was high scorer in yet another clincher, this time going 25/32. Top assist men tied w/ 3 each.

We don't talk about 1967.

1968: 6 games, one of the Celtics wins in OT. Havlicek was high scorer in the last 3 wins.

1969: 7 games, after being down 3-2. No balloon drop. Game 7 was 108-106 on a 30-17 Q4. Bill Russell was top rebounder and assist man in his final game. Another win was 89-88. Jerry West was high scorer for the Lakers every game: 53, 41, 24, 40, 39, 26, 42. He was also top assist man in 6 of them.

I think '69 was my 1st year following the C's. I remember the 3 we won with Bird and McHale, etc. And the 1 we won with KG and PP. And I think how we should have won a lot more. Injuries killed us. You need to take advantage of it when you are so close.

I think its pretty clear in this series that game 7 will be decided by the matchup of Butler/Tatum. If Butler outplays Tatum again then the Heat will win. If Tatum outplays Butler or at least matches him Boston wins. Superstars win big games, Tatum needs to solidify that 1st team all NBA spot with a dominate performance. Offensively the Celtics need to move the ball and not dribble more than 2 or 3 times per player per possession. Move the ball, find a driving lane and kick to an open shooter. Keep playing defense the way weve been but make sure someone has a body on Tucker after every Miami shot. His offensive rebounding is killing us.