Celtics Take 3-1 Series Lead in NBA Finals

Apr. 23, 1965 - The fastest gun in the West jammed tonight, so the Boston Celtics took a giant step toward their seventh straight world championship.

Jerry West couldn’t get the ball to drop through the hoop and, to the chagrin of 15,217 L.A. Sports Arena fans, the Celtics came from behind to whip the Lakers, 112-99, and take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven NBA final series. Sam Jones pumped in 37 points to pace Boston. His sharpshooting brought the Celtics even at the start of the second half, and then Satch Sanders joined in, and the then Boston led by six going into the last quarter.

Rudy LaRusso and Don Nelson cut it to four, but then the Lakers went completely cold, making only three buckets in the next eight minutes. 

Chances are the Lakers won’t bag three in a row, but they’ve played their hearts out, won some fans, and wouldn’t even have been here if West hadn’t been phenomenal.

The youngster from West Virginia figured to have a bad night once in these playoffs, but this turned out to be a nightmare. The Laker great never had so many easy shots, but only six of the 27 stayed in the hoop. What made it worse was the fact that Jerry made only one of his last 15 shots.

This was the night the club needed Elgin Baylor the most. When Jerry has had off nights before, Baylor has always seemed able to come up with the big effort. But Elgin is out of the playoffs with a knee injury.

Coach Fred Schaus echoed most of the onlookers’ feelings when he said: “First, I want to say the kids played a fine game. Ellis and Wiley played the boards well. 

“However, the game turned in the third quarter. We had our shots and missed. The Celtics had theirs and hit. That’s all there was to it.

“I don’t see how anyone can criticize West. He has been so great you wouldn’t believe it. You won’t get me to say anything. He’s carried us.”

“I thought I cost the Lakers the game tonight,” said West afterward. “I don’t think I could have made a layup in the second half. I had the shots, took them, and they didn’t go in.”

K.C. Jones, who defended West, would not take too much credit. 

“No,” said K.C. “Jerry had the shots, and he wasn’t forcing them. A great shooter doesn’t force his shots at any time, even when pressure is on him, and his team is trailing. He was just missing.”

The fifth game of the series is slated for Boston Sunday afternoon, and Celtic coach Red Auerbach fully expects to wrap it up at that time.

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