Celtics Take First Game in Playoff Matchup with 76ers

Apr. 4, 1965 - The walking wounded were way out in front of a spirited charge that carried the Celtics to a 108-98 runaway victory over the Philadelphia 76ers this afternoon at Boston Garden.

A sellout crowd of 13,909 roared approval as Boston’s biggest cripples — Tom Heinsohn and John Havlicek — burned their adversaries with bristling shooting performances.

Heinsohn, playing with a sponge taped to his foot to cushion an arch injury, fired the Celtic offense with 23 points.

Havlicek, after his ailing knee was drained for the seventh time this season in order to play, added another 20.

As a result, the Celts jumped into a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series for the Eastern Division title. The next match comes Tuesday night in Philly, where the 76ers had better come up with a better team effort if they want to make a contest of the series. Because today, Philly had a two-man team and suffered the consequences.

Wilt Chamberlain (“That’s as good as I’ve ever seen him play,” Red Auerbach said later) was immense with 33 points and 31 rebounds.

Bill Russell, although outscored decisively by Wilt, outrebounded him 32-31, had six assists, and “did the job he was supposed to do,” as Auerbach described it.

Wilt’s only aide was Hal Greer, who contributed 27 points on some sharpshooting from outside.

“We were due for a bad game, and we had it,” said a downcast coach Dolph Schayes afterward. “We played four fine games against Cincinnati to get her, and our forwards were tremendous in all those games. Today, they weren’t.

“We lost the ball 13 times in the first half alone without getting off a shot. Just bad ball handling, and I believe this was due to too cautious play on our part.

“We stood around too much. We moved toward the ball instead of away from it, and we didn’t hit the open man often enough.

“We knew the press was coming. Boston has used it all year long, and we talked about it and planned for it, but we just didn’t execute that plan.

“Wilt was great. He played a winning game, but we didn’t give him any help other than Hal’s shooting. But this is a seven-game series, and we’re still very much alive.”Chamberlain, wanting to beat Auerbach more than anything and keyed high as an Apollo moon shot, summed it all up simply: “I’ve seen them look better, but I’ve never seen us look so bad.”

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