Lakers Advance to NBA Finals

Apr. 13, 1965 - They may not become champions of the world, but the courageous Lakers have the heart of a champion. 

This they demonstrated to the despair of the Baltimore Bullets and their fans by scoring a 117-115 victory tonight and advancing to the NBA finals.

They won’t know until Thursday night if they will be playing the Celtics or the 76ers, but whichever team it is will find the Lakers as ready as any team missing Elgin Baylor can be.

“This club won it with heart,” said a jubilant coach Fred Schaus. “We started out cold tonight, but I was proud the way we fought back.

“They were all stars. West [42 points] of course, as always, but didn’t that Barnett do a job and Ellis really went in the second half. Then don’t forget, Wiley made a great dunk for a key basket.”

Owner Bob Short beamed as he said he was never so proud of any previous Laker team. “Even when we lost Baylor,” he said, “I felt we could do it.”

When tonight’s game began, it appeared that the Lakers were not going to make it in six games.

Don Ohl and Bailey Howell came to play, and only Dick Barnett, hitting on five straight from way out, kept the Bullets from turning it into a rout.

But in the second period, the bench — especially Darrall Imhoff and Don Nelson — picked up the club. Then, in the closing minutes of the half, West scored seven points to give the Lakers a four-point bulge.

Although it wound up close, the Lakers played it smart. They needed two great plays, one by West on defense and Wiley’s over-the-back-of-his-head dunk with 51 seconds to play.

On the former play, West, racing down court, went up with Don Ohl, grabbed the ball away from him and came down court, passed off, and the Lakers got a bucket and led by eight.

“That defensive maneuver by Jerry was the key play of the game,” said Schaus. “It meant four points to us. I had just about given up when I saw Don on the break, but Jerry wouldn’t quit and made the big play.”

Baltimore coach Buddy Jeannette had this to say: “The boys tried their hardest but just couldn’t do it. They played as hard as they could, and now I’m going to wish the Lakers well. The way they played against us, they can give anybody fits.”

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