Lakers Top Bullets as Jerry West Shines

Apr. 5, 1965 - Jerry West, making a magnificent effort to make up for the loss of Elgin Baylor all by himself, shot down the Baltimore Bullets for the second straight time tonight.

An L.A. Sports Arena crowd of 10,594, kept in a frenzy most of the night by a real thriller, broke out in thunderous applause as West scored four points in the last 23 seconds to bring the Lakers from behind and present them with a 118-115 triumph.

West’s feats were capped by an amazing play in which he followed his own missed shot and somehow slipped through a field of giants to grab the rebound and lay it in.

That gave Los Angeles a 116-115 lead, and when Gene Wiley and Don Nelson collaborated to grab off the rebound on Don Ohl’s frantic attempt to win it, Nelson tossed the ball to West, who was fouled once more.

The All-Pro guard calmly swished through the free tosses with four seconds left. That ran his total to 52, including 20 free throws in succession.

West’s total, the most ever in a playoff game by a guard, fell short of Baylor’s record of 61, but nobody cared about that. Even Baylor, listening to Chick Hearn’s report via radio in Daniel Freeman Hospital where he’s recuperating from knee surgery, gladly settled for the win by his teammates.

“I’m kind of tired,” said West afterward, “but we sure wanted this one.”

Los Angeles coach Fred Schaus credited West’s phenomenal play but also the team’s first-quarter defense that enabled the club to get a big early lead (21-7).

“That gave Jerry a chance to coast a little, and he had something left at the finish,” said Schaus. “West was fantastic, but don’t overlook Wiley’s block of Walt Bellamy’s shot when we were only a point ahead late in the game. He came out of nowhere to make a tremendous play.”

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