1962 NBA Finals
1962 basketball championship series
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The 1962 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1962 NBA playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1961–62 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion Los Angeles Lakers and Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics. This was the Celtics' sixth straight trip to the Finals, and they won the best-of-seven series in Game 7, 110–107 in overtime. It was the second time in NBA history and the most recent Finals in which the series was decided by overtime in Game 7. The only other Finals series decided in overtime in the seventh game was the 1957 Finals.
Carl Braun (2019)
Bob Cousy (1971)
Tom Heinsohn (1986 as player, 2015 as coach)
K. C. Jones (1989)
Sam Jones (1984)
Frank Ramsey (1982)
Bill Russell (1975)
Satch Sanders (2011, contributor)
Lakers:
Elgin Baylor (1977)
Jerry West (1980)
Coaches:
Red Auerbach (1969)
Officials:
Mendy Rudolph (2007)
Earl Strom (1995)
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| Dates | April 7–18 | |||||||||
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| Hall of Famers | Celtics: Carl Braun (2019) Bob Cousy (1971) Tom Heinsohn (1986 as player, 2015 as coach) K. C. Jones (1989) Sam Jones (1984) Frank Ramsey (1982) Bill Russell (1975) Satch Sanders (2011, contributor) Lakers: Elgin Baylor (1977) Jerry West (1980) Coaches: Red Auerbach (1969) Officials: Mendy Rudolph (2007) Earl Strom (1995) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Celtics defeated Warriors, 4–3 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Lakers defeated Pistons, 4–2 | |||||||||
Series summary
| Game | Date | Home team | Result | Road team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | April 7 | Boston Celtics | 122–108 (1–0) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 2 | April 8 | Boston Celtics | 122–129 (1–1) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 3 | April 10 | Los Angeles Lakers | 117–115 (2–1) | Boston Celtics |
| Game 4 | April 11 | Los Angeles Lakers | 103–115 (2–2) | Boston Celtics |
| Game 5 | April 14 | Boston Celtics | 121–126 (2–3) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 6 | April 16 | Los Angeles Lakers | 105–119 (3–3) | Boston Celtics |
| Game 7 | April 18 | Boston Celtics | 110–107 (OT)[1] (4–3) | Los Angeles Lakers |
Celtics win series 4–3
Team rosters
Boston Celtics
Los Angeles Lakers
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Head coach
Legend
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Box scores
April 7 |
| Los Angeles Lakers 108, Boston Celtics 122 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 32–29, 20–31, 22–35, 34–27 | ||
| Pts: Elgin Baylor 35 Rebs: Elgin Baylor 17 Asts: Jerry West 4 |
Pts: Sam Jones 24 Rebs: Bill Russell 28 Asts: Bob Cousy 7 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 8 |
| Los Angeles Lakers 129, Boston Celtics 122 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–36, 43–23, 29–39, 27–24 | ||
| Pts: Jerry West 40 Rebs: Jim Krebs 13 Asts: Frank Selvy 6 |
Pts: Tom Heinsohn 27 Rebs: Bill Russell 23 Asts: Bob Cousy 11 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 10 |
| Boston Celtics 115, Los Angeles Lakers 117 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–24, 23–30, 28–33, 37–30 | ||
| Pts: Bill Russell 26 Rebs: Bill Russell 32 Asts: Bob Cousy 8 |
Pts: Elgin Baylor 39 Rebs: Elgin Baylor 23 Asts: Frank Selvy 5 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 2–1 | ||
- Jerry West steals Sam Jones' inbound pass and hit the game winning buzzer-beater.
April 11 |
| Boston Celtics 115, Los Angeles Lakers 103 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 32–20, 28–31, 31–25, 24–27 | ||
| Pts: Bill Russell 21 Rebs: Bill Russell 22 Asts: Bob Cousy 13 |
Pts: Elgin Baylor 38 Rebs: Elgin Baylor 14 Asts: Elgin Baylor 6 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
April 14 |
| Los Angeles Lakers 126, Boston Celtics 121 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–30, 35–38, 27–31, 33–22 | ||
| Pts: Elgin Baylor 61 Rebs: Elgin Baylor 22 Asts: Frank Selvy 5 |
Pts: Tom Heinsohn 30 Rebs: Bill Russell 29 Asts: Bob Cousy 10 | |
| Los Angeles leads series, 3–2 | ||
- Elgin Baylor's 61 points sets a Finals record for an individual scorer in a game.
April 16 |
| Boston Celtics 119, Los Angeles Lakers 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 33–34, 24–31, 34–16, 28–24 | ||
| Pts: Sam Jones 35 Rebs: Bill Russell 24 Asts: Bill Russell 10 |
Pts: West, Baylor 34 each Rebs: Elgin Baylor 15 Asts: West, LaRusso 5 each | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
April 18 |
| Los Angeles Lakers 107, Boston Celtics 110 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–22, 25–31, 28–22, 25–25, Overtime: 7–10 | ||
| Pts: Elgin Baylor 41 Rebs: Elgin Baylor 22 Asts: three players 4 each |
Pts: Bill Russell 30 Rebs: Bill Russell 40 Asts: Bob Cousy 9 | |
| Boston wins series, 4–3 | ||
Celtics center Bill Russell set a still-standing record for rebounds in a 7-game series with 189, and tied his own record for rebounds in a single game with 40 in Game 7.[2] In the last 5 seconds of regulation in Game 7, Los Angeles’ Frank Selvy missed an open 12-footer from the baseline that would have won the championship for the Lakers and ended the Celtics dynasty.[3] Instead, the game went into overtime in which the Celtics won the game and thus the title. For the Lakers, it would start the pattern of not winning the big games in the NBA Finals, something that lasted until 1972 when the Lakers finally won their first title in Los Angeles. The Lakers would not defeat the Celtics in the NBA Finals until 1985, where they clinched the title at Boston Garden; the Lakers would lose to the Celtics in the Finals in 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1984 and 2008. After the 1985 Finals, the Lakers would beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals again in 1987 and 2010, both times in Los Angeles.