On this day: IT goes for 53, Coach Russell hangs last banner; beat 76ers in '81 ECF

USA Today

02-05-2025

On this day: IT goes for 53, Coach Russell hangs last banner; beat 76ers in '81 ECF
On this day in Boston Celtics history, Boston big man luminary Bill Russell won his last NBA championship in 1968. He did it serving as player-coach of his Celtics squad when Boston dispatched their longtime rival Los Angeles Lakers 124-109 on the road in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Celtics forward John Havlicek led all players with 40 points and 10 rebounds, forward Bailey Howard added 30 points and 11 boards, and point guard Larry Siegfried chipped in another 22 points and 6 assists in the win. It was the Celtics' 10th banner hung as a franchise, the first won in Russell's rookie season.
The title was also the first championship won without legendary general manager Red Auerbach serving in the role of head coach. It was the first time NBA play had taken place in the month of May, and the first of the four major U.S. sports to see a Black head coach win a championship in the modern era. In 1981, the Boston Celtics erased a double-digit lead by the Philadelphia 76ers to win Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, 91-90.
Larry Bird led Boston with 23 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and as many steals. Forward Cedric Maxwell added 19 points and 6 boards, and Robert Parish 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. The Celtics went on to win their 14th title over the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals 4-2.
It is also former Celtic big man Troy Murphy's birthday today. Murphy was born in 1980 in Morristown, New Jersey, and played for Notre Dame in college and the Indiana Pacers and New Jersey (at that time) Nets before being dealt to the Golden State Warriors in 2011.
Murphy was bought out and signed with Boston for the remainder of the season to help shore up the Celtics' aging frontcourt. He appeared in 17 regular-season games for Boston, averaging 2.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.4 assists per game while with the team.
It is also the anniversary of a 109-99 Game 7 victory over the Chicago Bulls in the 2009 NBA Eastern Conference first round, the Celtics clinching the series with only the third game in that stretch that did not require overtime to settle. "Oh, my God. Overtime after overtime after overtime," offered center Glen Davis on the welcome change of pace, via the Associated Press. Ray Allen led the Celtics with 23 points and 7 rebounds, and Paul Pierce added 20 points and 9 boards.
On this day, point guard Isaiah Thomas scored 53 points in a 129-119 playoff victory over the Washington Wizards in 2017. The win was especially emotional for IT. It came on what would have been his sister Chyna's 23rd birthday. She had passed earlier in the week in an automobile accident. To add insult to injury, the Seattle native had spent hours in the dentist's chair ahead of the game addressing a tooth that had gotten knocked out earlier in the series.
It was the second-highest postseason point total logged by a Celtic, a point behind forward John Havlicek's 54-point record and just ahead of Ray Allen's 51-point performance from Game 6 of the 2009 first-round series against the Bulls. "The least I can do is go out there and play for her," Thomas said after the game via the Associated Press. "I knew once game-time came, my guys would get me going ... There was no way I was sitting out."
It is also the date that we lost big man Toby Kimball in 2017. The former UConn player had been drafted by Boston in 1965 and played 38 games over one season with the team before he was picked up by the (then) San Diego Rockets in the 1967 NBA expansion draft. He averaged 2.6 points and 3.8 boards per game while with the Celtics.