1964-65 Chamberlain leaves, Havlicek arrives.
1964-65 Chamberlain leaves, Havlicek arrives.
In an effort to reduce the dominance of big men, the NBA decided to move the
foul lane further from the basket. A major trade that took place at the NBA
involving Wilt Chamberlain. He, at 28, was dealt by the San Francisco Warriors
for Paul Neumann, Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer and cash from the Philadelphia
76ers. Fans dind't have to wait for results too long: San Francisco went from
48-32 down to 17-63, while Philadelphia improved from 34-46 to 40-40.
Chamberlain was in the same division as Boston, which put a hard oponent on his
way to the Finals.
Meanwhile, Celtics founder Walter Brown died, which forced Auerbach to deal
with a load of administrative work. The play of the team seemed unaffected,
however, and broke its own league record with 62 victories despite the
retirement of Frank Ramsey and Jim Loscutoff. The Lakers won the West with 49
wins, led by as West (31.0 ppg) and Baylor (27.1ppg) – both finished in the top
five in the league in scoring. The Lakers defeated Baltimore in the Division
Finals (4-2), the East Finals was a classic, with the home team winning each of
the first six games. In the deciding Game 7, Havlicek deflected the ball and
secured a one-point victory for the Celtics. The Finals were less exciting,
because the Lakers, who were without the injured Elgin Baylor, were able to win
only one game.
The seventh game of the Eastern Division Finals provided some hope for the
rest of the league that it was possible to beat the Celtics some day. If
Philadelphia had been able to have a better last five seconds, the Celtics
dynasty would have been broken, and the 76ers might have begun their own
dynasty. Moments like that determine the winner.
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