Celtics End Brief Losing Streak

Mar. 7, 1965 - Buoyed by an unexpected attendance of 11,084, the Celtics just could not drop four games in succession and turned on the Philadelphia 76ers, 133-111, at Boston Garden this afternoon. 

Although each club was playing its third game in the space of 44 hours, the Celts had all hands active, while the visitors were handicapped by the absence of their veteran backcourt duo, Larry Costello and Hal Greer.

Without the talented pair, however, the 76ers had vanquished both Cincinnati and Boston on successive nights but finally fell before the inspired play of Sam Jones, Tommy Heinsohn, John Havlicek, and Willie Naulls in particular. 

On paper, Bill Russell and his major individual rival, Wilt Chamberlain, appeared to battle to a standoff, but Russell had a decided edge in the second period when the contest was actually decided.

The Celtics had taken a slim 33-28 into the second but then rocked the stands with an explosive 19-2 surge. Russell allowed Wilt but four points in the entire period. The Celtics ran 17 points in a row in the spurt, during which Havlicek delivered 12, Naulls 10, and Sam Jones 9 as beleaguered coach Dolph Schayes was forced to call a pair of timeouts in an attempt to cool off the fastbreaking Celts.

“They were so aggressive from the opening gun,” said Schayes, “they made us lose possession and threw us off our game.” The visitors lost the ball 26 times for 34 Celtic points. Boston gave up the ball 19 times for 19 markers.

K.C. Jones, in a brilliant passing display, time and again hit Naulls, Havlicek, and Heinsohn with clever assists, while Heinsohn, seeming his old self again, aided in rebounding with 13 off the boards all day. 

Russell now stands 52-25 for .675 in his personal meetings with Chamberlain since 1959-60.

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