Celtics Set Victory Record with Win over Warriors

Mar. 14, 1965 - Tremendous individual efforts by Bill Russell and John Havlicek late in the game propelled the Celtics to a 106-98 triumph over the San Francisco Warriors at Boston Garden today and gave the Bostonians an NBA record of 61 victories in a season.

Havlicek scored six of the Celts’ last 12 points, and Russell pulled down 41 rebounds for the day plus four steal and nine blocked shots, as the Celtics broke their own mark of 60 victories before 6,728 fans.

Both records were established over an 80-game schedule, and Boston has two games remaining in which to boost its victories even further.

Sam Jones also played a starring role in the Celtics’ triumph, topping the Bostonians in scoring with 24 points and contributing four of these in the waning moments as the Celtics surged into the lead to stay.

Jones became the first Celtic in history to reach the 2,000-point mark in regular season play. Sam converted a free throw at the three-minute mark to hit the 2,000 barrier.

He is the fourth NBA player to achieve the mark this season. The others were Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Oscar Robertson.

Did the men feel a lump in their throats after setting the season record for victories?“Just another 48-minute game,” said Bill Russell. “Just another 48-minute job.”

Sam called scoring his 2,000th point “nice” — “but if we win the playoffs, it will be so much nicer than all those points.”

The Warriors left quickly afterward, but before going, coach Alex Hannum thought he had to rate this the best Celtics team.

“Their defense,” said Alex. “We used to beat that other team that won 60 once in a while, but this club killed us.

“I still think that the playoffs may be ruffed. But like this team. I must the way I went down to that redhead [Auerbach] and shook his hand.”

The Warriors, with tonight’s defeat, tied a league mark for the most losses — 62 — set by Chicago in the 1961-62 season.

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