Dec. 11, 1964 - During the Boston Celtics defeat of the Philadelphia 76ers, 118-109, tonight at Convention Hall, two players had a fistfight, and two officials had a fight with a spectator. The spectacle was witnessed by 4,140 fans.
Philadelphia’s Lucious Jackson and Tom Sanders of the Celtics got in a free-swinging fight after a scuffle for a rebound under the Boston basket in the third minute of the second quarter. (Pictured below are Boston’s John Havlicek and Philadelphia’s Chet Walker.)
Teammates separated the battlers before either could score a clearcut decision, and Mendy Rudolph allowed both players to stay in the game.
A fan got his own reprieve about nine minutes later. As the teams were leaving the floor for the halftime break, he left his courtside seat and got into a fight with the officials, punching both before big Bill Russell grabbed him.
Another fan got into a tie-pulling match with Boston coach Red Auerbach. Police, players, and other spectators stopped the fun. Police ushered the fan out of the hall but allowed him to return to his seat at the start of the second half.
After that, the extra-curricular excitement was sparse, except when Dave Zinkoff, the public address announcer whose eyes are as strong as his voice, caught some boys swiping a banner advertising the Bunnies, who are some girls advertising a magazine.
Dave turned his mike to full power and yelled loud enough to be heard without any electronic aids. The banner was returned.
The Celtics, meanwhile, winning their seventh decision in eight outings to increase their Eastern division lead to five games, look unstoppable.
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