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East Sneak Past West in NBA All-Star Game

Jan. 13, 1965 - While the East’s defense chief, Bill Russell, watched helplessly from the bench, the West team chewed up what had looked like a safe lead in the final quarter of the NBA All-Star game tonight. The East did win, 124-123, but it had to do so with less help from Russell than usual because Bill was loaded down with fouls.

The Celtic center drew his fifth personal with nearly three minutes left in the third quarter. What playing he did after that had to be more cautious than the 6-10 veteran prefers. He finally fouled out with a minute and a half to go.

The largest All-Star crowd in NBA history, 16,713, watched the game at Kiel Auditorium turn from an apparent rout by the East into an East-West free-for-all.

For Russell to have to sit out any crucial part of such an encounter was a rare experience indeed.

Bill has fouled out only once in the last 2½ seasons of regular season play and only 11 times in his pro career.

Russell had a partial explanation for his maximum of six fouls.

“Two of them were needless,” said Bill. “I had position on both men [Len Wilkens and Jerry West] when I bumped them unnecessarily. And the last foul was just a lousy call — Gus Johnson was charging when we hit. Take away those, and I’d have had only three fouls.”

No one can say just how much Russell’s handicap aided the West.

“How can you measure what Russell does?” asked Celtic coach Red Auerbach.

But the game did become far more interesting to the pro-West crowd as such players as Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Pettit, and West found more elbowing room in the pivot area.

Johnson, the brawny second-year man from the Baltimore Bullets, scored 25 points in his 25 minutes of play to lead the West. The Lakers’ West, held to five points in the first half, added 15 in the last two quarters for a total of 20. Chamberlain had 20 and Pettit 13.

Jerry Lucas (pictured) of Cincinnati was named the game’s most valuable player. Lucas scored 13 points for the East in the first half and added 12 in the second half.

As for Auerbach, he seemed glad just to have the victory, his sixth in nine assignments as an All-Star coach — and one that gave the East a 10-5 lead in the series.

“Lucas had a wonderful hand shooting,” said Red, “but we missed Tom Heinsohn.”

Heinsohn’s leg injury eliminated him before the game, and he was replaced by Johnny Green of the Knicks, who had 8 points.



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