Lakers Cut Celtics’ Series Lead to 2-1

Apr. 21, 1965 - Gene Wiley was such an awesome performer tonight that even the mighty Bill Russell could only stand around and watch.

The slender, often maligned Laker center had 14,243 L.A. Sports Arena fans screaming in disbelief as he turned in the key performance to give the Lakers a startling 126-105 victory over the Boston Celtics.

Wiley, in his finest hour as a pro, pulled down 28 rebounds to outdo the Bearded Wonder and give the Lakers their first victory in three starts in this best-of-seven series that was not supposed to go beyond four games.

Los Angeles coach Fred Schaus and his “adviser,” ailing Elgin Baylor, wore grins a mile wide as they huddled immediately after the game.

“This was, without a doubt, the finest game Wiley ever played,” said Schaus. “He’s been playing real well, but this was a tremendous one.

“We had to rebound better and play a tougher defense than we did in Boston. This we did, and you have to give much of the credit to Wiley and Ellis on the boards.

“I’m sure the Celtics will say they didn’t shoot well, but I think much of that was because we had our hands in their face for a change.”

Baylor was lavish in his praise of Jerry West (43 points). Elgin had given his teammates a pep talk before the game.

“I told them I heard about this new hotel there [Sheraton-Boston] and I wanted to go there,” Elgin recalled. This he will do for the fifth game next Sunday.

The wild affair had both clubs flying back and forth down the floor with abandon most of the night. It was punctuated by a near fight between volatile Tommy Heinsohn and referee Richie Powers.

This happened late in the game with the Lakers nursing a fat lead. Heinsohn took exception to Powers’ call of a sixth foul on him and had to be restrained by Larry Siegfried.

“Powers officiated the way I played,” Heinsohn said afterward. He objected to the fact that he was called for holding Don Nelson by Powers while the latter was at the other end of the court.

“He couldn’t have seen it,” said Tommy. “He was practically sitting in Doris Days’ lap.”

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