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Sam Jones Savors Celtics Victory of Oscar Robertson and the Royals

Apr. 11, 1963 - Yesterday was a long day for Sam Jones (left), shooting guard of the Boston Celtics, but it turned out to be a rewarding one as the Celts topped the Royals at Boston Garden to advance yet again to the NBA finals. Sam's 47 points in the game were the most ever scored by a Celtic in regulation time — regular season or playoff. But that was later. At 9 a.m. yesterday morning, the phone started ringing in Sam's home in Sharon, Mass. “Got any tickets, Sam? Gonna win, Sam?” The calls went on and on until finally Sam got tired of it. “Gladys,” he said to his wife, “when those folks call, tell them I'm gone. Got to see a movie, and stop thinking about that Oscar Robertson (right).” “Yeah,” said Sam later that evening in the Celtics dressing room after the win, “I couldn't get Oscar off my mind. He'd done just about everything to us, and it was my job to try to stop him. Now, I didn't stop him, did I? Oscar got himself 43. But I got me 47.” What movie did he see? “Saw ‘Five Miles to Midnight,’ and it was a cool movie.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t tell Gladys, but it was a love show. I relaxed good watching it.”


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