1960s Timeline

Mar. 27, 1962 - The Philadelphia Warriors rallied and defeated the Boston Celtics, 113-106, at Philadelphia’s Convention Hall tonight, squaring their 4-of-7 series for the Eastern championship of the NBA at one victory apiece. Boston owned a 101-92 lead with 6 minutes 37 seconds remaining and seemed in complete control. But the Warriors, sparked by Wilt Chamberlain and two rookies, Tom Meschery and York Larese, rallied for a 102-102 deadlock with 3:56 to go. From that point f

Mar. 25, 1962 - Jerry West scored 40 points today as the Los Angeles Lakers posted their second straight victory in the finals of the NBA Western Division playoffs, beating the Detroit Pistons in Los Angeles, 127-112. Los Angeles now has a 2-0 lead in games in the 4-of-7 series to determine the Western representative in the championship round. West kept the Lakers safely in the lead throughout the second half. Los Angeles got a good all-around effort from Elgin Baylor, who sc

Mar. 24, 1962 — The Boston Celtics, led by Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, crushed the Philadelphia Warriors, 117-89, today in the opener of the NBA Eastern Division playoff finals. With Russell doing a defensive masterpiece on Wilt Chamberlain and Cousy sparking the Celtics’ fast break, Boston put the issue beyond doubt early as it launched the defense of its league title. Russell, rising to the Chamberlain challenge, held Wilt to 12 points in the first half. However, Chamberlai

Mar. 22, 1962 - Wilt Chamberlain broke his NBA playoff record tonight with 56 points and led the Philadelphia Warriors to a 121-104 victory over the Syracuse Nationals. The Warriors thus gained the Eastern finals against the Boston Celtics. The Warrior-Celtic series opens Saturday afternoon at the Boston Garden. Chamberlain’s previous playoff record was 53 points against Syracuse, also at Philadelphia’s Convention Hall, on March 14, 1960. #NBA #nbafinals #nbamemes #nbaplayoff

Mar. 21, 1962 - Bob Cousy said today he would play one more season for the Boston Celtics, the NBA champions. The 33-year-old former Holy Cross all-America added that next season probably would be his last as a professional player. His announcement came after a 90-minute conference with the Celtics’ owner, Walter Brown. #NBA #nbafinals #nbamemes #nbaplayoffs #1960s #nbayoungboy #nbatv #nbaallstar #nbamixes #nbaplays #nbabasketball #NBANews #nbastyles #nbadraft #nbacuts #nbate

Mar. 20, 1962 - The Detroit Pistons won the semifinal playoffs in the NBA’s Western Division tonight by beating the Cincinnati Royals, 112-111. The Piston won the series, three games to one. They will meet the Los Angeles Lakers in a four-of-seven-game series for the Western berth of the championship round. The hero of tonight’s game was Don Ohl, who played all the way and led the scoring with 33 points. #NBA #nbafinals #nbamemes #nbaplayoffs #1960s #nbayoungboy #nbatv #nbaal

Mar. 18, 1962 - The Philadelphia Warriors moved into a commanding lead in their NBA Eastern Division semifinal playoffs today with a 97-82 victory over the Syracuse Nats. Philadelphia now leads the 3-of-5 series, 2-0. The winner of the series will meet the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Division Finals. Wilt Chamberlain, the Warriors’ 50-point-a-game scorer, was held to a “mere” 28, but was the high scorer. In the other playoff series, the Detroit Pistons lead the Cincinnati R

Mar. 14, 1962 - Wilt Chamberlain sank four jump shots in an overtime period tonight in helping the Philadelphia Warriors to score a 119-115 victory over the Chicago Packers in an NBA game. The contest concluded regular-season play for both teams. Chamberlain, who tallied 26 points in regulation play, wound up with 34. Midway through the first quarter, he registered his 4,000th point of the season. He started the game with 3,997. Walt Bellamy, the Packers’ leading scorer and a

Mar. 13, 1962 - The Boston Celtics broke the NBA record tonight for games won during the regular season. They scored their 60th victory by defeating the Syracuse Nationals, 142-110. Syracuse, playing without the injured Dolph Schayes and Hal Greer, was outclassed in the second half of the game at the Boston Garden. The game closed out the division champion Celtics’ schedule. #NBA #nbafinals #nbamemes #nbaplayoffs #1960s #nbayoungboy #nbatv #nbaallstar #nbamixes #nbaplays #nba

Mar. 3, 1962 - Wilt Chamberlain, the 7-foot-1-inch Philadelphia Warriors’ ace who scored 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks last night, has many facets. Besides his basketball career, he runs — with a partner — a boys’ camp, owns a Harlem nightclub, speaks four foreign languages (French, Spanish, Italian and German), plays the guitar and bass fiddle, sings folk and popular music (he’s recorded two songs), and owns an apartment project in Los Angeles. But despite

Mar. 2, 1962 - Wilt Chamberlain set an NBA single-game scoring record of 100 points tonight as the Philadelphia Warriors defeated the New York Knicks, 169-147. The combined score was a league record as well. Chamberlain toppled many records with his awesome display: for field goals (36), free throws (28 of 32), most points for a quarter (31), and most points for a half (59). The crowd of 4,124 shrieked, “Give it to Wilt, give it to Wilt,” as the Philadelphian scored again and

Feb. 20, 1962 - Richie Guerin, whose spunky play has been one of the few bright spots for the New York Knicks in recent years, set a season scoring record for a Knick player as New York whipped the Detroit Pistons, 110-103, at Madison Square Garden today. The 6-foot-4-inch backcourt star sank 24 points for New York to run his season total to 1,851 points, breaking the former team record of 1,846 points set last winter by Willie Naulls. Guerin and the Knicks have 14 games to g

Feb. 13, 1962 - The Cincinnati Royals went on a scoring streak in the first half tonight and gained a 152-132 victory over the Philadelphia Warriors in an NBA game. The decision came despite a one-man barrage of 65 points by Wilt Chamberlain — the record for one player at Cincinnati Garden. Brilliant field-generalship by Oscar Robertson helped Cincinnati drive to a 42-31 edge at the end of the first quarter and 83-62 at the half. Robertson contributed 23 points to the first-h

Feb. 10, 1962 - Walt Bellamy’s 44 points powered the Chicago Packers to a 126-111 victory over the New York Knicks tonight in an NBA game at Philadelphia’s Convention Hall. The Philadelphia Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics, 107-106, in the second game of the double-header. Bellamy, an outstanding rookie, made 17 field goals in 28 attempts against the Knicks and forced Darall Imhoff to foul out while trying to guard him. The Chicago center added 10 free throws and snared 2

Feb. 8, 1962 - Wilt Chamberlain scored 59 points tonight, erased his own NBA season record, and led the Philadelphia Warriors to a 136-120 victory over the New York Knickerbockers. Chamberlain raised his season scoring mark to 3,039 points. He collected 3,033 last year. The 7-foot-1-inch ace has 19 games left on the regular-season schedule. At his current pace, he would better last season’s record by about 1,000 points. Chamberlain enjoyed another spectacular night from the f

Feb. 1, 1962 - The Boston Celtics took a big lead in the second quarter and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 130-115, in an NBA game tonight. A crowd of 13,200 attended the contest at the University of Maryland fieldhouse. Six-foot-four shooting guard Sam Jones (pictured) sparked the Celtics with 22 points. #NBA #nbafinals #nbamemes #nbaplayoffs #1960s #nbayoungboy #nbatv #nbaallstar #nbamixes #nbaplays #nbabasketball #NBANews #nbastyles #nbadraft #nbacuts #nbateams #NBAjerse

Jan. 30, 1962 - From the depths of the NBA basement, the New York Knickerbockers reached up and tripped the galloping Philadelphia Warriors, 116-110, at Madison Square Garden today. Philadelphia’s winning streak was snapped at 7 games and its season ledger with the Knicks evened at 3-3. A gathering of 7,369 witnessed the upset, which was fashioned despite a 55-point performance by Wilt Chamberlain. This marked the 34th time that the 7-foot-1-inch center had scored 50 or more

Jan. 24, 1962 - Shelley McMillon, a substitute, and Larry Foust sparked the St. Louis Hawks to a 135-123 victory over the Boston Celtics in the second game of an NBA double-header today. Wilt Chamberlain won a personal scoring duel with a Chicago rookie, Walt Bellamy, in the opener as the Philadelphia Warriors topped the Packers, 122-108. Chamberlain scored 55 points, Bellamy 47. Boston sorely missed the rebounding of Bill Russell, who will be out for the next week with a pul

Jan. 21, 1962 - The combination of Jerry Lucas (left) and John Havlicek (right) was unstoppable again Saturday night as Ohio State’s Buckeyes gained their 13th basketball victory of the season with a 90-76 Big Ten triumph over Minnesota. Lucas, operating flawlessly on offense and defense, scored 32 points and Havlicek added 24. They accounted for 30 rebounds, 8 more than the Gophers could do as a team. Lucas grabbed 18. Coach Fred Taylor’s unbeaten Buckeyes thus were left wit

Jan. 19, 1962 - Jerry West, a guard, paced a late rally that gave the Los Angeles Lakers a 108-107 victory over the New York Knickerbockers today. West led all scorers with 32 points. His lay-up with 23 seconds to go in the third quarter gave Los Angeles a 79-77 lead. It was only the second time in the game the Lakers had been in the lead. The issue was settled in the fourth quarter, when the score was tied eight times and changed hands on five occasions. The leading scorers