I loved that era of the NBA, especially the late 60s when the Celts had gutsy players who seemed to pull out victories when all seemed lost. The Bird-McHale-Parish era had some amazing playoff comebacks as well. I always marveled how those folks were able to perform under intense pressure.
I've long since stopped watching the NBA, it just doesn't seem the same.
When I was 13 I was driving thru Boston with my family and there were tons of pedestrians in the streets. We figured out they were all heading to Boston Garden for Game 3 of the finals against LA. It was 1969 and the last year for Bill Russell and Sam Jones. My father slipped me a $5 and said 'see if you can get into the game.' A minute later I was lost in the crowd and my mother I later learned was aghast. A man saw me holding the $5 and said he had an extra ticket. So I saw that game which the Celts won after being down 0-2 in the series.
I just discovered that Wikipedia has interesting summaries of every playoff game. Here's a tidbit for Game 7 in 1969 in LA:
In anticipation of a Lakers win, Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had ordered thousands of balloons with "World Champion Lakers" printed on them suspended from the rafters of the Forum. Flyers were placed in every seat stating, "When, not if, the Lakers win the title, balloons will be released from the raftors, the USC marching band will play " Happy Days Are Here Again" and broadcaster Chick Hearn will interview Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain in that order." [1] Before the game, the Celtics circulated in their locker room a memo about the Lakers' celebration plans. [2] When Jerry West went to the court for a pre game shoot around and saw the balloons, he became furious with Laker onwer Jack Kent Cooke. Russell noted the giant net hanging from the ceiling during pregame warmups and said to West, "Those fucking balloons are staying up there." [1] With only two true guards on the Laker roster and West still feeling the effects of the hamstring pull, Celtics coach Russell ordered his men to fast break at every opportunity. |
