Russell's Last Two Titles

--Boston Globe

With each passing year, the achievement became magnified. Back-to-back championships were beginning to be seen as a fictional feat. There had been multiple back-to-back champions in each of the other major sports between 1969 and 1987, but not in the NBA.

You know what? The "Old Celtics" really were old. In retrospect, those two titles were wondrous achievements, because when the 1968 playoffs began, the average age of the first eight men on the Celtics was 30. The Celtics were thought to be finished as serious championship contenders following their five-game elimination by Philadelphia in 1967. The new order belonged to the 76ers, who had won a then-record 68 games in 1966-67 and who in 1968 came back with a 62-win season. It was pretty much assumed that the 76ers would repeat as champs.

But Bill Russell and his friends weren't quite ready for the rocking chair and slipper routine.

1968 PLAYOFFS

There is early trouble. Russell has insomnia before Game 2 of the first- round series against the Detroit Pistons, a 126-116 loss . . . Detroit wins Game 3, also, taking a shocking 2-1 series lead. "I think I know what the trouble is," says player-coach Russell. The solution is to start John Havlicek, who gets 35 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists as the Celtics tie the series with 135-110 triumph. This is prime-of-life Havlicek, who rings up 18-12-13 numbers in the fifth game and 31-10-12 numbers in the sixth. Celtics win series, 4-2, but Dave Bing says, "I thought we gave 'em a good fight."

On to the 76ers, who now are playing in The Spectrum, rather than the ancient Convention Hall. First game goes according to Celtics' plan (127-118 win at Philly), then Sixers win next three. Are the Celtics dead? "We'll find out," Russell says. "Stay tuned." . . . Havlicek, of course, is always tuned. He and Don Nelson go to afternoon movie and down hot sausage sandwiches at a sidewalk stand, then Havlicek goes 48 minutes and Sam Jones tosses in 37 and Russell pulls down 31 rebounds in 122-114 stay of execution . . . In games 6 and 7, Philly never has a 30-point period . . . Havlicek and Nelson repeat the movie-sausage ritual on afternoon of Game 7 . . . Wilt Chamberlain takes two shots from the floor in second half of Game 7. Sixers still alive, down three with the ball in final 30 seconds, but Russell blocks a Chet Walker shot, and, when Hal Greer picks the ball up, Russell rebounds the miss to wrap it up, 100-96, enabling the Celtics to become the first NBA team to come back from a 3-1 series deficit . . . Sighs Chamberlain, "They were tougher."

The finals vs. LA are almost anticlimactic . . . Key is Game 5, as teams are 2-2 heading back to Boston . . . Nellie plays his best Celtic game to that point, scoring 31, but it takes a block by -- who else? -- Russell on Elgin Baylor to save the game in overtime, 120-117 . . . Laker problems mount when Jerry West sprains ankle . . . Back to LA for Game 6. "We've got to get psyched up and go out there and play like we're down, 3-2," proclaims Wayne (The Wall) Embry. Not to worry. Havlicek strikes for 40 and Bailey Howell helps himself to 30 as Celtics breeze to 10th title, 124-109 . . . Rick Weitzman hits a jumper in only playoff attempt. "I may frame the box score and hang it up," he gushes . . . A distraught West salutes Russell. "If I had to choose one player, it would be Russell," he says. "Russell never ceases to amaze me." . . . Exudes the normally phlegmatic Sam Jones, "This has got to be the greatest one." . . . Stick around, Sam.

1969 PLAYOFFS

We're not talking old now; we're talking Methuselah . . . Sam Jones will retire after the playoffs. Russell is now 35. The youngest regular is 29 . . . Celtics finish fourth in regular season. "It is bad, overall, for a fourth-place team to be in the playoffs," admits Sam. But Red Auerbach has a different view. "I'm not worried about them physically at all," he says. "What I'm worried is, can they put the ball in the hole?"

First opponent is the new Philly team, sans Wilt, who has been dealt to LA . . . Greer misses 17 straight and goes 3 for 23 in Celtics' opening-game victory . . . Sam and publicist Howie McHugh heaved by referee Jack Madden in opening minutes of Game 2 . . . Celts so shaken they can only squeak out a 31- point (134-103) victory . . . It ends in an easy five. "We're sick and tired of losing to those guys," fumes Archie Clark.

Russell was ready for the Knicks in the second round because the Knicks had beaten the Celtics six of seven games, and Willis Reed was getting a lot of ink . . . Russ apologizes in these pages (he was writing a daily playoff column) for not playing his friend Satch Sanders in Game 1, when he used seven men to get a 108-100 jump in Madison Square Garden . . . Russell too old? Grabs 29 rebounds in Game 2 . . . Knicks hang tough behind Walt Frazier and Dave DeBusschere, and it's 3-2, Boston, after 5. "This is getting to be a struggle," admits Russell . . . Game 6 is a classic and a Havlicek showcase . . . Celts use 20 of the available 24 seconds to score on each of last four baskets in tense game, with Havlicek making the last two hoops in 106-105 thriller.

LA, featuring Chamberlain, Baylor and West, awaits . . . Lakers are confident, especially after winning four of six from the Celtics during regular season and smashing them, 108-73, on last day of regular season . . . Coach Butch van Breda Kolff even has a new defensive weapon, a 6-foot-6- inch forward from USC via Cambridge, Mass., named Bill Hewitt. "I know Havlicek can run," says VBK, "but Bill can run as long as John does."

But run where? Havlicek gets 41 in series opener. West, however, torments the shorter Emmette Bryant for 53, and LA wins, 120-118 . . . Bryant switches over to Johnny Egan for Game 2. West "held" to 41, but Baylor erupts for game's last 12 points. LA wins, 118-112, and goes two-up . . . No team has ever come back from 0-2. Are the Celtics whipped? "No," insists Auerbach, "if we keep playing like we are, we're gonna win this thing yet."

Celts must win Game 3, and they do as Havlicek gets 34 and Larry Siegfried pumps in 28. Keith Erickson now guarding Havlicek . . . Game 4 will forever be remembered as the one with Sam's Shot. The situation: LA up one with the ball. Bryant deflects Baylor's in-bounds pass to Egan, and Celtics steal. Sam misses jumper, but Baylor can't control rebound. Celts call time out with seven seconds left. Havlicek suggests an old Ohio State play he introduced the day before at practice. Sam takes off-balance jumper that rolls around rim and in to give Celtics an 89-88 triumph. "I thought it was short," Sam says, "but maybe Russell would have a chance for the rebound." Russell had taken himself out for another shooter during the timeout. "There were four-leaf clovers flying around all over the place," says Bryant.

It comes down to Game 7 in LA . . . Owner Jack Kent Cooke has balloons ready to release from ceiling and USC marching band ready to play "Happy Days Are Here Again." . . . Not in LA, they aren't . . . Celts jump ahead by 17 in third quarter before the Lakers make a run . . . Wilt asks out with six minutes left. Says his knee hurts . . . Later wants back in, but VBK says no because Mel Counts is hitting . . . Celts lead by one when Nellie picks up loose ball and sticks up-and-in jumper for three-point lead with 1:17 left. "The ball had no right going in," Nellie would say later . . . Russell goes 48 minutes in the 108-106 banner-winner, ending his career with a 21- rebound performance . . . Sam Jones, No. 24, matches his uniform number in his last game . . . West magnificent in defeat, putting 42-13-12 numbers on board while playing with a pulled hamstring . . . "Of all the people I have played against," Havlicek declares, "I appreciated West the most." . . . Compliments flow the other way, of course. "We had the talent," says LA's Tom Hawkins, "but not the team." . . . The last word belongs to Russell. "I honestly didn't think we could do it," he says, "but here we are with another flag." Then he explains what makes the Celtics different. "We see each other as men, and we judge a guy by his character, not by how well he shoots or how well he plays, or anything like that. We are proud of each other, and I know I wouldn't trade this bunch of guys for any other bunch of guys in the world."

Given that it was Russell's last team, and that no other team has ever surrendered the home court in all of its series and still come out on top, it can safely be said that there never was, and never will be, another group like them.