1962–63 Boston Celtics season

The 1962–63 NBA season was the Celtics' 17th season in the NBA. The Celtics finished the season by winning their sixth NBA Championship. In 2024, HoopsHype would list this squad as the team with the 25th easiest route to an NBA Finals championship due primarily to their first round opponent they faced off against in the Cincinnati Royals.[1]

1962–63 Boston Celtics season
NBA champions
Division champions
Head coachRed Auerbach
ArenaBoston Garden
Results
Record58–22 (.725)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishNBA Champions
(Defeated Lakers 4–2)

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWHDH-TV
RadioWHDH
< 1961–62 1963–64 >

Offseason

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NBA draft

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The 1962 NBA Draft results were:

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 7 John Havlicek Forward/Guard   United States Ohio State
2 16 Jack Foley Guard   United States Holy Cross
3 25 Jim Hadnot   United States Providence
4 34 Roger Strickland   United States Jacksonville University
5 43 Gary Daniels   United States The Citadel
6 52 Jim Hooley Boston College
7 60 Clyde Arnold Duquesne
8 69 Chuck Chevalier Boston College
9 78 Mike Cingiser Brown

Regular season

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Season standings

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W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Boston Celtics 58 22 .725 25–5 21–16 12–1 25–11
x-Syracuse Nationals 48 32 .600 10 23–5 13–19 12–8 21–15
x-Cincinnati Royals 42 38 .525 16 23–10 15–19 4–9 20–16
New York Knicks 21 59 .263 37 12–22 5–28 4–9 6–30

Record vs. opponents

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1962-63 NBA Records
Team BOS CHI CIN DET LAL NYK SFW STL SYR
Boston 8–2 9–3 8–0 4–5 10–2 8–1 5–3 6–6
Chicago 2–8 4–6 3–7 3–7 4–6 4–6 3–7 2–8
Cincinnati 3–9 6–4 4–4 3–6 10–2 6–3 3–5 7–5
Detroit 0–8 7–3 4–4 1–11 8–1 7–5 4–8 3–6
Los Angeles 5–4 7–3 6–3 11–1 5–3 8–4 7–5 4–4
New York 2–10 6–4 2–10 1–8 3–5 2–6 3–6 2–10
San Francisco 1–8 6–4 3–6 5–7 4–8 6–2 3–9 3–5
St. Louis 3–5 7–3 5–3 8–4 5–7 6–3 9–3 5–4
Syracuse 6–6 8–2 5–7 6–3 4–4 10–2 5–3 4–5

Game log

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1962–63 Game log
# Date Opponent Score High points Record
1 October 20 New York 116–149 Sam Jones (25) 1–0
2 October 26 @ New York 133–108 Bill Russell (25) 2–0
3 October 27 Syracuse 98–118 Heinsohn, S. Jones, Sanders (17) 3–0
4 October 30 @ St. Louis 97–98 Sam Jones (23) 3–1
5 October 31 @ Detroit 115–100 Tom Heinsohn (24) 4–1
6 November 2 @ Chicago 107–97 Bob Cousy (23) 5–1
7 November 3 Detroit 114–125 Tom Heinsohn (21) 6–1
8 November 7 @ Cincinnati 106–105 Sam Jones (23) 7–1
9 November 9 Los Angeles 133–120 Sam Jones (23) 7–2
10 November 11 N New York 98–117 Tom Heinsohn (24) 8–2
11 November 12 Cincinnati 126–137 Tom Heinsohn (25) 9–2
12 November 13 @ New York 116–102 Tom Heinsohn (26) 10–2
13 November 16 @ Syracuse 105–113 Tom Heinsohn (27) 10–3
14 November 17 San Francisco 109–127 Tom Heinsohn (28) 11–3
15 November 20 N Chicago 106–113 Heinsohn, Russell (20) 12–3
16 November 21 St. Louis 106–115 Bill Russell (26) 13–3
17 November 22 N Syracuse 130–120 Frank Ramsey (23) 13–4
18 November 23 N Chicago 104–116 Satch Sanders (27) 14–4
19 November 24 @ St. Louis 95–97 Satch Sanders (21) 14–5
20 November 27 N Detroit 115–125 Tom Heinsohn (24) 15–5
21 December 1 Syracuse 110–129 Heinsohn, S. Jones, Russell (22) 16–5
22 December 2 @ Cincinnati 128–127 (OT) Sam Jones (27) 17–5
23 December 5 @ Detroit 106–93 Sam Jones (20) 18–5
24 December 7 Los Angeles 112–126 Bill Russell (24) 19–5
25 December 8 @ Syracuse 97–102 Tom Heinsohn (20) 19–6
26 December 11 @ New York 87–95 Bill Russell (18) 19–7
27 December 12 St. Louis 98–111 Sam Jones (27) 20–7
28 December 13 N Detroit 93–103 Tom Heinsohn (26) 21–7
29 December 15 Cincinnati 124–120 Bill Russell (23) 21–8
30 December 22 New York 120–106 Sam Jones (24) 21–9
31 December 26 San Francisco 113–116 Sam Jones (20) 22–9
32 December 27 N San Francisco 102–108 Sam Jones (32) 23–9
33 December 28 @ Cincinnati 121–113 John Havlicek (31) 24–9
34 December 29 @ St. Louis 100–102 Tom Heinsohn (23) 24–10
35 January 2 @ San Francisco 135–120 (OT) Tom Heinsohn (41) 25–10
36 January 4 @ Los Angeles 123–125 Tom Heinsohn (29) 25–11
37 January 5 @ Los Angeles 104–106 John Havlicek (24) 25–12
38 January 8 @ San Francisco 118–112 Bob Cousy (19) 26–12
39 January 9 @ Chicago 123–131 John Havlicek (20) 26–13
40 January 10 @ Cincinnati 121–130 Bill Russell (31) 26–14
41 January 11 Syracuse 117–134 John Havlicek (27) 27–14
42 January 13 Chicago 99–143 Clyde Lovellette (24) 28–14
43 January 17 N Chicago 93–110 Tom Heinsohn (18) 29–14
44 January 18 Cincinnati 114–122 Tom Heinsohn (25) 30–14
45 January 19 @ Syracuse 148–149 (OT) Sam Jones (37) 30–15
46 January 20 Los Angeles 121–133 S. Jones, Russell (29) 31–15
47 January 22 @ New York 124–100 Bob Cousy (19) 32–15
48 January 23 @ Cincinnati 133–138 Tom Heinsohn (25) 32–16
49 January 24 N St. Louis 109–111 Sam Jones (27) 33–16
50 January 25 St. Louis 98–113 Sam Jones (21) 34–16
51 January 27 New York 110–123 John Havlicek (26) 35–16
52 January 29 N Chicago 99–100 Sam Jones (23) 36–16
53 January 30 San Francisco 111–125 Bill Russell (23) 37–16
54 January 31 N Cincinnati 125–128 Sam Jones (22) 38–16
55 February 1 Syracuse 125–111 Satch Sanders (22) 38–17
56 February 3 Detroit 128–137 Sam Jones (35) 39–17
57 February 5 @ Cincinnati 106–96 Sam Jones (27) 40–17
58 February 6 @ Syracuse 109–126 Sam Jones (22) 40–18
59 February 8 @ New York 129–97 John Havlicek (19) 41–18
60 February 9 San Francisco 112–118 Cousy, S. Jones (22) 42–18
61 February 10 New York 123–129 Sam Jones (21) 43–18
62 February 12 N Los Angeles 93–120 Sam Jones (25) 44–18
63 February 13 Los Angeles 134–128 Satch Sanders (25) 44–19
64 February 15 N Syracuse 114–123 Tom Heinsohn (33) 45–19
65 February 16 @ St. Louis 114–94 Sam Jones (34) 46–19
66 February 17 @ Chicago 110–107 Sam Jones (28) 47–19
67 February 19 Cincinnati 126–129 Heinsohn, S. Jones (25) 48–19
68 February 20 @ Detroit 117–113 John Havlicek (24) 49–19
69 February 21 @ San Francisco 135–118 Bill Russell (25) 50–19
70 February 22 @ Los Angeles 105–113 Sam Jones (24) 50–20
71 February 24 @ Los Angeles 119–109 Sam Jones (28) 51–20
72 February 26 @ San Francisco 112–128 Bill Russell (20) 51–21
73 March 2 New York 117–122 John Havlicek (32) 52–21
74 March 3 @ New York 102–95 Sam Jones (17) 53–21
75 March 7 @ Detroit 115–104 Sam Jones (31) 54–21
76 March 8 @ Chicago 109–110 Bill Russell (24) 54–22
77 March 10 Cincinnati 117–149 Tom Heinsohn (29) 55–22
78 March 13 Chicago 108–121 Tom Heinsohn (37) 56–22
79 March 16 @ Syracuse 125–121 Tom Heinsohn (21) 57–22
80 March 17 Syracuse 116–125 Tom Heinsohn (28) 58–22

Player stats

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Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average

Player GP REB AST STL BLK PTS AVG
Sam Jones 76 396 241 0 0 1499 19.7
Tom Heinsohn 76 596 95 0 0 1440 18.9
Bill Russell 78 1843 348 0 0 1309 16.8
John Havlicek 80 534 179 0 0 1140 14.3
Bob Cousy 76 193 515 0 0 1003 13.2
Frank Ramsey 77 288 95 0 0 839 10.9
Thomas "Satch" Sanders 80 576 95 0 0 864 10.8
K.C. Jones 79 263 317 0 0 572 7.2
Clyde Lovellette 61 177 27 0 0 395 6.5
Dan Swartz 39 88 21 0 0 175 4.5
Jim Loscutoff 63 157 25 0 0 210 3.3
Gene Guarilia 11 14 2 0 0 26 2.4

[2]

Playoffs

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1963 playoff game log
Division Finals: 4–3 (home: 2–2; road: 2–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Series
1 March 28 Cincinnati L 132–135 Sam Jones (30) Bill Russell (24) Bob Cousy (9) Boston Garden
13,798
1–0
2 March 29 @ Cincinnati W 125–102 Bill Russell (26) Bill Russell (24) Cincinnati Gardens
11,102
1–1
3 March 31 Cincinnati L 116–121 Tom Heinsohn (28) Bill Russell (28) Bob Cousy (7) Boston Garden
13,909
1–2
4 April 3 @ Cincinnati W 128–110 Bill Russell (26) Bill Russell (21) Cincinnati Gardens
3,498
2–2
5 April 6 Cincinnati W 125–120 Tom Heinsohn (34) Bill Russell (26) Bob Cousy (8) Boston Garden
13,909
3–2
6 April 7 @ Cincinnati L 99–109 Sam Jones (22) Bill Russell (23) Cincinnati Gardens
7,745
3–3
7 April 10 Cincinnati W 142–131 Sam Jones (47) Bill Russell (24) Bob Cousy (16) Boston Garden
13,909
4–3
NBA Finals: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Series
1 April 14 Los Angeles W 117–114 Sam Jones (29) Bill Russell (29) Bob Cousy (11) Boston Garden
13,909
1–0
2 April 16 Los Angeles W 113–106 Sam Jones (27) Bill Russell (38) Bob Cousy (11) Boston Garden
13,909
2–0
3 April 17 @ Los Angeles L 99–119 Sam Jones (30) Bill Russell (19) Bill Russell (5) Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
15,493
2–1
4 April 19 @ Los Angeles W 108–105 Tom Heinsohn (35) Bill Russell (19) three players tied (5) Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
16,382
3–1
5 April 21 Los Angeles L 119–126 Sam Jones (36) Bill Russell (27) Bob Cousy (14) Boston Garden
13,909
3–2
6 April 24 @ Los Angeles W 112–109 Tom Heinsohn (22) Bill Russell (24) Bill Russell (9) Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
15,652
4–2
1963 schedule

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ "Ranking the easiest paths to an NBA title ever". June 18, 2024.
  2. ^ "1962 Boston Celtics". databasebasketball.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2010. Retrieved August 12, 2009.