Bob Cousy (left) and Jerry West.
Which one's "The Logo" -- and which deserved to be?
April 18, 1962: Game 7 of the NBA Finals is played at the Boston Garden. It would resolve the 1st-ever Finals meeting between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Minneapolis Lakers had played the Celtics in the 1959 Finals, and lost, before moving to Los Angeles in 1960. With broadcaster Francis "Chick" Hearn doing for the them what Vin Scully had done for baseball's Dodgers, and Tom Harmon had done for football's Rams, the Lakers were very popular immediately. Winning also helped: They reached the NBA Finals in only their 2nd season in the city.
But they would have to face the Boston Celtics, who had advanced to their 6th straight NBA Finals, and had won 4 of the previous 5. The Lakers gained a split at the Boston Garden, losing Game 1, 122-108; and winning Game 2, 129-122. It seemed like a good sign, especially after they won Game 3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, 117-115.
But the Celtics took home-court advantage back, winning Game 4 in L.A., 115-103. The road teams won the next 2: The Lakers won Game 5 in Boston, 126-121, with Elgin Baylor scoring 61 points, still an NBA Finals record, and were 1 win away from the title, with Game 6 in Los Angeles; but the Celtics won that, 119-105.
Game 7 was held at the Boston Garden on April 18, with an incredible array of talent. From the Celtics, Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Frank Ramsey, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones (no relation) and former New York Knicks star Carl Braun all made the Basketball Hall of Fame. So did coach-general manager Red Auerbach and team owner Walter Brown. From the Lakers, the Hall has inducted Baylor and Jerry West. Each team's main broadcaster went on to receive the Hall's media award: The Lakers' Hearn and the Celtics' Johnny Most.
In 1954, Frank Selvy of Furman University had set the college basketball record with 100 points in a game against Newberry College. Both schools were based in South Carolina. Now, in 1962, Selvy was with the Lakers, and had made the NBA All-Star Team for the 2nd time. With 5 seconds left in regulation, and the score tied at 100, Selvy had an open shot from 12 feet out. It would have given the Lakers the title, and ended -- or, at least, interrupted -- the Celtics' dynasty. Instead, he missed. It remains the most famous miss in basketball history.
Frank Selvy (right), guarded by K.C. Jones
The Celtics have long had a leprechaun logo at center court of their arena, and their success -- including their opponents' misfortune -- has often been attributed to "The Luck of the Leprechaun." The Number 1 song in America on this day was "Good Luck Charm" by Elvis Presley. It was probably a coincidence, since Elvis was not known to be a Celtics fan, and Celtics owner Walter Brown had no control over radio stations and jukeboxes. Probably a coincidence...
Just as the Celtics had done against the St. Louis Hawks in 1957, Game 7 went to overtime. Unlike that one, it wouldn't go to a 2nd overtime. The Celtics led 110-107 with a few seconds left, with Russell tying his own NBA Finals record with 40 rebounds. The Lakers needed to foul to even have a chance. But Cousy, long known as the game's greatest dribbler and nicknamed "The Houdini of the Hardwood" -- he was considered magical before Lakers star Earvin "Magic" Johnson was even born -- managed to stay away from defenders, and dribble out the clock, until the final horn sounded, and the Celtics were World Champions again.
For the Celtics: Russell scored 30 points, Sam Jones 27, Ramsey 23, Cousy and Heinsohn 8 each, Tom "Satch" Sanders and Jim Loscutoff 6 each, K.C. Jones 2, and Braun and Gene Guarilla each played 4 minutes without scoring.
For the Lakers: Baylor scored 41, West 35, Selvy 10, Jim Krebs 8, Rudy LaRusso 7, Tom Hawkins 4, Ray Felix 2, and Howie Joliff played 9 minutes and Rod Hundley 4 without scoring.
The Celtics beat the Lakers in the Finals again in 1963 (after which Cousy retired), 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969. They also beat the San Francisco Warriors in the Finals in 1964. The only interruption in this run of 13 seasons, 12 Finals berths, and 11 titles came in 1967, when Wilt Chamberlain led the Philadelphia 76ers to beat them in the Eastern Conference Finals, and then won the Finals over the Warriors, the new Philadelphia team beating the old one.
The Lakers lost the Finals in 1970, too, that time to the Knicks. Finally, in 1972, the Lakers beat the Knicks for their 1st title in Los Angeles. In 1973, the Knicks beat them in the Finals. The Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the Finals in 1974, the Phoenix Suns in 1976, and the Houston Rockets in 1981. In 1984, the Celtics beat the Lakers again, and were 8-0 against the Lakers in the Finals -- 7-0 against the Los Angeles version.
In 1985, not only did the Lakers finally beat the Celtics in the Finals, but they became the 1st team other than the Celtics to clinch the NBA Championship at the Boston Garden. The Celtics beat the Rockets in 1986, then the Lakers beat the Celtics again in 1987. It would take until 2008 for them to face each other again, and the Celtics won. They faced each other again in 2010, and the Lakers won.
Through the 2020-21 season, the Celtics and the Lakers have each won 17 NBA Championships, tied for 1st. But 5 of the Lakers' titles came in Minneapolis, so it's really 17-12 in the Celtics' favor.
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April 18, 1962 was a Wednesday. Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 4 and 5. The Toronto Maple Leafs would defeat the defending Champions, the Chicago Black Hawks, in 6 games.
And these baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 1-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Milt Pappas allowed 2 hits over 6 innings, and Hoyt Wilhelm 2 hits over the last 3, to outpitch Bill Stafford. Pappas hit a home run in the 5th inning, for the only run of the game. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3. Mickey Mantle went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Roger Maris went 0-for-4. Yogi Berra appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.
* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 15-5 at the Polo Grounds. The Cards advanced to 5-0 on the season, while the Mets dropped to 0-6 for their entire history. Stan Musial went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs, Ken Boyer hit 2 home runs, and Boyer and Bill White each got 3 hits. The Mets got homers from Ed Bouchee and Frank Thomas. Not that one.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Roberto Clemente went 0-for-4.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 14-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Yes, that's baseball, not football. Jim O'Toole pitched a 4-hit shutout. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 5-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline hit a home run.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Colt .45s, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 4-for-5 with 2 RBIs, including a home run to win it in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Colts became the Houston Astros in 1965.
* The Milwaukee Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Braves scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning, as Stu Miller wasted a nice start by Jack Sanford. Hank Aaron hit his 255th career home run, and Eddie Mathews hits his 372nd. Warren Spahn gained his 310th win. Willie Mays, who came into the game with 323 home runs, went 0-for-4.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-1... with 4 walks.
* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. That ballpark had opened just 8 days earlier, and through the 1965 season, the Angels would groundshare with the slightly more established team, before their stadium down the Freeway in Anaheim was ready.
And the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians were not scheduled.
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