Boston Celtics: The 5 Game 7s that shaped the Celtics-76ers Rivalry

1968: Down 3-1

The Boston Celtics won another championship in 1966, beating the Sixers in five games, and bringing the streak to eight, but in 1967 the 76ers finally were able to take down the tyrants. During the regular season, the MVP, Chamberlain, and the rest of the Sixers won 68 games, which was a league record at the time. The Celtics were still adjusting with their new player-coach, Bill Russell. Still, the Celtics were good enough to make it to the playoffs and the two teams met for the third straight year. Boston was able to save the embarrassment of a sweep but lost in five quick games, and Chamberlain won his first title.

To no ones surprise in 1968, the Eastern Division Finals consisted of the 76ers and the Celtics. The 76ers were clear favorites, with the most wins in the league for the third season in a row (62), the best player in the league, and a roster arguably more talented than a year prior. However, Billy Cunningham and Luke Jackson both got hurt in the first round, and Cummingham could not play at all.

Before the series began, the world was in hysteria by the news Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated. Both Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain made efforts to stop the first game from being played, Chet Walker did not want play, and neither team could focus. But with the owners needing to fill the stadium and the rest of the Philadephia needing something to occupy themselves to prevent riots, the game was played.

New York Times reporter, Leonard Koppett, described the event as “the eeriest, most subdued sporting event [he] ever seen,” as  Boston won by nine points. The 76ers went on to win the next three games to take a 3-1 series lead, and Boston looked hopeless. Then the Celtics did something remarkable; they came back to tie the series at three to three.

This time the Celtics did not get the home-court advantage. The game was unlike the rest of the series. It was low scoring, with both teams using their mid-range shooters as their principal offensive weapon.

At halftime, the Celtics were up by the seven, and no one on the 76ers was shooting particularly well. Wilt Chamberlain only had four shots in the first half, and in the second, he had one. He explained that his coach did not tell him to shoot. The coach responded that he never tells Wilt to shoot. It was a strange ending, with the Sixers superstar quitting on the team for an unexplained reason, giving Boston the victory.

The Celtics went on to win the title and that offseason, and a frustrated Chamberlain left, giving the Lakers got who they wanted for years, Wilt Chamberlain. The 76ers and Celtics rivalry took a long halt until Philadephia found themselves another superstar.