1964–65 NBA season

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19th NBA season

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Sports season

1964–65 NBA season
League	Los Angeles Lakers
Western runners-up	Baltimore Bullets
Finals
Venue	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California
Champions	Boston Celtics
Runners-up	Los Angeles Lakers
NBA seasons
← 1963–64 1965–66 →

The 1964–65 NBA season was the 19th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning their 7th straight NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.

Teams

1964-65 National Basketball Association
Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Eastern	Boston Celtics	Boston, Massachusetts	Boston Garden	13,909
	Cincinnati Royals	Cincinnati, Ohio	Cincinnati Gardens	11,000
	New York Knicks	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden	18,496
	Philadelphia 76ers	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Municipal Auditorium	7,000 12,000
Western	Baltimore Bullets	Baltimore, Maryland	Baltimore Civic Center	11,271
	Detroit Pistons	Detroit, Michigan	Cobo Arena	12,191
	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles, California	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena	16,161
	San Francisco Warriors	San Francisco, California	San Francisco Civic Auditorium	7,000
	St. Louis Hawks	St. Louis, Missouri	Kiel Auditorium	9,300

Map of teams

St. Louis

Eastern Division Western Division

The season marked real change for the league. NBA Commissioner

Red Auerbach's loaded Boston Celtics won 62 of 80 games in the nine team league. The balanced Celts had seven ten-point scorers plus the defense and rebounding of Bill Russell. Boston led the league in both of those team stats.

Four other teams won half their games or better. The Los Angeles Lakers won the West Division with 49 wins in 80 games behind superstars

Cincinnati, which had no real center, could not deal with Chamberlain, so Philadelphia advanced three games to one. But the 76ers, despite three All Stars alongside their giant star, could not unseat the champion Celtics, who held off Philly by a single point in Game 7 when John Havlicek stole the ball in the final seconds.

In the West, which produced no NBA champions from 1959 to 1970, Baltimore upset the injured St. Louis Hawks to meet Los Angeles. The Lakers overcame the Bullets' three 20-point scorers to meet Boston in the Finals.

It was the fourth time the two teams had met in the Finals since 1958. Laker star Elgin Baylor was lost to a knee injury just five minutes into the playoffs. The Lakers had no answer for Bill Russell inside as well. But Laker star Jerry West courageously tried to keep his team alive by averaging over 40 points through the Lakers 11 playoff games. The balance and depth of Boston was too much for that.

• The
  Cincinnati Royals
  won the game's MVP award.
• Christmas Day of 2002
  .
• GMC Truck). This status continued through 2004
  .

Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points, rebounds, and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.

• Most Valuable Player: Bill Russell, Boston Celtics
• Rookie of the Year: Willis Reed, New York Knicks
• Coach of the Year: Red Auerbach
  , Boston Celtics

• List of NBA regular season records

• 1964–65 NBA Season Summary, basketball-reference.com. Retrieved March 31, 2010.