Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals: Facts, Figures, Frivolities and Fantastic Finishes history 17 titles russell

It’s a fact: No team has accomplished as much in the NBA Finals as the Boston Celtics. Los Angeles Lakers fans will disagree, but the Celtics have the most championships of any franchise in one city, they’ve won a far better percentage of Finals than the Lakers have, and Boston owns LA in their head-to-head Finals meetings.

As we brace for a Finals showdown with the Dallas Mavericks, we offer up this historical review of how all 17 championship banners made it to the TD Garden rafters, as well as how others didn’t.

Team records

2024 is the Celtics 23^rd trip to the Finals.

They’ve won 17 and lost five.

Longest streak: Eight straight championships, 1959-66.

The Cs lost their last two appearances, 2010 and 2022, marking the only time the franchise had lost consecutive Finals series.

Other top title winners in the NBA:

• Lakers 17-15 record
• Warriors 7-5
• Bulls 6-0
• Spurs 5-1

Those five franchises have combined to capture 52 of 77 (67.5%) league championships to date. No other team has more than 3 titles.

Longest championship drought: Sacramento Kings, who won their only title back in 1951 when they were the Rochester (N.Y.) Royals.

Current franchises that have never won the NBA title: Hornets, Suns, Nets, Magic, Jazz, Pacers, Timberwolves, Clippers, Pelicans, Grizzlies.

Celtics vs. Lakers all-time

They have met in the Finals 12 times, with the Celtics leading 9-3.

Bill Russell was 7-0 vs. the Lakers.

All-time Lakers great Elgin Baylor was 0-7 in Finals series vs. Boston. His running mate, Jerry West, was 0-6 vs. the Celtics (and nevertheless was selected as The Logo).

Between 1948 and 1954, the Lakers won five titles playing in Minneapolis, a long way from Los Angeles. They moved to LA in 1960 but lost seven straight Finals before finally winning a championship there.

When they won in 1972, it was ironically after hiring former Celtics Bill Sharman as head coach and KC Jones as assistant coach.

Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images

Individual winners

These six Celtics have won more rings than any other NBA players all-time.

• Bill Russell 11-1
• Sam Jones 10-1
• John Havlicek 8-0
• Tom Sanders 8-0
• KC Jones 8-0
• Tom Heinsohn 8-1

Safe to say the 1956 draft day trade in which Boston acquired Russell from the St. Louis Hawks was one of the most consequential deals in NBA history.

MVPs

The Finals Most Valuable Player award was instituted in 1969. The Celtics beat the Lakers in seven, but the MVP trophy went to LA’s West, who averaged 38 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. It did not go to Boston player-coach Russell, who averaged 9/21/5 while playing all 48 minutes of all seven games at age 35. Today the trophy is called the Bill Russell Finals MVP Award.

Celtics who have since won FMVP: John Havlicek, 1974; JoJo White, 1976; Cedric Maxwell, 1981; Larry Bird, 1984 and 1986; Paul Pierce, 2008.

Russell vs. Chamberlain

The rivals faced off in eight playoff series, with Russell winning seven. Two of those were in the Finals, with Bill’s Celtics taking down Wilt’s San Francisco Warriors in 1964 and Wilt’s LA Lakers in 1969.

1957 – Celtics 4, St. Louis Hawks 3

Russell and Heinsohn were rookies and Cousy was named Most Valuable Player this season as the Celtics made the Finals for the first time. After falling behind 2-1, Boston rallied to a 3-2 series lead, but a 96-94 St. Louis home win set up game 7 at Boston Garden. The game went to double overtime, and Cousy and backcourt mate Sharman were awful, combining to make just 5 of 40 shots. But Heinsohn saved the season with 37 points and 23 rebounds, while Russ added 19 and 32. The series ended when the Hawks, with no timeouts and down two, threw a court-length inbounds pass off the backboard where they were shooting. Hawks’ star Bob Pettit tried for the putback, but the ball rolled around the rim and out.

1958 – Hawks 4, Celtics 2

In this rematch, Russell, Sam Jones and Heinsohn all suffered their one Finals loss, as did Red Auerbach as head coach. Russell injured an ankle, missed games 4 and 5, and was only able to go 20 minutes in game 6. Pettit scored 50 in the closeout win, 110-109.

1959 – Celtics 4, Minneapolis Lakers 0

After the 52-20 Celtics survived a seven-game East finals with the Syracuse Nationals (now the Sixers), the championship match was no contest. The 33-39 Lakers had upset the first-place Hawks in the West but were swept in the Finals. Lakers rookie Baylor averaged 22 points and 12 boards, but Heinsohn, Sharman and Frank Ramsey all averaged more than 22 points and Russell pulled down nearly 30 rebounds per game.

1960 – Celtics 4, Hawks 3

Déjà vu as Boston again needed seven to top St. Louis. The Hawks won at home to tie it 3-3, but the Celtics won game 7 comfortably, 122-103, behind 24 points from Ramsey and 35 rebounds for Russell. For the series, Heinsohn was the leading scorer with 22 points a night while Russell averaged 25 rebounds. Pettit countered with 26 and 15 per game.

1961 – Celtics 4, Hawks 1

Meeting for the fourth time in five years, the Celtics had their easiest matchup of all with the Hawks. Pettit’s 31 points and 24 rebounds led St. Louis to a win in game 3, but that was all they could salvage. In the closeout game, Russell led everyone with 30 points and 38 boards. Heinsohn averaged 23 as Boston’s leading scorer for the series. Cliff Hagan, one of the players Boston had traded for Russell back in 1956, was the Hawks’ leader at 29 PPG. The Hawks have not made the Finals since then; they moved to Atlanta in 1968 and eventually shifted to the Eastern Conference.

1962 – Celtics 4, LA Lakers 3

This postseason was the closest the Celtics came to losing during their eight-year reign. They went seven games in the East with the Philadelphia Warriors (now Golden State) but won the finale 109-107 by holding Wilt to 22 points (he averaged 50.4 PPG that season) and getting a last-second jumper from Sam Jones. In the Finals, LA grabbed game 3 when West made a steal and buzzer-beating layup and took a 3-2 lead when Baylor dropped 61 points (still the NBA Finals record) in Boston Garden. The Cs won at LA to force game 7 back home, in which LA’s Frank Selvy missed a title-winning shot at the end of regulation. Boston won in overtime, led by Russell’s 30 points and 40 rebounds.

1963 – Celtics 4, Lakers 2

The drama this time was in the East when Boston needed 47 from Sam Jones to win game 7 versus the Royals. The NBA Finals were more routine. Boston won game 4 at LA to take a 3-1 lead, but like in ’62, LA won game 5 at the Garden behind Baylor’s big night (45 points, 20 rebounds). However, the Celtics ended the drama in game 6 at LA, 112-109. Baylor and West combined to average 63 PPG for the series, but Sam, Heinsohn and Russell topped that by averaging 68 combined points.

1964 – Celtics 4, San Francisco Warriors 1

The Warriors had moved west from Philly and created a Twin Towers attack by drafting 6’11” Nate Thurmond, a future Hall of Famer. However, that couldn’t slow down the Celtics juggernaut. Boston won the first two games at home, split two in San Francisco, then finished the series back home, 105-99. Sam Jones scored 21 per game to lead Boston. Wilt tallied 29 points and 28 rebounds per game in the series, while Russell averaged 11/25 with five assists.

1965 – Celtics 4, Lakers 1

Jerry West tried to keep his Lakers afloat in this series, averaging 34 points, but his running mate Elgin Baylor missed the entire series with an injury. Boston romped in game 1 at home, 142-110, and closed out the series with a 129-96 demolition. Sam Jones led the Cs with 28 PPG. Lakers’ second-stringer Don Nelson was cut after the season and signed with Boston. This will matter in 1969.

1966 – Celtics 4, Lakers 3

Red Auerbach announced he would retire from coaching after the season, giving the league one last try to beat him. They didn’t miss it by much. In the first-round best-of-five, the Celtics had to rally from down 2-1 vs. the Cincinnati Royals (now Sacramento Kings). In the Finals, the Lakers rode West’s 41 to a game 1 upset in Boston, only to see the Celtics recover with three straight wins. Once again, Baylor (41 points) kept LA alive in game 5, and the Lakers also took game 6 at home. The Celtics were in danger of blowing Red’s last title! The series looked safe again when Boston went up 10 in the last minute of game 7, so Red brought out his customary victory cigar – the Celtics had never lost after he lit up. Suddenly, a couple of quick steals and jumpers got LA to within 95-93. Fortunately, KC Jones dribbled out the last seconds and Red went out a winner.

1968 – Celtics 4, Lakers 2

After their eight-peat, the Celtics were finally dethroned by Wilt and the 68-13 Sixers in 1967. The Philly crowd chanted “Boston is dead!” Not really. Facing off again in the 1968 East finals, the Celts fell behind 3-1 but roared back, taking game 7 in front of those same fans. The NBA Finals vs. LA were almost anticlimactic. They started off 2-2 but the Celtics won a close game 5 in Boston and ended the series on the road behind Havlicek’s 40 points. Russell won his 10^th ring as a player and first as head coach.

1969 – Celtics 4, Lakers 3

This was the year LA should have broken through. They traded for Wilt, still had West and Baylor, and possessed home court advantage over Boston for the first time. The Celtics won only 48 games and finished fourth in the East. However, Boston still got to the Finals by upsetting Philly (55 wins) and New York (54 wins). LA took Game 1 by just two points, thanks to West scoring 53, then went up 2-0 as West added 41 points, offsetting Havlicek’s 43. In Boston, the Celtics took game 3 but were down a single point with time only for one gotta-have-it shot. Sam Jones was clutch once more.

The Celts had avoided a 1-3 hole, and eventually the series came down to game 7. The Celtics controlled the pace until the fourth quarter. They went cold, LA rallied, and with Boston clinging to a slim lead, former Laker Don Nelson hit the luckiest shot of his life. That broke the rally and the Celtics had secured Banner 11.

1974 – Celtics 4, Milwaukee Bucks 3

After the 1969 title, Russell and Sam Jones retired, and the Celtics had to rebuild. Just five years later, they were back in the Finals to face the Bucks (at that time in the Western Conference) and their young league MVP, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The series was physical and close throughout. Five of the games were won by the visiting team, neither team won two in a row, and two games went to OT. On the parquet, Celtics were seconds away from the title in the second overtime of game 6, when Kareem swished a clutch sweeping hook from the deep baseline to tie the series. The Celtics showed their grit in game 7, limiting Kareem’s opportunities with a double-team to force other Bucks to step up. They couldn’t, and Boston won comfortably, 102-87. MVP Havlicek averaged 27/8/5.

1976 – Celtics 4, Phoenix Suns 2

The Suns upset the defending champion Warriors before giving the Celtics all they could handle in the Finals. The Celtics won two at home, lost two on the road, then the pivotal game 5 was the ultimate playoff battle. Boston was up 22 in the second quarter, but Paul Westphal (traded from the Celtics to Phoenix the previous year) led a frantic comeback that stretched to three OT periods. Havlicek, Westphal and Suns Garfield Heard and Curtis Perry traded ridiculous clutch hoops, and every time the game seemed over, someone made a play that said, no, it isn’t. Finals MVP JoJo White scored 33 points in 60 minutes and little-used sub Glenn McDonald nailed six crucial points in the third extra period for a 128-126 win. Two days later, the Celtics ended it in Phoenix, but the hoop world has never forgotten game 5.

1981 – Celtics 4, Houston Rockets 2

After another down period, the Celtics drafted Larry Bird, traded for Robert Parish and Kevin McHale, and changed the NBA dramatically. The Boston-LA rivalry moved to a new level – but first, Moses Malone and the Rockets made the Finals by knocking off the defending champ Lakers in the first round. The 62-20 Celtics came out of the East by surviving a war against the 62-20 Sixers. Boston overcame a 3-1 deficit in a series where five of seven games were decided by one or two points. Versus Houston, the Celtics had too much talent to lose. Veteran forward Cedric Maxwell averaged 18/10/3 in the low-scoring series, winning MVP. In the final moments, Bird nailed a cold-blooded dagger three to clinch the trophy in game 6.

1984 – Celtics 4, Lakers 3

The 62-20 Celtics had lost both games to the 54-28 Lakers during the regular season, so LA was favored in this year’s showdown. And the visitors won game 1 on the parquet, sowing doubts among fans of the Green. It got worse when the Lakers held a late lead in game 2. But Gerald Henderson stole the ball, the Celtics won it in OT, and the entire series was changed. Game 3 in LA was a blowout, a humiliating loss. Bird called out his teammates, leading to a tense game 4 filled with hard fouls, near-fights and cold-blooded shot-making. Boston hung on in OT again, with Bird swishing the game-winner on a post-up fadeaway.

Game 5 temperatures in the non-air-conditioned old Garden hovered near 100 degrees. While the Lakers wilted, Larry Legend was energized to a 34-point, 17-rebound night. For Game 7, Maxwell told his squad to “jump on my back, boys!” – and he delivered with 24 points, 8 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. The final was 111-102 and the Lakers were 0 for 8 against Boston in the Finals.

1985 – Lakers 4, Celtics 2

The ninth time was the charm for the Lakers. After the Celtics routed them 148-114 in game 1, LA toughened up and won a tight game 2, then a blowout game 3 back in their own building. Dennis Johnson nailed a buzzer-beating jumper to win game 4, but this year the schedule format had changed to 2-3-2, so LA had home court for game 5 and took advantage. Game 6 was back in Boston, to no avail. Kareem and James Worthy combined for 57 points, the Celtics shot poorly, and it was over.

1986 – Celtics 4, Rockets 2

Too bad the Lakers couldn’t get back to the Finals, because no one was beating the Celtics this time. Boston traded for Bill Walton, went 67-15, lost only one home game the entire season, and was 11-1 in the East playoffs. Bird was unstoppable, averaging 24/10/10 in the six Finals games – and he was only second in scoring to McHale (26 ppg). Houston managed to win game 5 after 7’4” Ralph Sampson picked a fight with the smallest Celtic, Jerry Sichting. That let the Celtics clinch on their home court, with Bird’s 29/11/12 triple double leading a 114-97 destruction that was not as close as the score sounds.

1987 – Lakers 4, Celtics 2

There was no stopping LA this time. They won 65 games in a dominant regular season, picked up former no. 1 overall draft pick Mychal Thompson at the trade deadline, and lost only 1 Western playoff game pre-Finals. Meanwhile, the Celtics battled through seven-game series versus the Bucks and Pistons. McHale, Parish and Danny Ainge were battling injuries. Predictably, the Lakers won two home games comfortably, then came back from 18 points down to win game 4 in Boston. Magic Johnson hit the game-winner, a baby hook shot after the Celtics failed to grab a missed Lakers free throw. The Celts stayed alive by winning game 5 at home, but that was all they could do.

2008 – Celtics 4, Lakers 2

After a brutal 24-58 season, and years of frustration, Celtics president Danny Ainge traded for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, completely reshaped the roster, and returned the Celtics to the top. After going 66-16, they inexplicably struggled in the playoffs, needing seven games to defeat both the Hawks and Cavs, but got better with a six-game win vs. the Pistons. They took the first two Finals games at home, narrowly avoiding a game 2 collapse as the Lakers came back in the fourth quarter. But that became the Leon Powe Game, when the popular backup stunned LA with 21 points off the bench. The crushing blow came in Game 4, with the Lakers going up 24 on their home court, only to see the Celtics rally in the third and fourth. PJ Brown, Eddie House and series MVP Pierce scored clutch buckets in the comeback, then Ray Allen delivered the ultimate blow with a sweet drive and layup. Back in Boston and up 3-2, the Celtics humiliated the Lakers 131-92 on the parquet, Allen raining down seven threes.

2010 – Lakers 4, Celtics 3

After a lackluster regular season, the Celts flipped the switch in the postseason and nearly got away with it. It took six games each to beat the Cavs (sending LeBron to Miami) and the Magic, yielding yet another matchup with LA. They split the first two at Staples Center, then did the same at TD Garden. Game 4 was the “Shrek and Donkey” game, when Big Baby Davis and Nate Robinson combined for 30 points off the bench. Pierce’s 27 points keyed the game 5 win. But the Celtics couldn’t close it because they couldn’t score. Game 6 was lost 89-67 and Kendrick Perkins went down with a knee injury. They led by as much as 13 in game 7 but gave up 17 second-chance points on the night. The fatal blow was the Lakers shooting 21 fourth quarter free throws to Boston’s six. Final score: 83-79.

2022 – Warriors 4, Celtics 2

The first Finals game of the Jays era was smashing. The Celtics closed the night with a 20-2 run and a victory. Then they won game 3 in Boston behind a combined 77 points from Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart. In game 3, the Celtics were ahead by four and 5:18 away from a 3-1 series lead. And that’s when the dream began to fade. They missed seven of their last eight shots and never recovered in the game or the series. Steph Curry won MVP because he made every shot all series, or at least it seemed that way.

That Warriors loss, along with the Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis acquisitions, has fueled this season’s run toward Banner 18. In a couple of weeks, 2024 will be another segment of Celtics history. We hope to remember it fondly.