1965 NBA Finals explained

The 1965 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1965 NBA playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association 1964–65 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics. The Celtics made their ninth-straight trip to the championship finals after beating the Philadelphia 76ers in a highly contested Eastern Division Finals that ended on John Havlicek's steal of the ball. The Lakers made it to their third Finals in four seasons after beating Baltimore in six games, though it came at a cost as Elgin Baylor suffered a knee injury that would sideline him for the rest of the playoffs. The Celtics won the series over the Lakers, 4–1.^[1]

Series summary

The Celtics' average margin of victory in this series was 12.6 points, as they averaged 123.4 points a game, in contrast to the Lakers' 110.8 points per game.

Game	Date	Home team	Result	Road team
Game 1	April 18	Boston Celtics	142–110 (1–0)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 2	April 19	Boston Celtics	129–123 (2–0)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 3	April 21	Los Angeles Lakers	126–105 (1–2)	Boston Celtics
Game 4	April 23	Los Angeles Lakers	99–112 (1–3)	Boston Celtics
Game 5	April 25	Boston Celtics	129–96 (4–1)	Los Angeles Lakers

Celtics win series 4–1

Source:^[2]

Game 4

Boston beat the Lakers 112 to 99. In the closing minutes of the game, ABC cut away to a previously scheduled program.

Player statistics

Boston Celtics|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 39.8 || .470 || || .879 || 4.8 || 2.6 || || || 27.8|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 30.2 || .391 || || .864 || 5.6 || 2.2 || || || 18.2 |-| align="left" | || 5 || || 44.2 || .702 || || .575 || 25.0 || 5.8 || || || 17.8|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 31.2 || .391 || || .682 || 8.8 || 2.0 || || || 13.8|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 20.8 || .361 || || .556 || 6.4 || 1.8 || || || 11.4|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 31.0 || .460 || || .786 || 2.6 || 6.6 || || || 11.4|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 17.4 || .396 || || .750 || 4.2 || 1.0 || || || 9.6|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 13.6 || .341 || || .786 || 1.6 || 2.4 || || || 7.8|-| align="left" | || 3 || || 7.0 || .286 || || 1.000 || 4.0 || 0.3 || || || 3.7|-| align="left" | || 3 || || 3.7 || .375 || || .800 || 3.7 || 0.0 || || || 3.3|-| align="left" | || 3 || || 9.0 || .250 || || 1.000 || 3.0 || 0.0 || || || 2.3

Los Angeles Lakers|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 42.0 || .424 || || .864 || 5.6 || 3.4 || || || 33.8|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 39.8 || .421 || || .676 || 11.0 || 0.8 || || || 17.8|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 32.0 || .531 || || .656 || 6.8 || 2.4 || || || 14.6|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 24.4 || .483 || || .700 || 3.0 || 2.2 || || || 14.0|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 20.0 || .326 || || .778 || 3.0 || 5.2 || || || 8.8|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 35.4 || .516 || || .545 || 17.8 || 2.0 || || || 7.8|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 20.6 || .438 || || .667 || 5.4 || 1.4 || || || 7.2|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 11.0 || .429 || || 1.000 || 2.0 || 1.4 || || || 4.2|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 10.8 || .222 || || .500 || 2.4 || 0.6 || || || 1.4|-| align="left" | || 5 || || 10.0 || .500 || || 1.000 || 3.0 || 1.0 || || || 3.5

Source:^[2]

Team rosters

Los Angeles Lakers

Notes and References

Web site: NBA History: 1965 Finals. NBA.com. 4 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20110817235531/http://www.nba.com/home/index.html. 17 August 2011. dead.
Web site: 1965 NBA Finals summary. basketball-reference.com. 4 July 2017.