# 1963–64 Boston Celtics season

The 1963–64 NBA season was the Celtics' 18th season in the NBA. The Celtics finished the season by winning their seventh NBA Championship.

## Offseason
### NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 8 | Bill Green | Forward | United States | Colorado State |

## Regular season

The Celtics were one of the dominant teams in the leagues. The team established its legacy as one of the game's greatest dynasties ever. 1950s superstar Bob Cousy had retired, yet Red Auerbach's club barely slowed down with his absence. Cousy's replacement was a defensive specialist named K. C. Jones, who continued Auerbach's emphasis on defense along with forward Tom 'Satch' Sanders and center Bill Russell. While Boston could surely still pass and score, it was their defensive emergence, led by the incredible Russell, that was now leading a streak of NBA titles. Russell led the league in rebounds and was one of two high-volume shot blockers dominating the NBA. The Celtics had six scorers over ten-points per game and two more over eight. Auerbach's sixth man, John Havlicek, was the team's leading scorer at 20 per game. This combination of active defense and unselfish shooting got Boston a league-high 59 wins in 80 NBA games.

### Season standings

| Eastern Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-Boston Celtics | 59 | 21 | .738 | – | 26–4 | 21–17 | 12–0 | 25–11 |
| x-Cincinnati Royals | 55 | 25 | .688 | 4 | 26–7 | 18–18 | 11–0 | 27–9 |
| x-Philadelphia 76ers | 34 | 46 | .425 | 25 | 18–12 | 12–22 | 4–12 | 13–23 |
| New York Knicks | 22 | 58 | .275 | 37 | 10–25 | 8–27 | 4–6 | 7–29 |

### Record vs. opponents

1963–64 NBA records :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CIN | DET | LAL | NYK | PHI | SFW | STL |
| Baltimore | — | 1–9 | 2–8 | 7–3 | 3–7 | 7–3 | 5–5 | 3–7 | 3–7 |
| Boston | 9–1 | — | 5–7 | 7–1 | 6–3 | 10–2 | 10–2 | 5–3 | 7–2 |
| Cincinnati | 8–2 | 7–5 | — | 7–2 | 4–4 | 11–1 | 9–3 | 5–4 | 4–4 |
| Detroit | 3–7 | 1–7 | 2–7 | — | 5–7 | 4–5 | 3–5 | 3–9 | 2–10 |
| Los Angeles | 7–3 | 3–6 | 4–4 | 7–5 | — | 6–2 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 5–7 |
| New York | 3–7 | 2–10 | 1–11 | 5–4 | 2–6 | — | 4–8 | 1–8 | 4–4 |
| Philadelphia | 5–5 | 2–10 | 3–9 | 5–3 | 4–5 | 8–4 | — | 4–4 | 3–6 |
| San Francisco | 7–3 | 3–5 | 4–5 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 8–1 | 4–4 | — | 6–6 |
| St. Louis | 7–3 | 2–7 | 4–4 | 10–2 | 7–5 | 4–4 | 6–3 | 6–6 | — |

### Game log
## Playoffs

1964 playoff game log :
Division Finals: 4–1 (home: 3–0; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 31
Cincinnati
W 103–87
Sam Jones (27)
Bill Russell (31)
K. C. Jones (9)
Boston Garden 13,909
1–0
2
April 2
Cincinnati
W 101–90
Tom Heinsohn (31)
Bill Russell (28)
K. C. Jones (8)
Boston Garden 13,909
2–0
3
April 5
@ Cincinnati
W 102–92
Bill Russell (22)
Bill Russell (28)
K. C. Jones (6)
Cincinnati Gardens 11,850
3–0
4
April 7
@ Cincinnati
L 93–102
Sam Jones (33)
Bill Russell (24)
K. C. Jones (5)
Cincinnati Gardens
3–1
5
April 9
Cincinnati
W 109–95
Sam Jones (23)
Bill Russell (35)
Russell, K. C. Jones (7)
Boston Garden 13,909
4–1 :
NBA Finals: 4–1 (home: 3–0; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 18
San Francisco
W 108–96
Sam Jones (28)
Bill Russell (25)
K. C. Jones (7)
Boston Garden 13,909
1–0
2
April 20
San Francisco
W 124–101
Sam Jones (31)
Bill Russell (24)
Bill Russell (9)
Boston Garden 13,909
2–0
3
April 22
@ San Francisco
L 91–115
John Havlicek (22)
Bill Russell (32)
K. C. Jones (8)
Cow Palace 10,981
2–1
4
April 24
@ San Francisco
W 98–95
Tom Heinsohn (25)
Bill Russell (19)
K. C. Jones (5)
Cow Palace 14,862
3–1
5
April 26
San Francisco
W 105–99
Tom Heinsohn (19)
Bill Russell (26)
Bill Russell (6)
Boston Garden 13,909
4–1 :
1964 schedule :

## Awards and honors

* Bill Russell, All-NBA Second Team
* Tom Heinsohn, All-NBA Second Team
* John Havlicek, All-NBA Second Team