# 1961–62 Boston Celtics season

The 1961–62 NBA season was the Celtics' 16th season in the NBA. The Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers to claim their fifth NBA Championship. They set new records with the most games won and the first NBA team to post 60 wins. Three years later, the Celtics would break this record with 62 wins in 1964–65 season.

## Offseason
### NBA draft

The 1961 NBA draft took place on March 27, 1961.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 9 | Gary Phillips | Guard | United States | Houston |
| 2 | 17 | Al Butler | Guard | United States | Niagara |

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Eastern Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-Boston Celtics | 60 | 20 | .750 | – | 23–5 | 26–12 | 11–3 | 26–10 |
| x-Philadelphia Warriors | 49 | 31 | .613 | 11 | 18–11 | 19–19 | 12–1 | 18–18 |
| x-Syracuse Nationals | 41 | 39 | .513 | 19 | 18–10 | 11–19 | 12–10 | 17–19 |
| New York Knicks | 29 | 51 | .363 | 31 | 19–15 | 2–23 | 8–13 | 11–25 |

### Record vs. opponents

1961-62 NBA Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | CIN | DET | LAL | NYK | PHI | STL | SYR |
| Boston | — | 9–1 | 7–1 | 5–3 | 6–3 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–2 | 10–2 |
| Chicago | 1–9 | — | 1–9 | 3–7 | 2–8 | 6–4 | 0–10 | 4–6 | 1–9 |
| Cincinnati | 1–7 | 9–1 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–4 | 3–5 | 9–3 | 5–4 |
| Detroit | 3–5 | 7–3 | 6–6 | — | 4–8 | 5–4 | 1–7 | 7–5 | 4–5 |
| Los Angeles | 3–6 | 8–2 | 7–5 | 8–4 | — | 6–2 | 6–3 | 10–2 | 6–2 |
| New York | 4–8 | 4–6 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 2–6 | — | 4–8 | 4–4 | 3–9 |
| Philadelphia | 4–8 | 10–0 | 5–3 | 7–1 | 3–6 | 8–4 | — | 6–3 | 6–6 |
| St. Louis | 2–7 | 6–4 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 4–4 | 3–6 | — | 4–4 |
| Syracuse | 2–10 | 9–1 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 2–6 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–4 | — |

### Game log
## Playoffs

1962 playoff game log :
Division Finals: 4–3 (home: 4–0; road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 24
Philadelphia
W 117–89
Sam Jones (20)
Bill Russell (30)
Bob Cousy (8)
Boston Garden
1–0
2
March 27
@ Philadelphia
L 106–113
Tom Heinsohn (24)
Bill Russell (20)
Bill Russell (6)
Philadelphia Civic Center
1–1
3
March 28
Philadelphia
W 129–114
Russell, Heinsohn (31)
Bill Russell (31)
Bob Cousy (10)
Boston Garden
2–1
4
March 31
@ Philadelphia
L 106–110
Bill Russell (31)
Bill Russell (30)
Bob Cousy (10)
Philadelphia Civic Center
2–2
5
April 1
Philadelphia
W 119–104
Bill Russell (29)
Bill Russell (26)
Russell, S. Jones (7)
Boston Garden
3–2
6
April 3
@ Philadelphia
L 99–109
Heinsohn, Cousy (22)
Bill Russell (22)
Bob Cousy (12)
Philadelphia Civic Center
3–3
7
April 5
Philadelphia
W 109–107
Sam Jones (28)
Bill Russell (22)
K. C. Jones (10)
Boston Garden
4–3 :
NBA Finals: 4–3 (home: 2–2; road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 7
Los Angeles
W 122–108
Sam Jones (24)
Bill Russell (28)
Bob Cousy (7)
Boston Garden 7,467
1–0
2
April 8
Los Angeles
L 122–129
Tom Heinsohn (27)
Bill Russell (23)
Bob Cousy (11)
Boston Garden 12,364
1–1
3
April 10
@ Los Angeles
L 115–117
Bill Russell (26)
Bill Russell (32)
Bob Cousy (8)
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 15,180
1–2
4
April 11
@ Los Angeles
W 115–103
Bill Russell (21)
Bill Russell (22)
Bob Cousy (13)
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 15,104
2–2
5
April 14
Los Angeles
L 121–126
Tom Heinsohn (30)
Bill Russell (29)
Bob Cousy (10)
Boston Garden 13,909
2–3
6
April 16
@ Los Angeles
W 119–105
Sam Jones (35)
Bill Russell (24)
Bill Russell (10)
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 14,030
3–3
7
April 18
Los Angeles
W 110–107 (OT)
Bill Russell (30)
Bill Russell (40)
Bob Cousy (9)
Boston Garden 13,909
4–3 :
1962 schedule :

## Awards and honors

* Bill Russell, NBA Most Valuable Player
* Bill Russell, All-NBA Second Team
* Bob Cousy, All-NBA Second Team
* Tom Heinsohn, All-NBA Second Team