1964 NBA playoffs

1964 NBA playoffs
Tournament details
DatesMarch 21–April 26, 1964
Season1963–64
Teams6
Final positions
ChampionsBoston Celtics (7th title)
Runner-upSan Francisco Warriors
Semifinalists
← 1963
1965 →

The 1964 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1963–64 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Division champion San Francisco Warriors 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.

Boston earned their 6th straight and 7th overall NBA title, as they continued to dominate the decade; except for 1967, they won every NBA title in the 1960s.

This was the San Francisco Warriors' first trip to the NBA Finals since 1956 when they were based in Philadelphia; they would make a repeat appearance in 1967 and (as the Golden State Warriors) would earn the franchise's third championship in 1975.

The Philadelphia 76ers earned their first playoff appearance in their new city; they had been founded as the independent Syracuse Nationals in 1939 and joined the NBL in 1946.

Bracket

  • * Division winner
  • Bold Series winner
  • Italic Team with home-court advantage in NBA Finals

Division Semifinals

Eastern Division Semifinals

(2) Cincinnati Royals vs. (3) Philadelphia 76ers

March 22
Philadelphia 76ers 102, Cincinnati Royals 127
Scoring by quarter: 30–29, 19–32, 25–33, 28–33
Pts: Greer, Kerr 21 each
Rebs: Red Kerr 15
Asts: Paul Neumann 8		 Pts: Oscar Robertson 31
Rebs: Jerry Lucas 25
Asts: Oscar Robertson 16
Cincinnati leads series, 1–0
Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 6,238
Referees: Willie Smith, Sid Borgia
March 24
Cincinnati Royals 114, Philadelphia 76ers 122
Scoring by quarter: 34–36, 32–25, 25–29, 23–32
Pts: Oscar Robertson 30
Rebs: Wayne Embry 11
Asts: three players 5 each		 Pts: Hal Greer 29
Rebs: Red Kerr 15
Asts: Hal Greer 7
Series tied, 1–1
March 25
Philadelphia 76ers 89, Cincinnati Royals 101
Scoring by quarter: 18–26, 27–32, 19–23, 25–20
Pts: Chet Walker 21
Rebs: Red Kerr 19		 Pts: Oscar Robertson 28
Rebs: Jack Twyman 21
Cincinnati leads series, 2–1
March 28
Cincinnati Royals 120, Philadelphia 76ers 129
Scoring by quarter: 28–31, 33–29, 24–36, 35–33
Pts: Oscar Robertson 31
Rebs: Oscar Robertson 14
Asts: Bucky Bockhorn 7		 Pts: Hal Greer 22
Rebs: Ben Warley 15
Asts: Hal Greer 8
Series tied, 2–2
March 29
Philadelphia 76ers 124, Cincinnati Royals 130
Scoring by quarter: 23–29, 36–30, 28–35, 37–36
Pts: Red Kerr 31
Rebs: Red Kerr 11		 Pts: Oscar Robertson 32
Rebs: Wayne Embry 17
Cincinnati wins series, 3–2

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Royals winning the first meeting when the 76ers were the Syracuse Nationals.

Western Division Semifinals

(2) St. Louis Hawks vs. (3) Los Angeles Lakers

March 21
Los Angeles Lakers 104, St. Louis Hawks 115
Scoring by quarter: 23–32, 35–25, 29–29, 17–29
Pts: Jerry West 35
Rebs: Elgin Baylor 15
Asts: Dick Barnett 5		 Pts: Cliff Hagan 27
Rebs: Bob Pettit 22
Asts: Hagan, Wilkens 7 each
St. Louis leads series, 1–0
March 22
Los Angeles Lakers 90, St. Louis Hawks 106
Scoring by quarter: 22–21, 19–27, 26–24, 23–34
Pts: Elgin Baylor 20
Rebs: LeRoy Ellis 18
Asts: Jim King 4		 Pts: Richie Guerin 22
Rebs: Bob Pettit 18
Asts: Cliff Hagan 6
St. Louis leads series, 2–0
March 25
St. Louis Hawks 105, Los Angeles Lakers 107
Scoring by quarter: 22–33, 27–26, 29–24, 27–24
Pts: Bob Pettit 23
Rebs: Bob Pettit 10
Asts: Cliff Hagan 5		 Pts: Jerry West 39
Rebs: Elgin Baylor 16
Asts: Elgin Baylor 11
St. Louis leads series, 2–1
March 28
St. Louis Hawks 88, Los Angeles Lakers 97
Scoring by quarter: 23–23, 26–18, 18–34, 21–22
Pts: Bob Pettit 23
Rebs: Bob Pettit 12
Asts: Lenny Wilkens 7		 Pts: Jerry West 39
Rebs: LeRoy Ellis 11
Asts: Elgin Baylor 10
Series tied, 2–2
March 30
Los Angeles Lakers 108, St. Louis Hawks 121
Scoring by quarter: 25–34, 31–22, 19–31, 33–34
Pts: Elgin Baylor 28
Rebs: Elgin Baylor 11
Asts: Dick Barnett 4		 Pts: Lenny Wilkens 30
Rebs: Bob Pettit 20
Asts: Hagan, Guerin 6 each
St. Louis wins series, 3–2

This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Hawks winning four of the first six meetings.

Division Finals

Eastern Division Finals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (2) Cincinnati Royals

March 31
Cincinnati Royals 87, Boston Celtics 103
Scoring by quarter: 21–23, 19–26, 21–26, 26–28
Pts: Wayne Embry 21
Rebs: Wayne Embry 16
Asts: Robertson, Arnette 3 each		 Pts: Sam Jones 27
Rebs: Bill Russell 31
Asts: K. C. Jones 9
Boston leads series, 1–0
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 13,909
April 2
Cincinnati Royals 90, Boston Celtics 101
Scoring by quarter: 19–29, 23–21, 22–27, 26–24
Pts: Oscar Robertson 30
Rebs: Oscar Robertson 12
Asts: Oscar Robertson 9		 Pts: Tom Heinsohn 31
Rebs: Bill Russell 28
Asts: K. C. Jones 8
Boston leads series, 2–0
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 13,909
April 5
Boston Celtics 102, Cincinnati Royals 92
Scoring by quarter: 25–21, 30–16, 26–27, 21–28
Pts: Bill Russell 22
Rebs: Bill Russell 28		 Pts: Oscar Robertson 34
Rebs: Jerry Lucas 24
Boston leads series, 3–0
Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 11,850
April 7
Boston Celtics 93, Cincinnati Royals 102
Scoring by quarter: 25–25, 24–21, 23–29, 21–27
Pts: Sam Jones 33
Rebs: Bill Russell 24
Asts: K. C. Jones 5		 Pts: Oscar Robertson 33
Rebs: Jerry Lucas 25
Asts: Jerry Lucas 10
Boston leads series, 3–1
April 9
Cincinnati Royals 95, Boston Celtics 109
Scoring by quarter: 19–33, 22–26, 21–26, 33–24
Pts: Oscar Robertson 24
Rebs: Wayne Embry 10
Asts: Oscar Robertson 6		 Pts: Sam Jones 23
Rebs: Bill Russell 35
Asts: Russell, K. C. Jones 7 each
Boston wins series, 4–1
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 13,909

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning the first meeting.

Western Division Finals

(1) San Francisco Warriors vs. (2) St. Louis Hawks

April 1
St. Louis Hawks 116, San Francisco Warriors 111
Scoring by quarter: 24–25, 15–32, 25–22, 32–29
Pts: Richie Guerin 32 Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 37
St. Louis leads series, 1–0

This is the only playoff game that was held in the San Francisco city limit until 2022.

April 3
St. Louis Hawks 85, San Francisco Warriors 120
Scoring by quarter: 23–28, 21–34, 18–28, 23–30
Pts: Richie Guerin 23 Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 28
Series tied, 1–1
April 5
San Francisco Warriors 109, St. Louis Hawks 113
Scoring by quarter: 28–29, 31–33, 25–23, 25–28
Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 46 Pts: Bob Pettit 26
St. Louis leads series, 2–1
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 10,163
April 8
San Francisco Warriors 111, St. Louis Hawks 109
Scoring by quarter: 28–30, 28–24, 27–28, 28–27
Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 36 Pts: Bob Pettit 29
Series tied, 2–2
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 10,118
April 10
St. Louis Hawks 97, San Francisco Warriors 121
Scoring by quarter: 21–36, 28–22, 21–29, 27–34
Pts: Bob Pettit 19
Rebs: Bob Pettit 11		 Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 50
Rebs: Chamberlain, Thurmond 15 each
San Francisco leads series, 3–2
April 12
San Francisco Warriors 95, St. Louis Hawks 123
Scoring by quarter: 16–28, 17–31, 36–34, 26–30
Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 34 Pts: Bob Pettit 21
Series tied, 3–3
April 16
St. Louis Hawks 95, San Francisco Warriors 105
Scoring by quarter: 33–32, 19–21, 25–23, 18–29
Pts: Bob Pettit 24
Rebs: Bob Pettit 14
Asts: Cliff Hagan 5		 Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 39
Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 30
Asts: Guy Rodgers 8
San Francisco wins series, 4–3

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[5]

NBA Finals: (E1) Boston Celtics vs. (W1) San Francisco Warriors

Main article: 1964 NBA Finals
April 18
San Francisco Warriors 96, Boston Celtics 108
Scoring by quarter: 24–25, 15–32, 25–22, 32–29
Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 22
Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 23
Asts: Guy Rodgers 8		 Pts: Sam Jones 28
Rebs: Bill Russell 25
Asts: K. C. Jones 7
Boston leads series, 1–0
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 13,909
April 20
San Francisco Warriors 101, Boston Celtics 124
Scoring by quarter: 22–31, 21–31, 25–36, 33–26
Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 32
Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 25
Asts: Phillips, Rodgers 4 each		 Pts: Sam Jones 31
Rebs: Bill Russell 24
Asts: Bill Russell 9
Boston leads series, 2–0
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 13,909
April 22
Boston Celtics 91, San Francisco Warriors 115
Scoring by quarter: 21–40, 22–27, 21–23, 27–25
Pts: John Havlicek 22
Rebs: Bill Russell 32
Asts: K. C. Jones 8		 Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 35
Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 25
Asts: Guy Rodgers 7
Boston leads series, 2–1
April 24
Boston Celtics 98, San Francisco Warriors 95
Scoring by quarter: 17–24, 23–20, 36–20, 22–31
Pts: Tom Heinsohn 25
Rebs: Bill Russell 19
Asts: K. C. Jones 5		 Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 27
Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 38
Asts: Guy Rodgers 6
Boston leads series, 3–1
April 26
San Francisco Warriors 99, Boston Celtics 105
Scoring by quarter: 24–22, 17–23, 30–29, 28–31
Pts: Wilt Chamberlain 30
Rebs: Wilt Chamberlain 27
Asts: Guy Rodgers 7		 Pts: Tom Heinsohn 19
Rebs: Bill Russell 26
Asts: Bill Russell 6
Boston wins series, 4–1
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 13,909

This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning the first three meetings when the Warriors were based in Philadelphia.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Philadelphia 76ers versus Sacramento Kings (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  2. ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Atlanta Hawks versus Los Angeles Lakers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  3. ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Sacramento Kings (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  4. ^ "S.F.'s last NBA playoff game was historic: Wilt's Warriors vs. 5 Hall of Famers". April 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Atlanta Hawks versus Golden State Warriors (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  6. ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Golden State Warriors (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.