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1964–65 NBA season
1964–65 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	October 16, 1964 – March 21, 1965; March 24 – April 15, 1965 (Playoffs); April 18–25, 1965 (Finals)
Number of games	80
Number of teams	9
TV partner(s)	ABC
Draft
Top draft pick	Jim Barnes
Picked by	New York Knicks
Regular season
Top seed	Boston Celtics
Season MVP	Bill Russell (Boston)
Top scorer	Wilt Chamberlain; (San Francisco/Philadelphia)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Boston Celtics
Eastern runners-up	Philadelphia 76ers
Western champions	Los Angeles Lakers
Western runners-up	Baltimore Bullets
Finals
Champions	Boston Celtics
Runners-up	Los Angeles Lakers
NBA seasons
	← 1963–64 1965–66 →

The 1964–65 NBA season was the 19th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning their 7th straight NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.

Teams

Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
1964-65 National Basketball Association
Eastern	Boston Celtics	Boston, Massachusetts	Boston Garden	13,909
	Cincinnati Royals	Cincinnati, Ohio	Cincinnati Gardens	11,000
	New York Knicks	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden	18,496
	Philadelphia 76ers	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Philadelphia Arena Municipal Auditorium	7,000 12,000
Western	Baltimore Bullets	Baltimore, Maryland	Baltimore Civic Center	11,271
	Detroit Pistons	Detroit, Michigan	Cobo Arena	12,191
	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles, California	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena	16,161
	San Francisco Warriors	San Francisco, California	San Francisco Civic Auditorium	7,000
	St. Louis Hawks	St. Louis, Missouri	Kiel Auditorium	9,300

Map of teams

Boston

Cincinnati

New York

Philadelphia

Baltimore

Detroit

Los Angeles

San Francisco

St. Louis

Eastern Division

Western Division

Season recap

Preseason

The season marked real change for the league. NBA Commissioner Maurice Podoloff, who had held the office since the formation of the league (as the Basketball Association of America) in 1946, retired. Walter Kennedy took over his position.

Regular season

Red Auerbach's loaded Boston Celtics won 62 of 80 games in the nine team league. The balanced Celts had seven ten-point scorers plus the defense and rebounding of Bill Russell. Boston led the league in both of those team stats.

Four other teams won half their games or better. The Los Angeles Lakers won the West Division with 49 wins in 80 games behind superstars Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. The Cincinnati Royals won 48 of 80 games with their own two superstars, Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas. The St. Louis Hawks had seven ten-point scorers also and won 45 of 80 games, but lost star Bob Pettit to knee injury. The Philadelphia 76ers won half of their 80 games while working Wilt Chamberlain into their scheme. Chamberlain joined the team in mid-season right after the all-star game, a move which instantly made the new 76ers contenders.

Playoffs

East

The NBA had six playoff teams that year, with the second and third place teams from each division, East and West, meeting in the first round. The winners of this play-in round would then meet the division winners to decide the finalists.

Cincinnati, which had no real center, could not deal with Chamberlain, so Philadelphia advanced three games to one. But the 76ers, despite three All Stars alongside their giant star, could not unseat the champion Celtics, who held off Philly by a single point in Game 7 when John Havlicek stole the ball in the final seconds.

West

In the West, which produced no NBA champions from 1959 to 1970, Baltimore upset the injured St. Louis Hawks to meet Los Angeles. The Lakers overcame the Bullets' three 20-point scorers to meet Boston in the Finals.

Finals

It was the fourth time the two teams had met in the Finals since 1958. Laker star Elgin Baylor was lost to a knee injury just five minutes into the playoffs. The Lakers had no answer for Bill Russell inside as well. But Laker star Jerry West courageously tried to keep his team alive by averaging over 40 points through the Lakers 11 playoff games. The balance and depth of Boston was too much for that.

Notable occurrences

The 1965 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri, with the East beating the West 124–123. Jerry Lucas of the Cincinnati Royals won the game's MVP award.
ABC started televising the Sunday afternoon Game-Of-The-Week. ABC would continue to do so until they lost the rights to CBS following the 1972–73 season. After that, ABC would not broadcast the NBA until Christmas Day of 2002.
General Motors began a sponsorship deal with the NBA, rotating among all six of its divisions (Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac and GMC Truck). This status continued through 2004.

Coaching changes
Offseason
Team	1963–64 coach	1964–65 coach
Baltimore Bullets	Bobby Leonard	Buddy Jeannette
In-season
Team	Outgoing coach	Incoming coach
Detroit Pistons	Charles Wolf	Dave DeBusschere
New York Knicks	Eddie Donovan	Harry Gallatin
St. Louis Hawks	Harry Gallatin	Richie Guerin

Final standings

Eastern Division

Eastern Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Boston Celtics	62	18	.775	–	27–3	27–11	8–4	20–10
x-Cincinnati Royals	48	32	.600	14	25–7	17–21	6–4	16–14
x-Philadelphia 76ers	40	40	.500	22	13–12	9–21	18–7	14–16
New York Knicks	31	49	.388	31	15–20	9–21	7–8	10–20

Western Division

Western Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Los Angeles Lakers	49	31	.613	–	25–13	21–16	3–2	25–15
x-St. Louis Hawks	45	35	.563	4	26–4	15–17	4–4	28–12
x-Baltimore Bullets	37	43	.463	12	23–14	12–19	2–10	22–18
Detroit Pistons	31	49	.388	18	13–17	11–20	7–12	18–22
San Francisco Warriors	17	63	.213	32	10–26	5–31	2–6	7–33

x – clinched playoff spot

Playoff bracket

Division Semifinals

Division Finals

NBA Finals

Eastern Division

E1

Boston*

4

E3

Philadelphia

3

E3

Philadelphia

3

E2

Cincinnati

1

E1

Boston*

4

Western Division

W1

Los Angeles*

1

W1

Los Angeles*

4

W3

Baltimore

3

W3

Baltimore

2

W2

St. Louis

1

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

Statistics leaders


Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points	Wilt Chamberlain	San Francisco Warriors/Philadelphia 76ers	2,534
Rebounds	Bill Russell	Boston Celtics	1,878
Assists	Oscar Robertson	Cincinnati Royals	861
FG%	Wilt Chamberlain	San Francisco Warriors/Philadelphia 76ers	.510
FT%	Larry Costello	Philadelphia 76ers	.877