Curtains for the Celtics

There is something sad about the death of a dynasty--even one as tyrannical as the Boston Celtics. For most of a decade the Celtics have utterly dominated pro basketball, winning nine National Basketball Association championships and providing the sport with many of its brightest stars: Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Tommy Heinsohn, Sam Jones, Bill Russell. It all ended last week when the Philadelphia 76ers rudely knocked the Celtics from the throne, crushing them four games to one in the N.B.A.'s Eastern Division playoffs.

Boston was never really in the battle, and the reason for that was Wilt Chamberlain. In his eight years in the N.B.A., the 76ers' 7-ft. 1 1/16-in. center has rewritten the record book: there are more than 1,000 entries next to his name, and he has been voted the league's Most Valuable Player three times. But he has never played on a championship team. Last week he took out his frustration on the Celtics, and particularly on his longtime nemesis, Boston's 6-ft. 10-in. center and coach, Bill Russell. In a fierce personal contest that one sportswriter described as "the flashiest high-altitude duel since Eddie Rickenbacker v. Baron von Richthofen," Chamberlain outscored Russell 108-57, out-rebounded him 160-117, made 50 assists to Russell's 30.

Trying desperately to negate Wilt's strength under--and over--the basket, Boston played "run and shoot," rushing the ball downcourt, hoping to get their shots away before Chamberlain could get set on defense. All that running merely tired the Celtics: in four of the five games, they jumped into early leads, only to run out of gas. The last game was typical. In the first quarter, the Celtics were ahead by eleven points; by half time their margin was down to five--and the final score was Philadelphia 140, Boston 116. The 76ers still had to get past the Western Division's San Francisco Warriors to claim their first N.B.A. title. But many fans and experts argued that the two best teams in pro basketball had already played each other--and there was no question about which was the better.

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