1969 NBA Finals

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The 1969 NBA Finals was one of the most spectacular Finals series ever. It was played between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, the Lakers being heavily favoured due to the presence of three formidable stars: Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, and Jerry West.

This series is also notable in that West, with an average of nearly 38 points a game, won the Finals Most Valuable Player award, despite being on the losing team. This remains the only time in NBA Finals history that the MVP was awarded to a player on the losing team.

[edit] Series Summary

Game	Date	Home Team	Result	Road Team
Game 1	April 23	Los Angeles	120-118	Boston
Game 2	April 25	Los Angeles	118-112	Boston
Game 3	April 27	Boston	111-105	Los Angeles
Game 4	April 29	Boston	89-88	Los Angeles
Game 5	May 1	Los Angeles	117-104	Boston
Game 6	May 3	Boston	99-90	Los Angeles
Game 7	May 5	Los Angeles	106-108	Boston

Celtics win series 4-3

Bill Russell, Boston's player-coach, decided that a plan would have to be hastily come up with if he wanted to win. Russell, undoubtedly the best player on the creaky Celtics team, would try to control Chamberlain (the two had been rivals long before the other stars got onto the scene) and Baylor would be checked by the agile Bailey Howell. The Celtics lost Games 1 and 2 in Los Angeles after West scored 53 and 41 points, respectively, there being no effective defense of him in Russell's mind. In Game 3, John Havlicek, one of Boston's premier players, was poked in the eye and was inspired to a 34-point performance and a tight win. In Game 4, the Celtics continued the momentum and won on a last-second basket by Sam Jones. Games 5 and 6 were both won by the home team, but the Celtics won Game 7 on opposition ground to take the series. For Los Angeles, it was their 4th Game 7 loss to Boston, but their first on their own home floor.