1968–69 Boston Celtics season

1968–69 Boston Celtics season
Eleventh NBA Championship
Head coach	Bill Russell
General manager	Red Auerbach
Arena	Boston Garden
Results Record 48–34 (.585) Place Division: 4th (Eastern) Playoff finish NBA Champions Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com Local media Television WKBG Radio WHDH < 1967–68 1969–70 >

The 1968–69 Boston Celtics season was their 23rd season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Offseason

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College

Roster

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Bill Russell	Jim Barnes	Rich Johnson	Bud Olsen
PF	Bailey Howell	Don Nelson
SF	Satch Sanders	John Havlicek
SG	Sam Jones	Don Chaney
PG	Larry Siegfried	Em Bryant	Mal Graham

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Baltimore Bullets	57	25	.695	–	29–9	24–15	4–1	26–14
x-Philadelphia 76ers	55	27	.671	2	26–8	24–16	5–3	23–17
x-New York Knicks	54	28	.659	3	30–7	19–20	5–1	26–14
x-Boston Celtics	48	34	.585	9	24–12	21–19	3–3	23–17
Cincinnati Royals	41	41	.500	16	15-13	16–21	10–7	20–20
Detroit Pistons	32	50	.390	25	21–17	7–30	4–3	13–27
Milwaukee Bucks	27	55	.329	30	15–19	8–27	4–9	7–29

Player statistics

Legend
GP  Games played	GS  Games started	MPG  Minutes per game
FG%  Field goal percentage	3FG%  3-point field goal percentage	FT%  Free throw percentage
RPG  Rebounds per game	APG  Assists per game	SPG  Steals per game
BPG  Blocks per game	PPG  Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Playoffs

East Division Semifinals

(2) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (4) Boston Celtics: Celtics win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Philadelphia: Boston 114, Philadelphia 100
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 134, Philadelphia 103
• Game 3 @ Philadelphia: Boston 125, Philadelphia 118
• Game 4 @ Boston: Philadelphia 119, Boston 116
• Game 5 @ Philadelphia: Boston 93, Philadelphia 90

East Division Finals

(3) New York Knicks vs. (4) Boston Celtics: Celtics win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ New York: Boston 108, New York 100
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 112, New York 97
• Game 3 @ New York: New York 101, Boston 91
• Game 4 @ Boston: Boston 97, New York 96
• Game 5 @ New York: New York 112, Boston 104
• Game 6 @ Boston: Boston 106, New York 105

NBA Finals

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

Awards, records and milestones

Awards

• John Havlicek, All-NBA Second Team
• Bill Russell, NBA All-Defensive First Team
• Satch Sanders, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
• John Havlicek, NBA All-Defensive Second Team

References

• Celtics on Database Basketball
• Celtics on Basketball Reference

1968–69 NBA season by team 1968 NBA Expansion Draft 1968 NBA Draft All-Star Game Playoffs Finals Transactions Eastern Baltimore Boston Cincinnati Detroit Milwaukee New York Philadelphia Western Atlanta Chicago Los Angeles Phoenix San Diego San Francisco Seattle

Boston Celtics 1968–69 NBA Champions 6 Bill Russell 7 Em Bryant 11 Mal Graham 12 Don Chaney 16 Satch Sanders 17 John Havlicek 18 Bailey Howell 19 Don Nelson 20 Larry Siegfried 24 Sam Jones 26 Rich Johnson 28 Jim Barnes Head coach Bill Russell Regular season Playoffs

NBA champions 1947: Philadelphia Warriors 1948: Baltimore Bullets 1949: Minneapolis Lakers 1950: Minneapolis Lakers 1951: Rochester Royals 1952: Minneapolis Lakers 1953: Minneapolis Lakers 1954: Minneapolis Lakers 1955: Syracuse Nationals 1956: Philadelphia Warriors 1957: Boston Celtics 1958: St. Louis Hawks 1959: Boston Celtics 1960: Boston Celtics 1961: Boston Celtics 1962: Boston Celtics 1963: Boston Celtics 1964: Boston Celtics 1965: Boston Celtics 1966: Boston Celtics 1967: Philadelphia 76ers 1968: Boston Celtics 1969: Boston Celtics 1970: New York Knicks 1971: Milwaukee Bucks 1972: Los Angeles Lakers 1973: New York Knicks 1974: Boston Celtics 1975: Golden State Warriors 1976: Boston Celtics 1977: Portland Trail Blazers 1978: Washington Bullets 1979: Seattle SuperSonics 1980: Los Angeles Lakers 1981: Boston Celtics 1982: Los Angeles Lakers 1983: Philadelphia 76ers 1984: Boston Celtics 1985: Los Angeles Lakers 1986: Boston Celtics 1987: Los Angeles Lakers 1988: Los Angeles Lakers 1989: Detroit Pistons 1990: Detroit Pistons 1991: Chicago Bulls 1992: Chicago Bulls 1993: Chicago Bulls 1994: Houston Rockets 1995: Houston Rockets 1996: Chicago Bulls 1997: Chicago Bulls 1998: Chicago Bulls 1999: San Antonio Spurs 2000: Los Angeles Lakers 2001: Los Angeles Lakers 2002: Los Angeles Lakers 2003: San Antonio Spurs 2004: Detroit Pistons 2005: San Antonio Spurs 2006: Miami Heat 2007: San Antonio Spurs 2008: Boston Celtics 2009: Los Angeles Lakers 2010: Los Angeles Lakers 2011: Dallas Mavericks 2012: Miami Heat 2013: Miami Heat 2014: San Antonio Spurs

Boston Celtics Founded in 1946 Based in Boston, Massachusetts The franchise Franchise Team history All-time roster Seasons Accomplishments Head coaches Current season Arenas Boston Arena Boston Garden Hartford Civic Center TD Garden Administration Boston Basketball Partners (owner) Wyc Grousbeck (CEO) Wyc Grousbeck, H. Irving Grousbeck, Stephen Pagliuca (Managing Partners) Danny Ainge (General Manager) Brad Stevens (Head Coach) General managers Brown Auerbach Volk Wallace Ainge Retired numbers 00 1 2 3 6 10 14 15 16 17 18 LOSCY 19 21 22 23 24 25 31 32 33 35 MIC Hall of Famers Boston Celtics Hall of Famers D-League Affiliate Maine Red Claws Rivals Philadelphia 76ers Los Angeles Lakers Detroit Pistons New York Knicks Brooklyn Nets Miami Heat Culture Celtics parquet floor Celtic Pride Greatest game ever played Tommy Points "Love ya, Cooz!" Close, but no cigar! Bill Russell Beat L.A. Mike Gorman Johnny Most "Havlicek stole the ball!" Henderson steals the ball! Bird steals the ball! Boston Garden North Station The Heat Game Memorial Day Massacre Larry Legend DJ The Chief The Truth The Big Three Media TV CSN New England Radio WEEI Announcers Mike Gorman Tom Heinsohn Donny Marshall Greg Dickerson Sean Grande Cedric Maxwell NBA Championships (17) 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1968 1969 1974 1976 1981 1984 1986 2008

Boston Celtics seasons Franchise History Seasons 1940s 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1950s 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1960s 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1970s 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1980s 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1990s 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 2000s 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2010s 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 Bold indicates NBA Finals victory