The way the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers play it, Dr. Naismith would never recognize his game. Champions and challengers, East and West, old pros and ambitious upstarts, they are basketball's Hatnelds and McCoys. In nine games during the regular season, the Celtics won four, the Lakers five, and each time it was a kneeing, elbow-digging blood feud. The Celtics, perennial champions of the National Basketball Association, jeered at Laker talk that Los Angeles was the "basketball capital of the world." The Lakers called Boston a "bush town." Last week the two teams met again in the playoffs for the year's N.B.A. championship. And for six games, they put on the kind of brilliant, hard-nosed show that left basketball fans delirious—and even made fans of nonbelievers.
"Running is our game," said Laker Coach Fred Schaus, and he told his young team to chase the veteran Celtics (aver age age: 29) off the floor. But if the Celtics were aging, they were graceful about it. Bandy-legged Bob Cousy, 34, the matchless playmaker, whipped sidearm passes the length of the court to launch Boston's fast break. Towering (6 ft. 10 in.) Bill Russell, 29, swept in rebounds like an angry mother plucking her child from the arms of a too-attentive stranger. Sam Jones poured in points—29 the first night, 27 the next—as the Celtics, playing in Boston, swept the first two games of the best four-out-of-seven series.
The teams split the next two in Los Angeles, and the Celtics headed back to Boston, only one victory away from their fifth straight N.B.A. championship. "All we need," said Boston Coach Red Auerbach, "is hustle and Russell." Russell hustled (24 points, 27 rebounds), but the Lakers still clobbered the Celtics 126-119. That made it three games to two, and the Celtics sounded tired. "I can't take it any more," said Cousy. "You play in Boston, grab three or four hours sleep, catch a plane, fly all day, hurry to the game and try to play. It's tough."
"Cousy's Hurt!" "We've got 'em now," cheered the Lakers, as 15,521 fans jammed the Los Angeles Sports Arena for Game No. 6—the biggest crowd ever to watch a basketball game in California. But in the first three quarters it was all Boston. Pushing his tired legs to the ultimate limits, Bob Cousy scored 16 points, set up another dozen baskets with his magical passing and led the Celtics to a 12-point lead. Then it happened. "Cousy's hurt!" gasped the crowd. Down on the floor, Cousy writhed in agony, clutching a sprained left ankle. Teammates carried him off. "Now," cried the Laker fans—now was the time to move.