On this day in Boston Celtics history, the Celtics became the first team in NBA history to win 60 games in a regular season with a victory on this date in 1962, going 80-20 overall in the 1961-62 NBA season with a 142-110 blowout of the (then) Syracuse Nationals (now, Philadelphia 76ers).
The game took place at the old Boston Garden and saw forward Tom Sanders lead the Celtics in scoring with 30 points and 26 rebounds. Iconic Boston big man Bill Russell put up an absurd 26 points and 37 boards to help secure the win, and forward Tom Heinsohn chipped in another 19 points as well.
Boston would hold that record for three seasons, only to break it themselves with 62 wins in the 1964–65 season. The Celtics would go on to win their fifth title that year, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals in seven games.
🗓 This Day in Stats, 1962: The @celtics beat the Syracuse Nationals 142-110 to become the first team to win 60 games in an @NBA season. pic.twitter.com/HyJ6QzBx2S
— StatMuse (@statmuse) March 13, 2019
It is also the birthday of former Celtics president Jack Waldron.
Born in 1912, Waldron was an executive who also served as President of the Rupert Knickerbocker Brewing Company, and in 1965 helped negotiate his company’s purchase of the Celtics after the death of team founder Walter A. Brown.
He served in that role from 1965 to 1967 and then again from 1968 to 1970.
Finally, it’s also the birthday of former Boston big man Tristan Thompson, who came into this world in 1991 in Toronto, Canada. A product of Texas, Double T (as he is called for a nickname) was taken by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the fourth overall selection of the 2011 NBA draft.
He played nine seasons with the Cavs before signing with the Celtics, for whom he played 54 games before being dealt to the Sacramento Kings.
Thompson averaged 7.6 points, 8.1 boards, and 1.2 assists per game over that stretch.
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