![\"Wilt](\"https:\/\/platform.celticsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/63\/2026\/07\/gettyimages-1670804.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,8.1066630045573,100,84.213336181641\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWilt Chamberlain #13 of the Philadelphia 76ers gets his shot blocked by Bill Russell #6 of the Boston Celtics during a 1960 NBA game at the Boston Garden. Copyright NBAE 2002 (Photo by Dick Raphael\/NBAE via Getty Images) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Chamberlain was a native of Philadelphia who spent three years at the University of Kansas, but left school his senior year to play for (and get paid by) the Harlem Globetrotters. That situation enabled the Philadelphia Warriors to claim Wilt as their territorial pick (he went to high school in Philly!) in the 1959 Draft.<\/p>\n
With eight teams in the league and the Warriors then being in the East, that meant Boston would face Wilt 13 times during the regular season. The Celtics won eight of those, although they didn\u2019t exactly stop \u201cThe Big Dipper.\u201d Chamberlain scored 39 or better nine times, and in one of Philly\u2019s five wins tallied 53 points and 29 rebounds while being guarded by defensive king Bill Russell.<\/p>\n
For the season, Chamberlain topped the league with 37.6 points and 27.0 rebounds per game. He was named Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year as the Warriors finished 49-26.<\/p>\n
That still wasn\u2019t enough to surpass Boston. The league had increased from 72 games to 75, and the Celtics raised their win total from 52 the previous season to 59, a new league all-time high. And it turned out these rivals would also meet in the postseason Eastern finals.<\/p>\n
The Celtics earned a bye for the first round best-of-three while the Warriors knocked off Syracuse, 2-1. Philadelphia brought more than just Chamberlain to the table. They had forward Paul Arizin, a two-time league scoring leader; point guard and twice the league assists leader Guy Rodgers; and high-scoring forward Tom Gola. All are in the Hall of Fame today.<\/p>\n
In Game 1, Chamberlain scored 42, but Russell countered with 30 rebounds. The Celtics led by 13 after one quarter and held off Philly the rest of the way. The Warriors evened the series in Game 2 behind Arizin\u2019s 30 points. Game 3 was Russell\u2019s night, with game-highs of 26 points and 39 rebounds, while Chamberlain scored just 12 points, and the Celtics cruised, 120-90.<\/p>\n
In Game 4, Boston built a 16-point lead after one quarter and held it all the way to a 3-1 series lead. And just when the Celts were ready to close it, Chamberlain dominated with 50 and 35 as Philly roared back with a 21-point win on the parquet.<\/p>\n
Still ahead 3-2, the Celtics returned to hostile Convention Hall in Philadelphia. Rodgers had been ice cold early in the series, but on this night he heated up with 31 points. With 11 seconds left, Rodgers was fouled and had two free throws with the score tied. He missed both. At the other end, the Celtics missed their shot, but Tommy Heinsohn stunned everyone by tipping in the series winner at the buzzer. During his announcing career, Tommy often reminisced about that night when he shut up 12,000 Philadelphia fans.<\/p>\n
Since that first meeting of Russell vs. Wilt, basketball observers have debated which megastar was better, and why. That topic will be addressed here later in this series; meanwhile, here\u2019s a preview:<\/p>\n
In two previous NBA Finals versus St. Louis, Bill Russell had twice been the difference-maker: once for the Celtics in winning their first championship, and once for the Hawks, caused by his absence due to injury. Russell was healthy for this rubber match, which could determine which team \u201cwon\u201d the draft day trade back in 1956.<\/p>\n
Russell was a force in this series, leading everyone in rebounds in each of the seven games played. He set a Finals record with 40 boards (plus 21 points) in game 2 in Boston \u2013 which the Celtics lost by 10. These teams knew each other so well, it seemed that either one could win a game regardless of the location, the crowd, the refs, the schedule, anything.<\/p>\n