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Memories of a Championship Series [Part 2]
(25th February, 2010)
To hear the story told, the New York Knicks did not win its first-ever championship on May 8, 1970. Such affirmation was quite remarkable to hear, because everything we know about the culmination of the 1969-70 Knicks’ title run references that singular day.
And, yet, that isn’t the absolute truth.
“When we walked out of Boston Garden in [April] 1969,” Willis Reed, New York’s All-Star center and team captain, recalled, “I knew we would start winning. We might’ve won then, but Walt [Frazier] was hurt. Now, [Bill] Russell was going to retire, and it was going to be hard for the Celtics to replace that level of talent.”
With those few words, Reed had accentuated his point.
The Celts, led by Russell, then a player-coach, had forged ahead, 3-1, in the best-of-seven series. But, the Knicks won Game 5, 112-104, at Madison Square Garden and returned back to Boston. After playing four games in six days, the series did not resume until four days later. A seventh, and deciding, game at MSG loomed if New York could win.
Instead, the Celtics escaped with a 106-105 victory and, after dropping the first two games of the championship round against the Los Angeles Lakers, won four of the next five to claim their 11th title. The Lakers’ Jerry West, recorded a triple-double [42 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists] in the finale, and averaged nearly 38 points throughout the series, thus becoming the first, and only, Finals MVP from a losing team.
Reed’s commentary on Russell, an 11-time champion, is eerily similar to what is often said about Patrick Ewing, who was just one victim of the ‘Michael Jordan Era’. Ewing, whom many consider to be the greatest Knick of all-time despite having never won an NBA title, would have enjoyed an even greater career if not for the Chicago Bulls’ legend.
[Note: Chicago, with Jordan, three-peated on two occasions and, had he not decided to play minor-league baseball, it is likely the Bulls won have won eight straight. During each of its first four championship years, Chicago needed to eliminate Ewing’s teams; when New York finally advanced to the Finals in 1994, against the Houston Rockets, Jordan was already in the midst of his first retirement.]
Back to Reed. With Russell now out of the league, the road to glory became a little easier to navigate. The Knicks won 23 of 24, including a franchise-best 18 straight, to open the season, and cruised to its first 60-win campaign. Meanwhile, the Celtics clearly missed Russell, who at 34, had averaged 19.3 rebounds and nearly 10 points per game in his final season. Boston slumped to 34-48, under Tom Heinsohn, and finished 26 games off the pace.
This is not to say that May 8, 1970 is a totally meaningless date in Reed’s life. His daughter, Veronica, had turned five that day and, for the young girl, it turned out to be a birthday present for the ages.
“May 8 was already a significant day in my life,” Reed, now 67, stated. “But 1970 made it even more significant.”
To fully appreciate what occurred that day, it is necessary to know the events of May 4. The afternoon had just begun when the National Guard opened fire at Kent State University [Ohio], killing four unarmed students during a Vietnam protest. Approximately 430 miles further east, there was a basketball game to be played. The championship series against Los Angeles was tied at two games apiece, and New York needed to win Game 5 to preserve its home court advantage.
However, just eight minutes into the game, Reed -who had already hit his first three shots- fell to the Garden floor as he attempted to maneuver around Wilt Chamberlain, who stood 7’1” and weighed 275 pounds. Initially, it appeared that Reed’s right knee was injured, but that proved to be false; it was the pain in his right hip and thigh that was actually cause for concern. Reed was sidelined for the duration, and watched as his teammates overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to win, 107-100.
When this series was chronicled in later years, either by the media or the participants, themselves, Game 5 is viewed as the turning point. Though Chamberlain did score a game-high 22 points, he couldn’t dominate the triumvirate of Dave DeBusschere, Nate Bowman and Dave Stallworth.
But, with Reed sitting out Game 6, Chamberlain exacted revenge. He scored 45 points, and added 27 boards. West chipped in with 33 points and 13 assists, and Los Angeles was once again cast in a seventh game.
“If we don’t win the fifth game,” noted Reed, “the sixth game in L.A. would’ve ended the series.”
Reed had an inclination he would take part in the most important game of the season, even if both fans and teammates alike weren’t all that sure.
“When I awoke that morning, I knew I would play, but, I didn’t know how well I’d be able to play.”
As both teams hit the court for their warm-ups, Reed remained secluded in the trainer’s room, as Danny Whelan administered multiple hits of carbocaine to ease the pain.
“I can’t remember how many shots I had,” the captain would later say. “I just remembered that the needle was big.”
As Reed hobbled onto the floor, Chamberlain and West stopped to observe. For all intents and purposes, the Lakers were a beaten team. A subsequent poll would declare his entrance the second greatest moment in all of New York sports, just behind Bobby Thomson’s home run that beat the Brooklyn Dodgers for the National League pennant in 1951.
“It added new elements of excitement and, maybe Red [coach Holzman] needed another shot of scotch, but I don’t think [my injury] made any difference [in how the series is remembered.] You’d never know if Red was upset; you never saw him sweat. He was always very cool, and under control. That was one of his greatest attributes.”
Still, there was the not-so-small matter of actually playing the game. Reed nailed two mid-range shots early, and the rout was on.
“Maybe, if I don’t make those shots, we don’t have this conversation.”
While Reed’s presence did provide the lightning rod, Walt Frazier had, perhaps, the greatest Game 7 in NBA history, if not all of sports. Frazier tallied 36 points, 19 assists and seven rebounds, and received additional support from Dick Barnett [21 points], DeBusschere [18, with 17 boards] and Bill Bradley [17 points, five assists].
Los Angeles was outscored 31-18 during a critical second quarter, and Knicks stormed to a 27-point halftime advantage. West, who required pain-killings injections in both hands before the game, tallied 28, but Chamberlain missed 10 of 11 from the free throw line and the Knicks prevailed, 113-99 for its first title.
That’s how it was nearly four decades ago.
Yet, Reed has his sights on another milestone.
“I hope all of us are still here when we get to our 50th [anniversary],” he laughed. “I can’t wait to do this in another ten years.”