How Good Were the 1974 Boston Celtics Actually?

Everyone remembers the Bird era, but the 1974 Boston Celtics might be the most underrated champion in NBA history. Were they a dynasty in decline or a team the league never respected? Let’s look at what really happened. The 1974 Boston Celtics, led by coach Tom Heinsohn, finished 56-26 and won the NBA title in seven games. John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Jo Jo White, Paul Silas, Don Nelson, Don Chaney, Paul Westphal, Steve Kuberski, Hank Finkel, and Satch Sanders’s legacy all shaped this roster. Havlicek earned Finals MVP, Cowens battled as an undersized center, and Jo Jo White ran the backcourt with Westphal coming off the bench. On the road to the title, Boston beat the Buffalo Braves (Bob McAdoo, Randy Smith, Ernie DiGregorio), then took down the New York Knicks (Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere). In the Finals they faced the Milwaukee Bucks, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Bob Dandridge, Lucius Allen, and Jon McGlocklin. We cover Kareem’s legendary game-winning skyhook in Game 6, Cowens’s heroics, Havlicek’s Game 7 takeover, and how Red Auerbach’s system still carried this team. So how good were Havlicek, Cowens, White, Silas, Nelson, Chaney, and Westphal as a unit? Where do they rank against the Bill Russell Celtics and the Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish teams that followed? Was this the last great run of the Russell-era Celtics tradition? We break down the stats, the matchups, and the legacy.