On This Day in Sports: March 13, 1962
On March 13, 1962, the Boston Celtics became the first team in NBA history to win 60 games in a season. The milestone confirmed the scale of a dynasty that had already collected four championships in five years. In an 80-game schedule, Boston’s 60th victory represented sustained control rather than a brief streak, and it pushed the league’s idea of an elite regular season into new territory.
Coach Red Auerbach built the Celtics around defense, rebounding and quick transition play. Bill Russell protected the rim and started fast breaks, while Bob Cousy organized the offense and Sam Jones supplied increasingly important scoring. Boston’s depth allowed the pace to continue when starters rested. Players understood their roles, and the team’s unselfish passing made individual statistics serve a larger system rather than compete with it.
The 1961–62 Celtics finished 60–20, ten games clear of the Eastern Division’s second-place club. Reaching the round number did not guarantee an easy postseason. Boston needed seven games to defeat Wilt Chamberlain’s Philadelphia Warriors in the division finals and seven more to survive the Los Angeles Lakers in the championship series, winning the finale in overtime.
The 60-win standard soon became a familiar measure of greatness, but Boston was first to prove it possible. The achievement also captured why the Celtics dominated the era: they combined a revolutionary defensive center, creative guard play, deep rotations and institutional stability. Their regular-season record was not the final prize, yet it supplied the platform for a fifth championship and another enduring chapter in the league’s first great dynasty. The achievement became a durable benchmark.
Boston was the first NBA team to reach 60 wins.
The league schedule contained 80 games that season.
The Celtics finished the regular season 60–20.
Bill Russell anchored a defense built to trigger fast breaks.
Boston survived two seven-game playoff series.
The season ended with another Celtics championship.
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