In 1969 an aging Boston Celtics club was the defending NBA champion, but the green machine was showing cracks in its armor during the pursuit of an unprecedented 11th title in 13 years.
Their talented, experienced starting lineup featured four future Hall of Famers but they averaged over 32 years of age, with John Havlicek the youngest at 29.
A year before, the Celtics had rallied from a 1-3 deficit in the Eastern finals to knock off the defending champion 76ers, the team that had ended the historic Boston run of eight straight NBA titles in 1967.