Through the GOAT’s first six NBA post-seasons, he’d competed in 67 Playoff games and snatched an astounding 1,775 rebounds (26-and-a-half per game). Through 13 playoff runs (165 games), that figure would surpass 4,000, giving No. 6 just a smidgen under 25 boards a game.
The 15th tip-off of his seventh season (Bill’s 430th career regular-season game) saw Mr. Russell become just the third player in league history to reach the 10,000 plateau in the matter of retrieving errant shots, an average of 23.3 rpg.
The Celtics faced off with the Chicago Zephyrs in the opener of an NBA doubleheader staged at Madison Square Garden, the fourth of a whopping 15 double-bills MSG would host during the Association’s 16th season of play … the second of seven “curtain-jerkers” on Boston’s ’62-63 slate of games.