Jones Tallies 47 As Celtics Stomp Royals, 142-131

It's become axiomatic in pro basketball that the Boston Celtics win whenever the chips are down, and the chips were down last night. The Celtics wrecked Cincinnati 142 to 131 to win their seventh consecutive Eastern championship in the final game of the playoff series.

The entire Boston team played brilliantly; Bill Russell grabbed 24 rebounds and scored 20 points; Tom Heinsohn tallied 31; Bob Cousy had 21 points and 16 assists. But the man in the limelight was Sam Jones, who scored 47 points, kept the Celtics alive in the second period, and engineered the Royals' destruction in the third quarter.

Boston kept a slim advantage through the first quarter, and led 37 to 30 early in the second. The Royals then exploded for nine straight points in two minutes, but the Celts quickly regained the lead, leading 68 to 64 at the half.

But in the third quarter, despite a great performance by Oscar Robertson (43 points) and some scintillating clutch shooting by little Adrian Smith, things fell apart for the Royals: The Celtics just couldn't be contained any longer. They surged to a 108-93 third quarter lead behind the shooting of Jones, and stretched it to 123-98 in the fourth. The Royals were sizzling midway through the period--they outscored Boston 15 to 1 in one stretch--but could never get closer than nine points.