Game #1 @Boston

The Celtics turned back the Cinderella Suns in game one behind a balanced attack. The Suns refused to be blown out but could never climb back from an early deficit. John Havlicek did not start due to a painful heel injury. However, Boston coach Tom Heinsohn rushed Havlicek into the game with 7:24 left in the first quarter and Phoenix leading 10-7. Havlicek never came back out of the game. Dave Cowens recorded a triple-double with 25 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists as the Suns had no answer for him. Jo Jo White was only 1-4 from the field in the first half before going 8-11 in the second half to keep Phoenix at bay. Phoenix trailed by two at the end of the first quarter as they failed to take advantage of 11 first quarter Celtic turnovers. Kevin Stacom scored five straight points (his only points) to put Boston up for good 22-20. Former Sun Charlie Scott fouled out against his old team when he picked up his fifth and sixth fouls in an 11-second span.

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Game #2 @Boston

Phoenix lost their 12th in a row at Boston Garden as they were run out of the game. After a good first quarter, the Suns collapsed in the second and third quarters. Boston put the game away with a 20-2 run at the start of the third quarter that put them up 72-43. The run was started by steals from Jo Jo White and Charlie Scott. Scott was 1-9 from the field in the first half but cranked it up with 12 points in the third quarter. Boston again got out of the gate slow without John Havlicek in the starting line-up. Boston did not make a field goal in the first three minutes of the game and prompted Heinsohn to rush Havlicek into the game again. 

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Game #3 @Phoenix

The Suns got back in the series with a big win at Veteran's Coliseum. Alvan Adams scored 12 points in the first five minutes of the game to set the tone. Boston would rally in the second half though with help from some unlikely sources. Besides Jo Jo White, Steve Kuberski and Don Nelson came up big for Boston. Phoenix enjoyed their largest lead of 23 points in the third quarter before Boston mounted their comeback. Boston suffered a blow when Dave Cowens fouled out with 5:18 left to play. They still fought back and came within two, at 96-94, with 2:15 on the clock. Adams then found Paul Westphal for a layup that pushed the lead back to four. Adams would follow his assist with two hoops of his own to extend the Suns' lead to 102-94. Ricky Sobers and Kevin Stacom were ejected after they fought in the second period. They had brawled earlier in the season back on February 13th. In addition to Sobers and Stacom, Celtics' coach Tom Heinsohn, Dave Cowens and Charlie Scott were also assessed technical fouls. 

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Game #4 @Phoenix

Phoenix evened the series in a wild affair that went down to the wire. It didn't start out well for Phoenix as they missed their first eight shots from the floor. Neither team could pull away in this seesaw affair. The biggest lead by either team was Boston's five-point margin in the third quarter. Both Tom Heinsohn and John McLeod were hit with technical fouls in the game. Phoenix was clinging to a two-point lead with 1:22 to play and Gar Heard's tip-in with 58 seconds left gave Phoenix a 109-105 lead. Dave Cowens brought Boston within 109-107 with a running hook at the 50-second mark. Phoenix was trying to milk the clock when Don Nelson was called for a player control foul. Boston wasn't over the limit so the shot clock was reset and Phoenix milked the clock some more. Keith Erickson finally missed with 13 seconds left and Boston corralled the ball. Against a frantic Suns' defense, Boston scrambled for a shot with Jo Jo White finally putting up an off-balance jumper that was wide at the buzzer.

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Game #5 @Boston

The triple overtime thriller. The greatest game in NBA history? Some would say so. It certainly had everything. Boston looked like they would blow Phoenix back to Arizona as the raced to a 22-point lead in the first half. The Suns would not roll over and die though. Boston lead by 16 at the half before Phoenix mounted their comeback. Phoenix finally took the lead and were up 95-94 late in the fourth quarter. Then came double trouble for Phoenix; Alvan Adams fouled John Havlicek. For Adams, it was his sixth foul and Havlicek had a chance to put Boston back on top. However, Havlicek made only one of two to tie the game at 95. There was controversy after Phoenix missed a shot with three seconds left, Paul Silas grabbed the ball and tried to call time out. Boston had none left and it would've been a technical foul. However, Richie Powers did not acknowledge Silas and the game went into overtime. The teams straggled through overtime and into a second extra period tied at 101. Then, things became interesting. With Boston leading 109-106 inside the final half-minute, Dick Van Arsdale hit a jumper to cut it 109-108. Then Phoenix stole the ball and Curtis Perry tried to put Phoenix on top. He missed but retrieved his own shot and hit the follow-up to put the Suns on top 110-109 with five seconds left. After a Boston timeout, Havlicek hit a running shot with one tick left. The Boston fans stormed the court thinking the game was over and that's when bedlam ensued. The Celtics headed for the dressing room while the Suns argued that there was still time on the clock. Richie Powers became involved in a scuffle with a fan as did Curtis Perry. Finally, the Celtics were brought back from the locker room and one second was placed on the clock. Paul Westphal came up with the idea of calling a timeout. Phoenix had none left but they would get the ball at mid-court for a better shot. Boston converted the technical to make it 112-110. Perry inbounded the ball to Gar Heard who hit a turnaround 20-footer to send the game into a third overtime period. In the third OT, Cowens, Silas, Scott, Adams and Awtrey had all fouled out and an unlikely hero would emerge. Little-used Glen McDonald hit a couple of big shots to give Boston a 128-122 lead with less than a minute left. Phoenix scored, came up with a steal and Westphal converted a lay-up to pull within two points. Westphal nearly came up with a steal near mid-court but just missed. White would then dribble out the clock.

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Game #6 @Phoenix

The two teams staggered out two days after a triple overtime and it showed. There were only 71 points scored in the first half as Boston walked to the dressing room with a 38-33 lead. John Havlicek made only one of eight first half shots and the two teams combined for 16 first quarter turnovers. Phoenix pulled with in one point by the end of the third quarter after being behind by 11 during the quarter. They took their final lead of the game on when Ricky Sobers went to the line and put them ahead 67-66 at the 7:25 mark of the final quarter. Boston went on an 11-4 run to take a 77-71 lead as Dave Cowens and Havlicek scored all 11 points in the run. Charlie Scott, who had been struggling the past few games, came up big in the fourth with nine points and three steals. Boston's 25-15 dominance on the boards in the second half was too much for Phoenix down the stretch. Cowens played the last 10 minutes with five fouls and Phoenix was unable get him out of the game.

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