“There’s nothing like winning a championship on the road,’’ said Cedric Maxwell, MVP of the 1981 Finals. “You get to shut up the home crowd and have your own little celebration. You get to party with your teammates and you have a great flight home. Then you get to celebrate all over again with your own fans.’’
Winning championships away from Causeway Street is a Celtic specialty. Seven of the Celtics’ 17 crowns were taken on enemy hardwood — the last one 29 years ago, when Maxwell dropped the hammer on the Rockets.
Here’s a clip and save guide to Celtics road clinchers in the NBA Finals:
■1959 — Game 4 vs. Lakers at the Minneapolis Auditorium. This was the second championship for Red Auerbach and Bill Russell, the first of eight straight. It was the first 4-0 sweep in Finals history. “That was a terrible building they had,’’ remembered Tommy Heinsohn. “The fans were great, but there was a balcony hanging over the court and it was hard to shoot from the corners. It was a big deal for us to sweep them.’’ Heinsohn, Jim Loscutoff, and K.C. Jones carried Red off the court in the land of 10,000 lakes.
■1963 — Game 6 vs. Lakers at Los Angeles Sports Arena. This was in the days when Doris Day was the Lakers’ A-list fan. The Sports Arena’s finest hour was the 1960 Democratic National Convention when Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy bagged the nomination. The ’63 NBA finale is best remembered as Bob Cousy’s last game. Cooz sprained his left ankle as the Celtics built a 14-point lead. The Lakers cut the margin to 1 late in the game and Cooz returned to dribble out the clock. Cousy heaved the ball into the rafters at the buzzer, but there was no champagne in the locker room. Kentucky colonel Frank Ramsey brought a bottle of bourbon aboard the flight home.
