On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise traded for big man Bailey Howell, sending center Mel Counts to the (then) Baltimore Bullets (now, Washington Wizards). Counts, who played collegiately at Oregon State, was drafted by the Celtics with the seventh pick of the 1964 NBA draft. He won a title in each of his two seasons with Boston while averaging 6.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
Howell had played for Mississippi State collegiately and had been drafted by the Detroit Pistons, playing there before his stint with the Bullets. The Tennessee native played four seasons as a Celtic, part of an eventual Hall of Fame career in the NBA.
He won two titles with Boston, logging 18 points and 8.4 boards per contest over his four seasons as a Celtic.
It is also the birthday of former Boston guard Jim Seminoff, who came into this world in 1922 in Los Angeles, California.
A member of the team as it made the transition from the Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league of the NBA) to the NBA, the USC product played two seasons with the Celtics between 1948 and 1950 after a two-season stint with the (now defunct) Chicago Stags.
Seminoff averaged 6.3 points and 3.9 assists per game (rebounds had yet to be tabulated) in his time with the team, retiring afterward.
Former Celtics forward Ryan Gomes shares the birthday with Seminoff, born this day in 1982 in Waterbury, Connecticut.
A former Providence College Friar, Gomes was taken by Boston 50th in the 2005 NBA draft and played two seasons for the Celtics before he was traded with Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, and draft assets for Kevin Garnett in 2007.
Gomes averaged 10 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game with the team.
Finally, it is also the date Boston defeated the Toronto Raptors in Game 2 of the second round of the 2020 playoffs held in Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex due to the pandemic.
The Celtics won a tight game 102-99 with veteran guard Marcus Smart making five 3-pointers in less than 3 minutes early in the final frame, putting the defending champs on the ropes. Forward Jayson Tatum contributed 34 points as Boston took a 2-0 series lead.
“One game at a time,” Tatum said after the win via the AP. “This series is far from over. You’ve got to win four.”
And four they would win, though it would take seven games to do it.
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