This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/11/2023.
Forty-seven years ago, when the mighty Boston Celtics squared off against the upstart Phoenix Suns for the NBA title, few prognosticators gave the eight-year-old southwest franchise a chance. The Celtics, owners of the best regular-season record (52-28) in the East, bested both the Buffalo Braves and Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs to reach center stage. The young guns from Phoenix, meanwhile, were a .500 club (42-40) in the West who beat the Seattle SuperSonics and then upset the 59-23 Golden State Warriors in seven games to reach the league’s pinnacle event. In what turned out to be a thrilling six-game series, the Celtics prevailed but the Suns proved they didn’t get there by accident. Game 5 pretty much decided the series. In those days, like today, the series followed a 2-2-1-1-1 format, which meant two games in Boston, two in Phoenix and then alternate the rest of the way with the seventh game, if needed, being played back in Beantown. The memorable fifth game, played on Boston’s parquet floor, was nothing short of a prize fight that went the distance, and then some. It was a triple-overtime thriller that lasted three hours and eight minutes, and saw five players foul out and four more get injured. In the end, Boston won 128-126 behind the clutch shooting of point guard Jo Jo White who tallied a game-high 33 points and logged an incredible 60 minutes on the floor. The Celtics won the series two days later in Phoenix, 87-80. Offered here is a collection of full original tickets (Balcony Section 76, Row J, Seat 10) to all four NBA Finals playoff games that were scheduled to take place at the Boston Garden, provided the series went to a seventh-and-deciding game. Note the lettering on each of the tickets shown: I, J, K and L. Going alphabetically starting with the Conference semifinals vs. Buffalo (Boston’s first opponent), a full slate of 12 playoff games would have been played in Boston if each series went the distance. But since the Celts disposed of all three opponents in six games, that’s why the lettering for the Finals started with “G” instead of “I” which meant Game 5 was, indeed, watched by fans at Boston Garden with tickets marked with the letter “I.” The Game 5 ticket, the most exciting game of the series, is the only ticket that’s been graded by PSA (Very Good-Excellent 4). It also represents the lone ticket to that memorable game in PSA’s Population Report that’s ever been graded, making it an incredibly rare Pop 1. The remaining three tickets, all intact, are raw and not encapsulated. Beyond their phenomenal rarity, these tickets also feature relevant components tied to the series in subject: Section 76 (for the ‘76 NBA Finals); Row J (for Jo Jo White, the series MVP); and Seat 10 (the uniform number worn by White). All in all, this is an incredible quartet of tickets tied to one of the NBA’s greatest championship battles in history.