After enjoying an era of dominance that is impossible to replicate, the Boston Celtics fell back to earth to begin the 1970's. But a talented group of young players was maturing behind closed doors and the decade would ultimately bring the storied franchise two more championships: a mini-dynasty, if you will. Of course, all great mini-dynasties need a dependable center that can vaccuum up rebounds at a furious pace while always being ready in the post for another routine layup, bringing his team closer to victory. Dave Cowens fit the mold perfectly. While he didn't break many records, he was dependable when it mattered most. This is his story.
The Early Years
Dave Cowens was born on October 25, 1948 in Newport, Kentucky. As one of six children, he was comfortable in the noise of a crowded locker room as well as the solace of working on the fundamentals of basketball long after practice had concluded. He played well enough at Newport Catholic High School to receive a scholarship from Florida State University.
He proved to be a quick study, averaging 18.8 points and 16.9 rebounds as a sophomore while the Seminoles made it to the NCAA Tournament with a 19-8 record. Unfortunately, they were bounced from the postseason in a ten-point loss to East Tennessee State in the first round. It would be Dave Cowens' only taste of the postseason at the collegiate level.
His junior year was his best as a Seminole, averaging 20,3 points, 17.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists. After averaging 17.8 points and 17.2 rebounds as a senior, Dave Cowens graduated and was drafted fourth overall by the Boston Celtics.
Boston
After winning 11 NBA championships in 13 years, the stars from the Boston Celtics great dynasty started to show their age and retired in spades. With so much talent leaving the building, the Celtics plummeted from world champs in 1969 to just a notch above the bottom of the conference a year later, finishing 34-48. They needed fresh bodies in the building and a renewed sense of direction.
Dave Cowens brought a fresh breath of life into the building. As a rookie, he electrified the crowd with 17 points and 15 rebounds a night. By the end of the year, the team had improved by 10 games and Cowens had been named the NBA's Rookie of the Year.
He and his team were even better the following year, scoring 18.8 points and collecting 15.2 rebounds a game while the team made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the Knicks in five games.
Having come so close to reaching the pinnacle of his profession, Dave Cowens put the Boston Celtics on his back the next year. That year, he averaged 20.5 points and 16.2 rebounds while dishing out 4.1 assists per night on his way to earning the league's MVP.
In addition to being named the best in the business, Cowens also led his team all the way back to the Eastern Conference Finals for a rematch with the Knicks. The Celtics gave the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions all that they could handle. After winning Game 1 134-108, the Celtics soon found themselves staring at a 3-1 deficit. With their season on the line, they rebounded with a suffocating defense, eking out a 98-97 victory in Game 5 while Cowens led both teams with 32 points and teammate Paul Silas got his mitts on 20 rebounds.
Now down 3-2, the Celtics had a renewed sense of urgency and beat the Knicks in Madison Square Garden 110-100 to force a Game 7. But at the time, New York was better suited for such an atmosphere with grizzled veterans such as Willis Reed and Walt Frazier dotting the lineup. The Knicks outlasted the Celtics in a 94-78 defensive masterpiece. While the Celtics watched the eventual champions celebrate another Eastern Conference championship, they knew that their time was just around the corner.
The Mini-Dynasty
Inspired by their back-to-back losses to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, Dave Cowens and the Boston Celtics were more determined than ever to get past their tormentors and take what they believed was rightfully their's. While it wasn't always easy, Boston ended the regular season with the best record in the league, 56-26, and Cowens was named an All-Star for the third year in a row with 19 points and 15.7 rebounds a game.
But all of that was moot unless they could get past New York when it counted most. Once they met again in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics had a look in their eyes that the Knicks once had: a hunger and a desire to sacrifice all to satisfy their grumbling stomachs.
Game by game went by and other than a wakeup call in Game 3 (a 103-100 Knicks win in Boston), the Celtics triumphed over their adversary. As the clock wound down on their 105-94 Game 5 triumph, Dave Cowens and his teammates soaked in their accomplishment for a moment, knowing that their goal had not yet been achieved.
The Celtics split the first two games with the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1974 NBA Finals before Dave Cowens took over Game 3 with a 30 point outburst on Boston's 95-83 victory. Milwaukee center and league MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took over Game 4, stunning the Boston Garden crowd with 34 points and 14 rebounds as Milwaukee won 97-89. After Cowens and John Havlicek both scored 28 to lead their Celtics teammates to victory in Game 5, the Boston Garden hosted a double overtime marathon, The game's greats came to play that night with Kareem scoring 34 and Havlicek scoring 36. In the end, the Bucks won a 102-101 nail-biter.
After such a long, arduous season, it all came down to this: Game 7. It was a close game through the first three quarters, but in the end, the better team won. Dave Cowens came alive that day, scoring 28 and rebounding 14 as his team pulled away by 10 in the fourth quarter. The Celtics won their 12th championship that day, 102-87.
Cowens played magnificently the following year, averaging 20.4 points and 14.7 rebounds while making a case for his second MVP trophy. But while he would lose the individual race to to the Lakers' Bob McAdoo, the Celtics were not done winning and made it all the way back to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1975 where they met, not the Knicks, but the Washington Bullets who had the best record in basketball that year. The Bullets prevailed in six games but would ultimately be swept by the Golden State Warriors in the Finals.
Meanwhile, the Celtics kept on winning. With a conference best 54-28 record in hand, the Celtics set about to ensure another trip to the NBA Finals. Down went Buffalo in six games and down went the Cavaliers in another six to stamp their ticket to their sport's biggest stage and a date with the Phoenix Suns.
Boston won the first two games convincingly as Cowens steadily provided his team much-needed points and rebounds. Phoenix rebounded in Game 3 with a 105-98 victory in Arizona as Alvan Adams put on a clinic, scoring 33 and rebounding 14. Although Cowens and Jo Jo White combined to score 47 points, the Celtics lost Game 4 by two. The two teams played an epic Game 5, battling deep into triple overtime until Boston came away victorious 128-126. Cowens was magnificent that night, scoring 26 and rebounding 19 in the game that would ultimately turn the tide of the series.
After such an epic performance by both squads, Game 6 was a bit of a downer as the Celtics won a close 87-80 contest to earn their second title of the decade. The Celtics fell back to earth quickly after that year, finishing 1976-1977 44-38 and were promptly bounced out of the playoffs in the first round. They didn't get back to the postseason for the rest of the decade. Just like that, their mini-dynasty was over.
Meanwhile, Dave Cowens continued to shine, making three more All-Star Games before retiring for two years after falling to the 76ers in the 1980 Eastern Conference Finals. Of course, the Celtics were a different team by then, led by a sharpshooting rookie named Larry Bird.
After coming ever so close to a return trip to the Finals, Dave Cowens retired at 31 years old. He spent two years away from the game before making a brief return in 1982-1983. He averaged more than eight points and almost seven rebounds in 40 games with the Bucks before retiring for the final time. By then, he had already caught the coaching bug having briefly coached his Celtics teammates late in the 1978-1979 season.
He stared by coaching the Bay State Bombardiers for a year in 1984-1985 before stepping away from the sidelines for much of the next decade. He re-entered the NBA in 1994 as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs, staying there for two years before getting his first full-time head coaching gig with the Charlotte Hornets in 1996.
It was in North Carolina where he found his greatest success as a coach, leading the Hornets to two playoff appearances before being let go early in 1999. Stops with the Golden State Warriors (2000-2001) and the WNBA's Chicago Sky (2006) ultimately led to a final assistant role with the Detroit Pistons from 2006-2009. He hasn't coached since.
His legacy lives on in numerous Halls of Fame and arena rafters. His jersey numbers 13 was retired by FSU and 18 by the Celtics. He is also in the College Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
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