Tournament details | |
---|---|
Dates | March 22–May 2, 1968 |
Season | 1967–68 |
Teams | 8 |
Final positions | |
Champions | Boston Celtics (10th title) |
Runner-up | Los Angeles Lakers |
Semifinalists | |
The 1968 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the 1967–68 season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Division champion Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.
The Celtics won their 10th NBA title, their first under player-coach Bill Russell after Red Auerbach's retirement.
In the Eastern Division Finals, the Celtics became the first team in NBA history to rally from a 3–1 series deficit to win, as they knocked off the defending champion Philadelphia 76ers in seven games. In the West, the Lakers swept the San Francisco Warriors in four games.
It was the first time since 1954 that the top team in a division failed to make the Division Finals; from 1955 to 1966, the league gave the regular-season division champion a first-round bye. This year also marked a change in that the Division Semifinals were changed from a best-of-five to a best-of-seven.