1965–66 Cincinnati Royals season

The 1965–66 season was the Royals' 21st season overall, and their ninth in Cincinnati. It was also arguably their most exciting, given their outstanding pennant chase in the NBA's Eastern Division, and their hosting of the 1966 NBA All-Star Game in Cincinnati. The team was still adjusting to the loss of defender Arlen Bockhorn. With the NBA's most wide-open offense, the Royals were again directed by now-legendary Oscar Robertson, who fed shooters Jerry Lucas, Jack Twyman and Adrian Smith when not scoring himself. Forwards Happy Hairston and Tom Hawkins also saw court time, with Lucas sliding into the center spot. Defender Tom Thacker also occasionally got minutes at guard next to Robertson. The team's outstanding 1965 draft class, one of the NBA's best ever, netted four promising young stars in Nate Bowman, Flynn Robinson, Jon McGlocklin and Bob Love. But Bowman and Robinson battled injuries and illnesses all season long and did not impact the team. Love, a future NBA all-star and Hall of Fame inductee, was cut by coach Jack McMahon. All-NBA First Teammers Robertson and Lucas each again posted remarkable individual seasons leading the contenders. Robertson again led the NBA in assists while scoring near the 30-point-per game mark and canning his usual pile of free throws at opponents expense. While Robertson averaged '30-10 ', Lucas averaged ' 20-20 ' setting an NBA record for rebounds by a forward that still stands today. Both averaged 44 minutes per game to lead their team.[1] Despite their contributions, the Royals would finish in third place with a record of 45 wins and 35 losses. In the playoffs, the Royals were again on the verge of ending the Boston Celtics championship reign. The Royals won 2 of the first 3 games in a 5-game series.[1] Despite the commanding lead, the Celtics would win the next 2 games and eventually claim their 8th straight title.

1965–66 Cincinnati Royals season
Head coachJack McMahon
OwnersLouis Jacobs
ArenaCincinnati Gardens
Results
Record45–35 (.563)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finishDivision semifinals
(lost to Celtics 2–3)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWKRC-TV
RadioWLW

Regular season

Season standings
Eastern Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Philadelphia 76ers5525.688–22–320–1713–520–10
x-Boston Celtics5426.675126–519–189–319–11
x-Cincinnati Royals4535.5631025–611–239–616–14
New York Knicks3050.3752520–144–306–65–25

Record vs. opponents
1965-66 NBA Records
Team BAL BOS CIN DET LAL NYK PHI SFW STL
Baltimore —3–73–75–54–67–35–54–67–3
Boston 7–3—5–56–47–310–04–68–27–3
Cincinnati 7–35–5—8–24–67–34–65–55–5
Detroit 5–54–62–8—2–82–83–72–82–8
Los Angeles 6–43–76–48–2—5–52–87–38–2
New York 3–70–103–78–25–5—2–85–54–6
Philadelphia 5–56–46–47–38–28–2—8–27–3
San Francisco 6–42–85–58–23–75–52–8—4–6
St. Louis 3–73–75–58–22–86–43–76–4—

Game log
1965–66 game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 15St. Louis111–100Oscar Robertson (36)0–1
2October 16@ Boston98–102Oscar Robertson (31)0–2
3October 17Baltimore124–144Oscar Robertson (37)1–2
4October 19San Francisco100–99Oscar Robertson (32)1–3
5October 28Boston108–113Oscar Robertson (32)2–3
6October 29@ Baltimore131–121Oscar Robertson (33)3–3
7October 30@ Philadelphia114–134Adrian Smith (26)3–4
8October 31Detroit107–113Adrian Smith (22)4–4
9November 3San Francisco108–122Happy Hairston (28)5–4
10November 5@ Detroit120–114Oscar Robertson (27)6–4
11November 6@ New York114–103Oscar Robertson (29)7–4
12November 10New York119–124Oscar Robertson (41)8–4
13November 13Baltimore132–135Jerry Lucas (38)9–4
14November 17Philadelphia115–131Oscar Robertson (28)10–4
15November 19@ Boston103–129Jerry Lucas (25)10–5
16November 21N Baltimore120–114Jerry Lucas (30)11–5
17November 23N Detroit118–115Oscar Robertson (38)11–6
18November 24St. Louis108–112Oscar Robertson (29)12–6
19November 26New York113–117Oscar Robertson (30)13–6
20November 27@ New York132–129Oscar Robertson (44)14–6
21November 30Los Angeles120–126Oscar Robertson (41)15–6
22December 1@ Los Angeles105–121Jerry Lucas (25)15–7
23December 2N San Francisco125–119Adrian Smith (31)15–8
24December 3@ Los Angeles122–118Oscar Robertson (48)16–8
25December 5Boston99–108Oscar Robertson (31)17–8
26December 9N San Francisco110–109Adrian Smith (26)17–9
27December 10Los Angeles129–110Oscar Robertson (31)17–10
28December 11N Philadelphia135–132 (OT)Oscar Robertson (33)17–11
29December 14Philadelphia109–112Oscar Robertson (31)18–11
30December 15@ Boston117–110Adrian Smith (34)19–11
31December 18@ New York114–122Oscar Robertson (30)19–12
32December 22@ Baltimore127–129 (OT)Oscar Robertson (43)19–13
33December 25San Francisco113–119Oscar Robertson (35)20–13
34December 26@ St. Louis117–115Oscar Robertson (37)21–13
35December 27New York116–138Oscar Robertson (36)22–13
36December 29Los Angeles109–111Oscar Robertson (40)23–13
37January 1@ New York122–147Happy Hairston (26)23–14
38January 2Baltimore107–138Adrian Smith (26)24–14
39January 3N St. Louis114–130Oscar Robertson (37)25–14
40January 5N Detroit103–117Adrian Smith (35)26–14
41January 6N Detroit97–109Oscar Robertson (29)27–14
42January 8@ Baltimore126–115Oscar Robertson (35)28–14
43January 13N St. Louis102–107Happy Hairston (26)29–14
44January 16Detroit106–108Lucas, Robertson (32)30–14
45January 18Los Angeles108–119Oscar Robertson (26)31–14
46January 21@ Boston96–113Oscar Robertson (24)31–15
47January 24N San Francisco112–135Oscar Robertson (29)32–15
48January 25Boston101–113Oscar Robertson (35)33–15
49January 28@ Philadelphia103–125Oscar Robertson (19)33–16
50January 29St. Louis115–116Adrian Smith (33)34–16
51January 30@ St. Louis98–115Oscar Robertson (33)34–17
52February 1@ San Francisco125–127Happy Hairston (23)34–18
53February 2@ Los Angeles118–119Oscar Robertson (44)34–19
54February 4@ Los Angeles125–132Oscar Robertson (29)34–20
55February 6N San Francisco116–117Jack Twyman (31)35–20
56February 7N Detroit124–118Oscar Robertson (34)35–21
57February 8Baltimore113–128Oscar Robertson (38)36–21
58February 11@ Philadelphia94–113Jack Twyman (19)36–22
59February 12Detroit116–143Oscar Robertson (26)37–22
60February 13@ St. Louis102–104Jerry Lucas (31)37–23
61February 15Boston123–136Oscar Robertson (31)38–23
62February 18@ Baltimore114–118Oscar Robertson (44)38–24
63February 19@ New York113–124Oscar Robertson (42)38–25
64February 20@ Detroit133–129Jerry Lucas (35)39–25
65February 21N Philadelphia107–113Oscar Robertson (40)40–25
66February 23@ Los Angeles133–140Oscar Robertson (39)40–26
67February 25@ San Francisco119–125Jerry Lucas (32)40–27
68February 26@ San Francisco112–103Oscar Robertson (39)41–27
69March 1Philadelphia100–102Oscar Robertson (40)42–27
70March 4Philadelphia107–103Oscar Robertson (36)42–28
71March 5New York145–149 (OT)Oscar Robertson (44)43–28
72March 6@ Detroit137–125Oscar Robertson (30)44–28
73March 9N Los Angeles119–116Oscar Robertson (39)44–29
74March 10Boston124–120Jerry Lucas (31)44–30
75March 12St. Louis114–113Oscar Robertson (33)44–31
76March 13@ St. Louis106–115Jerry Lucas (23)44–32
77March 15N New York107–125Oscar Robertson (26)45–32
78March 18@ Baltimore105–125Oscar Robertson (27)45–33
79March 19@ Philadelphia121–127Adrian Smith (24)45–34
80March 20@ Boston104–121Oscar Robertson (24)45–35

Playoffs
1966 playoff game log
Division semifinals: 2–3 (home: 0–2; road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 March 23 @ Boston W 107–103 Smith, Robertson (26) Jerry Lucas (27) Oscar Robertson (3) Boston Garden
9,510		 1–0
2 March 26 Boston L 125–132 Oscar Robertson (35) Jerry Lucas (24) Oscar Robertson (11) Cincinnati Gardens
10,027		 1–1
3 March 27 @ Boston W 113–107 Robertson, Lucas (27) Jerry Lucas (16) Adrian Smith (6) Boston Garden
13,571		 2–1
4 March 30 Boston L 103–120 Oscar Robertson (34) Jerry Lucas (17) Oscar Robertson (11) Cincinnati Gardens
12,107		 2–2
5 April 1 @ Boston L 103–112 Oscar Robertson (37) Jerry Lucas (17) Oscar Robertson (9) Boston Garden
13,909		 2–3
1966 schedule

Awards and honors
  • Oscar Robertson – First Team All-NBA,
  • Jerry Lucas – First Team All-NBA,
  • Adrian Smith, MVP of the 1966 NBA All-Star Game, held in Cincinnati.

References
  1. "Cincinnati Royals – Sports Ecyclopedia".
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