1962–63 Cincinnati Royals season
Head coachCharles Wolf
OwnersThomas E. Woods estate
Louis Jacobs
ArenaCincinnati Gardens
Results
Record42–38 (.525)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finishDivision finals
(lost to Celtics 3–4)
Local media
TelevisionWKRC-TV
RadioWKRC

The 1962–63 Cincinnati Royals season was the team's 15th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and its sixth in Cincinnati. The Royals were shifted from the Western Division into the Eastern Division before the start of the season because the Philadelphia Warriors had relocated to San Francisco. In their first season in the Eastern Division, the Royals posted a 42–38 record and finished in 3rd place.[1] The season saw the Royals challenged by a rival league, the American Basketball League run by Abe Saperstein, like few NBA teams ever have been. Larry Staverman and Win Wilfong had left the team for the new league. #1 draft picks Larry Siegfried and Jerry Lucas were both also signed away by the ABL. These key losses would later greatly affect the team's playoffs result. Lucas was particularly missed by Cincinnati fans. Oscar Robertson nonetheless led a balanced and solid Royals five that year, supported by Wayne Embry, Jack Twyman, Bob Boozer and Arlen Bockhorn. Draft pick Adrian Smith had arrived and joined Tom Hawkins and Hub Reed at the head of the bench. Robertson posted 28.3 points per game, and his league-leading assists total was twice that of all but one other NBA player. He sank the second-most free throws in the league, and was a strong third on the Royals in rebounds.

The Royals were consistent winners all season long, buoyed by a 10–6 November.

In the playoffs, the Royals would win their first playoff series in 11 years. The Royals upset the second-place Syracuse Nationals with an overtime win on the road in Game 5 on March 26. The two teams had each won their two home games before Robertson led the upset. It was the last NBA game ever hosted by a team in Syracuse, New York.[1] In the Eastern Finals, the Royals faced the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics and stunned them with two wins at Boston Gardens to seize a 2–1 series lead. Thomas E. Wood, the team's key owner, died in 1961. An ownership dispute between competing groups came to a head in 1963 when Louis Jacobs, who had bought Cincinnati Gardens from the Wood estate, scheduled a circus for the week of the Boston series without telling the Royals. The team was furious and had to host their second home playoff game at Xavier University's small Schmidt Fieldhouse. Despite that fact, and the earlier loss of draft pick Jerry Lucas, Robertson led the team to a third win over the Celtics in Game Six to force a seventh game. The Royals lost Game Seven in Boston on April 10, 142–131. Robertson had 43 points, the Celtics' Sam Jones had 47 in that concluding game. The season marks arguably the closest the Cincinnati Royals ever came to an NBA title, despite the obstacles mentioned above.

Ballyhooed #1 pick Jerry Lucas, two-time NCAA Player of The Year, was signed away by George Steinbrenner of the ABL Cleveland Pipers, a serious blow to this year's team.

  1. 2 pick was 6' 8 Bud Olsen of Louisville, a college star with local ties.

Roster

1962–63 Cincinnati Royals roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
SG 11 Bockhorn, Arlen 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1933–07–08 Dayton
PF 13 Boozer, Bob 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1937–04–26 Kansas State
PF 21 Buckhalter, Joe 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1937–08–01 Tennessee State
C 15 Embry, Wayne 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1937–03–26 Miami (OH)
SF 19 Hawkins, Tom 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1936–12–22 Notre Dame
PF 16 Olsen, Bud 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1940–07–25 Louisville
SF 61 Piontek, Dave 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1937–08–27 Xavier
C 51 Reed, Hub 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1936–10–04 Oklahoma City
PG 14 Robertson, Oscar 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1938–11–24 Cincinnati
SG 10 Smith, Adrian 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1936–10–05 Kentucky
PG 41 Tieman, Dan 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1940–11–30 Thomas More
SF 31 Twyman, Jack 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1934–05–11 Cincinnati
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Boston Celtics5822.725–25–521–1612–125–11
x-Syracuse Nationals4832.6001023–513–1912–821–15
x-Cincinnati Royals4238.5251623–1015–194–920–16
New York Knicks2159.2633712–225–284–96–30

Record vs. opponents

1962-63 NBA Records
Team BOS CHI CIN DET LAL NYK SFW STL SYR
Boston –8–29–38–04–510–28–15–36–6
Chicago 2–8–4–63–73–74–64–63–72–8
Cincinnati 3–96–4–4–43–610–26–33–57–5
Detroit 0–87–34–4–1–118–17–54–83–6
Los Angeles 5–47–36–311–1–5–38–47–54–4
New York 2–106–42–101–83–5–2–63–62–10
San Francisco 1–86–43–65–74–86–2–3–93–5
St. Louis 3–57–35–38–45–76–39–3–5–4
Syracuse 6–68–25–76–34–410–25–34–5—

Season schedule

1962–63 game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 20@ Chicago109–113Oscar Robertson (29)0–1
2October 23Los Angeles115–116Oscar Robertson (32)1–1
3October 24@ St. Louis114–121Oscar Robertson (31)1–2
4October 26St. Louis102–118Oscar Robertson (27)2–2
5October 28San Francisco130–131 (OT)Oscar Robertson (36)3–2
6November 3@ Syracuse111–130Robertson, Twyman (22)3–3
7November 7Boston106–105Oscar Robertson (42)3–4
8November 8@ Detroit114–116Oscar Robertson (38)3–5
9November 9@ New York122–119Oscar Robertson (37)4–5
10November 10Detroit124–135Oscar Robertson (32)5–5
11November 12@ Boston126–137Robertson, Twyman (26)5–6
12November 13N Detroit109–127Oscar Robertson (31)6–6
13November 14Syracuse120–125Oscar Robertson (33)7–6
14November 16St. Louis111–120Jack Twyman (27)8–6
15November 18San Francisco120–132Robertson, Twyman (32)9–6
16November 21@ San Francisco143–139Oscar Robertson (40)10–6
17November 22@ Los Angeles110–134Oscar Robertson (21)10–7
18November 24@ Los Angeles123–129Wayne Embry (34)10–8
19November 25@ San Francisco128–115Jack Twyman (27)11–8
20November 27@ New York139–129Oscar Robertson (31)12–8
21November 30Syracuse117–130Oscar Robertson (31)13–8
22December 1@ Chicago131–121Oscar Robertson (30)14–8
23December 2Boston128–127 (OT)Robertson, Twyman (29)14–9
24December 6New York99–96Jack Twyman (24)14–10
25December 8Los Angeles131–128 (OT)Oscar Robertson (42)14–11
26December 11N Los Angeles124–121Oscar Robertson (31)14–12
27December 12N Chicago102–105Adrian Smith (17)14–13
28December 13N Chicago142–123Jack Twyman (32)15–13
29December 15@ Boston124–120Oscar Robertson (26)16–13
30December 18@ New York102–103Oscar Robertson (28)16–14
31December 19Syracuse120–129Oscar Robertson (32)17–14
32December 21Chicago116–129Oscar Robertson (30)18–14
33December 25Detroit120–131Oscar Robertson (35)19–14
34December 28Boston121–113Oscar Robertson (35)19–15
35December 29@ Chicago104–108Wayne Embry (25)19–16
36January 1New York106–112 (OT)Oscar Robertson (32)20–16
37January 2@ Detroit118–138Wayne Embry (23)20–17
38January 4San Francisco129–130Jack Twyman (35)21–17
39January 5N Syracuse136–117Oscar Robertson (35)21–18
40January 6Los Angeles120–119 (OT)Oscar Robertson (33)21–19
41January 8N Syracuse119–116Jack Twyman (35)21–20
42January 9@ Syracuse116–112Oscar Robertson (29)22–20
43January 10Boston121–130Oscar Robertson (41)23–20
44January 12@ St. Louis109–115Oscar Robertson (25)23–21
45January 13St. Louis105–104Oscar Robertson (31)23–22
46January 18@ Boston114–122Oscar Robertson (33)23–23
47January 19New York108–114Oscar Robertson (26)24–23
48January 20@ Chicago93–113Embry, Robertson (18)24–24
49January 23Boston133–138Oscar Robertson (43)25–24
50January 25@ New York114–112Jack Twyman (25)26–24
51January 26Chicago116–142Oscar Robertson (24)27–24
52January 27N Chicago143–126Oscar Robertson (31)28–24
53January 31N Boston125–128Jack Twyman (32)28–25
54February 1N San Francisco133–126Oscar Robertson (25)28–26
55February 2N Syracuse117–113Jack Twyman (25)28–27
56February 3@ Syracuse125–115Oscar Robertson (26)29–27
57February 5Boston106–96Oscar Robertson (22)29–28
58February 7San Francisco129–134Oscar Robertson (33)30–28
59February 8@ St. Louis116–112Wayne Embry (23)31–28
60February 10Los Angeles107–124Oscar Robertson (29)32–28
61February 13N Syracuse122–124Oscar Robertson (34)33–28
62February 15St. Louis99–96Oscar Robertson (23)33–29
63February 16@ Detroit110–99Wayne Embry (27)34–29
64February 17@ New York109–98Jack Twyman (27)35–29
65February 19@ Boston126–129Oscar Robertson (35)35–30
66February 20@ Syracuse109–128Jack Twyman (27)35–31
67February 21New York96–115Oscar Robertson (25)36–31
68February 23Detroit105–102Oscar Robertson (24)36–32
69February 24N Detroit119–110Oscar Robertson (36)36–33
70February 26@ St. Louis107–114Oscar Robertson (30)36–34
71February 27New York107–119Oscar Robertson (30)37–34
72March 1N San Francisco132–125Oscar Robertson (32)37–35
73March 3@ San Francisco122–123Jack Twyman (27)37–36
74March 4@ Los Angeles114–111Jack Twyman (24)38–36
75March 6@ Los Angeles97–106Oscar Robertson (26)38–37
76March 10@ Boston117–149Oscar Robertson (23)38–38
77March 12@ New York110–96Bob Boozer (21)39–38
78March 13Syracuse114–128Oscar Robertson (35)40–38
79March 16@ Chicago126–117Oscar Robertson (24)41–38
80March 17New York109–116Oscar Robertson (34)42–38

The Royals won five straight to move to 10–6 in November, and followed that with a 6–8 December. They were 9–9 in both January and February, reaching 36–31 on 2-21-63. The Royals won four straight to finish the season 42-38.

Playoffs

1963 playoff game log
Division Semi-finals: 3–2 (home: 2–0; road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 March 19 @ Syracuse L 120–123 Oscar Robertson (29) Onondaga War Memorial
4,335		 0–1
2 March 21 Syracuse W 133–115 Oscar Robertson (41) Cincinnati Gardens
3,205		 1–1
3 March 23 @ Syracuse L 117–121 Embry, Twyman (24) Onondaga War Memorial
8,007		 1–2
4 March 24 Syracuse W 125–118 Oscar Robertson (29) Cincinnati Gardens
3,331		 2–2
5 March 26 @ Syracuse W 131–127 (OT) Oscar Robertson (32) Onondaga War Memorial
7,418		 3–2
Division finals: 3–4 (home: 1–2; road: 2–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 March 28 @ Boston W 135–132 Oscar Robertson (43) Oscar Robertson (14) Oscar Robertson (10) Boston Garden
13,798		 0–1
2 March 29 Boston L 102–125 Oscar Robertson (28) Wayne Embry (16) — Cincinnati Gardens
11,102		 1–1
3 March 31 @ Boston W 121–116 Oscar Robertson (23) Bob Boozer (14) Oscar Robertson (8) Boston Garden
13,909		 2–1
4 April 3 Boston L 110–128 Oscar Robertson (25) Robertson, Embry (15) — Cincinnati Gardens
3,498		 2–2
5 April 6 @ Boston L 120–125 Oscar Robertson (36) Wayne Embry (14) Oscar Robertson (10) Boston Garden
13,909		 2–3
6 April 7 Boston W 109–99 Oscar Robertson (36) Wayne Embry (22) — Cincinnati Gardens
7,745		 3–3
7 April 10 @ Boston L 131–142 Oscar Robertson (43) Embry, Hawkins (7) Oscar Robertson (6) Boston Garden
13,909		 3–4
1963 schedule

Player statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Arlen Bockhorn
Bob Boozer
Joe Buckhalter
Wayne Embry
Tom Hawkins
Bud Olsen
Dave Piontek
Hub Reed
Oscar Robertson
Adrian Smith
Dan Tieman
Jack Twyman

Playoffs

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Arlen Bockhorn
Bob Boozer
Wayne Embry
Tom Hawkins
Bud Olsen
Dave Piontek
Hub Reed
Oscar Robertson
Adrian Smith
Jack Twyman

Awards and honors

References

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