thwarted by Sam Jones. In overtime, Jones scored several clutch baskets to ensure a 110–107 win for the Celtics. The 1962 NBA finals would serve as the beginning of the greatest rivalry in NBA history In the 1962–63 NBA season, Baylor was back full-time. West averaged 27.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists and was again NBA All-Star and All-NBA First-Team; however, he played in only 55 regular-season games, missing the last seven weeks due to a hamstring injury. Again, the Lakers reached the finals, and again, they battled the Celtics. With West not yet in shape, Baylor and the Lakers fell back 3–2; then they succumbed in Game 6 in front of their home crowd with a 112–109 loss. As the game ended, veteran Celtics playmaker Bob Cousy threw the ball high into the rafters of the L.A. Sports Arena. In the following 1963–64 NBA season, West became the Lakers' scoring leader for the first time. His 28.7 points per game eclipsed the 25.4 by Baylor, who stated that he suffered from knee problems. The Lakers struggled during the entire season, winning only 42 games, and were beaten by the Hawks in five games during the first round of the 1964 NBA Playoffs. 1964–68: Leader of the Lakers In the following 1964–65 NBA season, West averaged 31.0 points (at the time, a career-high), only surpassed by perennial scoring champion Wilt Chamberlain. After ending the regular season with 49 wins, L.A. played the Baltimore Bullets in the first round of the 1965 NBA Playoffs, but then team captain Baylor suffered a career-threatening knee injury. West spectacularly took over Baylor's leading role, as he scored 49 points and willed the shocked Lakers to the win. In Game 2, Baltimore was unable to stop the Lakers guard, who scored 52 points, nearly half of L.A.'s total, in the 118–115 win. The Bullets took their two home games, despite West scoring 44 and 48 points respectively, but in the decisive Game 5 in L.A., the guard helped beat the Bullets with 42 points in a close 117–115 win. West averaged 46.3 points per game, a figure that is still an NBA record. However, in the 1965 NBA Finals, the Celtics easily beat the short-handed Lakers, 4–1. In Game 1, which Boston easily won, defensive Celtics guard K. C. Jones kept West to the only 26 points, and in Game 2, West scored 45