It is now wholly reasonable for the National Basketball Association to disseminate news of its annual playoffs by sending out fill-in-the-blanks postcards the way people do from the seashore:

"Greetings from Boston and——! Led by Bill Russell, this year the Celtics won four games to——. It was their——straight championship. Losing coach——said this Boston team was the 'greatest ever.' "

Fill-ins for this year, in order, are: Los Angeles; one; seventh or umpteenth; Fred Schaus.

This victory for Boston was more repetitive than competitive. The Lakers put on a game performance without their All-Pro, Elgin Baylor, in a cast after an injury in the opening minutes of the Baltimore semifinal series. Guards Dick Barnett and Jim King were substantially affected by lesser ailments, and the team was simply outmanned all over the court—at center, at the forwards, at the guards and on the bench. On defense, no team is close to the Celtics; on offense, they provide opponents with the most difficult problem in that area of pro-ball strategy known as match-ups, the balancing of personnel between teams.

So it was no surprise when Boston won the first two games with ease—first in a rout, then with a good effort to top a good one by L.A. Boston usually suffers a letdown in the third playoff game (it is 2-7 in those contests) and, sure enough, the Celtics were so inept in this third game that the sellout crowd seemed to take more interest in the business of Celtic Coach Red Auerbach's victory cigars. Every screwball in the place threw cigars at Auerbach or presented them to him or screamed at him about cigars. And the rest of the people just roared and roared every time it happened—the funniest thing since Joe Penner brought the house down by asking people if they wanted to buy a duck.

The real beauty of the third game was that Jerry West's brilliant efforts were rewarded at least once with victory. Though he got outstanding help from Center Gene Wiley and Forward LeRoy Ellis in this game, it was his 43 points that were most important. But then Boston came right back to win 112-99 in the key fourth contest, and the Celtics wrapped it up at home Sunday with a veritable slaughter, 129-96. Tra-la.

There was, really, none of the neon excitement of past finals. A Lakers' victory demanded that West ascend to impossible heights. "He alone carried them by Baltimore," said Cincinnati's Jack McMahon. "And if they beat Boston he'd have done it again. Then you'd have to say he's the greatest ever," added the man who coaches Oscar Robertson. West's play had put him firmly in Robertson's realm but, ironically, it was one of his rare bad nights that ruined L.A.'s chances in the fourth game.

K. C. Jones, the little man's Bill Russell, had held West firmly under control in the opening game, harassing him so that Schaus had had to relieve West of bringing the ball upcourt. But West had come right back with 45-and 43-point nights. "You only stop Jerry when he is having an off night," K. C. had said after the first game. "Guarding him is a guessing game."

Still, K. C. bothered West mightily at the start of the fourth game. Always staying between West and the ball, Jones cut Jerry's scoring chances in half. West got only four shots and made but one in the first period, and Jones, for his part, stole the ball four times.

Los Angeles fought from 12 back, however, with players like Ellis, Walt Hazzard and Don Nelson taking up the slack for West, and went six up at the half. K. C. picked up his fourth personal early in the second half and had to be relieved of his assignment on West. Then Jerry started getting open, and it looked as if L.A. had a real chance to tie the series. But again and again, 14 out of 15 times in one stretch, West missed, almost always by a hair.