The Boston Celtics' 11 NBA championships won during Bill Russell's career are often underappreciated by today's basketball fans and observers. The Celtics of 1957-69 achieved so much, set unbreakable records, and overcame obstacles time after time. Last result: Boston Celtics 100-109 Philadelphia 76ers (2026-05-02). Recent form (last 5): 0W-0D-5L (LLLLL, most recent first); lost the last 5. The accusation that non-Celtics fans like to make is that too many of Boston's 18 total titles were won when there was no competition. However, let's compare the longest streaks from the NBA, MLB, and NHL, and see how many postseason series they won. In the NBA, the Boston Celtics won 17 consecutive series from 1959-66, while the Montreal Canadiens won 10 series in the NHL from 1956-60. The New York Yankees won five World Series in a row from 1949-53 in MLB. If the Celtics were to win 17 straight series in this era, that would be more than equal to four championships in a row. Keep in mind that no team except Boston has ever won more than three straight titles. Michael Jordan is famously 6-0 in Finals appearances, but John Havlicek, Satch Sanders, and K.C. Jones all had an 8-0 Finals record. Did every team except the Celtics have a roster of plumbers? Not at all. Each squad actually had one or more future Hall of Famers, and teams matched up 10 or more times per season. Russell and Chamberlain were in the league together for 10 years, and played each other 143 times. Moreover, if it was really so easy to win, why couldn't anyone other than Russell's Celtics do it more than once? Playoff records of the greatest players of the era versus Bill Russell teams: Wilt Chamberlain, 1-7; Elgin Baylor, 0-7; Jerry West, 0-6; Oscar Robertson, 0-3; Bob Pettit, 1-3. Russell went to 12 Finals in 13 years and was 11-1, losing only to Pettit's Hawks when he missed two games with a sprained ankle. In playoff series overall, Russell's teams were incredibly dominant, with a winning percentage of over 90%.