Today in Celtics history: Russell's 49 boards, Declercq/Potapenko trade

Russell, a legendary big man who was arguably the greatest player of any generation at the five, posted the mind-boggling total in a 112-100 win against the Detroit Pistons on a neutral court in Providence, Rhode Island (though you can be sure it was full of Boston Celtics fans), which is currently tied for third-best in league history. This total wasn't even a career high for Russell, who had previously hit this mark in 1957, and beat it with a 51 rebound outing in 1960.



Today is also the 18th anniversary of the Declercq/Potapenko trade, which sent Andrew DeClercq and a first-round draft pick (later used to select Andre Miller) from Boston in a trade for the Cleveland Cavaliers' Vitaly Potapenko, who averaged  6.7 points and 3.5 rebounds over his career with the Cavs, who drafted him 12th in the 1996 NBA Draft. DeClerq, who was never more than a rotation player for Boston, would have a career year with the Cavs, averaging nine points, just under 6 boards and just over half a block per game that season before slowly tailing off in his remaining season with the Cavs and a stint with the Orlando Magic. Potapenko would also have a career year of 10.8 points and 7.2 boards per game that year, followed by three more productive seasons in Boston and stints with the Seattle Supersonics and Sacramento Kings.

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Photo via Ballislife.com
Data via basketball-reference.com
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