I was looking up bill russels season averages earlier today. He averaged 45 minutes a game at one point, and 48 minutes in a 1962 16 game championship run.
An era of no charter jet travel. In fact, in 50s often by slow prop aircraft. No exotic training regiment or modern day exercise equipment. No 5 star hotels with beds set up for tall basketball players -or even specially designed for giants. Many average NBA players had second jobs in offseason as salaries were quite low except for top stars. I could go on but that's all I can think of for now comparing then with now.
Great game tonight. I really hope Smart doesn't let Reke play the whole 4th. Rest him and DMC for 2-3 min. Let the bench play it out to see if they can match the momentum of the 2nd