We only have a few more entries left in our third NBA Tuesday miniseries, and it’s time to hit Beantown—where the Boston Celtics ruled the NBA roost for decades with 17 championships … tied for first with the Lakers franchise. The organization has won just a single title, however, since 1986, and that is the worst dry spell ever for a team that was used to winning all the time from the 1950s to the 1980s. Everything’s cyclical!

Overall, however, the Celtics have made 60 playoff appearances in 77 overall seasons with 33 division titles. It’s hard to ignore that kind of dominance. What’s most interesting about this list is that all teams below won the NBA championship: there are no interloping teams here that made us scratch our heads and wonder how/why. What may surprise you, though, is the top dog—with so many title teams to choose from.

No. 5: 1964-65 Boston Celtics

A 62-18 record was tops in the Eastern Division, thanks to the No. 3 offense, the No. 1 defense, and the No. 1 overall SRS ranking. With just two rounds of the playoffs at the time, this was a doozy: the Celtics topped the Philadelphia 76ers in a seven-game Eastern Division Final, thanks to a 1-point win on the Garden parquet. In comparison, the five-game NBA Finals victory over the Lakers seemed like a breeze, you know?

Center Bill Russell (16.9 Win Shares) was the voted MVP, although we disagreed. Shooting guard Sam Jones (12.8) was the other big star here, but SG John Havlicek (4.5) is the guy everyone remembers for the big steal against the 76ers in Game 7’s waning seconds. In the Finals, Boston stole Game 4 on the road to take command of the series, and the Lakers had no answer in Game 5 back at the Garden, of course.

No. 4: 1959-60 Boston Celtics

The Eastern Division title came on the back of a 59-16 record for Boston, built on the No. 1 offense, the No. 5 defense (in an 8-team league), and the No. 1 overall SRS ranking. The Celtics topped the Philadelphia Warriors in the EDFs, with a six-game triumph, but this time, it was the NBA Finals against the St. Louis Hawks that went to a deciding seventh game: of course, Boston won the championship on its home floor.

Russell (13.8 WS) stood tall here over his teammates, no pun intended, as no other Celtics player reached even 8.0 WS. Against the Warriors, the battle was against league MVP Wilt Chamberlain, of course, and it was an odd series with Boston winning Game 6 on the road. But against the Hawks, the back-and-forth affair really did come down to the home-court edge in Game 7 for the Celtics, with an easy 19-point victory.

No. 3: 1961-62 Boston Celtics

These Celtics won the fourth of eight straight NBA titles. With a 60-20 record, Boston clinched the Eastern Division again with the No. 3 offense, the No. 1 defense, and the No. 1 overall SRS ranking. The playoffs were brutal, however: the Celtics had to beat the Warriors in one seven-game battle, and then they had to beat the Lakers in another seven-game series, winning both Game 7s at home by a combined 5 points. Lucky?!

Russell (15.5 WS) won the MVP vote again, although we disagreed with it again, too. He was ably supported this season by Jones (9.6) and power forward Tom Heinsohn (9.3). Against Philly, Game 7 was a 109-107 victory for Boston, fueled by a Celtics comeback in the fourth quarter, while the Finals’ last game was a 110-107 overtime win for the defending champs, thanks to Russell’s 30 points and 40 rebounds—not a typo.

No. 2: 1985-86 Boston Celtics

With a 67-15 record, Boston won the Atlantic Division with the No. 8 offense, the No. 3 defense, and the No. 1 overall SRS ranking. The Celtics swept the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs, before needing five games to dispatch the Atlanta Hawks. Then, Boston swept the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals before defeating the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals over a six-game series. Easy!

Small forward Larry Bird (15.8 WS) won the MVP, which we confirmed, and the Celtics’ Big Three was completed with PF Kevin McHale (11.0) and C Robert Parish (9.2). This was the last of three Boston championships in the decade, and it was the breeziest. Losing only 3 games in the postseason confirms that, despite Houston’s brave fight in the Finals. These Celtics were just too good, seasoned, and smart to lose.

No. 1: 2007-08 Boston Celtics

The 66-16 record in a tougher era of the NBA is all you need to know about this team that had to grind out its NBA title with a grueling playoff gauntlet. The No. 1 overall SRS ranking was based on the No. 11 offense and the No. 2 defense. But it took seven games to beat the Hawks, seven games to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, six games to beat the Detroit Pistons, and another six games to beat the Lakers. That’s painful.

PF Kevin Garnett (12.9 WS), SF Paul Pierce (12.4), and SG Ray Allen (9.7) cemented the concept of the modern-day Big Three with this team, for sure. The Celts won Game 7 at home against Atlanta by 34 points, before escaping LeBron James by five points in that Game 7 in Boston. Against Detroit, roads wins in Games 3 and 6 did the trick, while in the Finals, the Celtics won Game 4 on the road to take command.