The 1957 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1956-57 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Division champion St. Louis Hawks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 14–April 13, 1957 |
| Season | 1956–57 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Boston Celtics (1st title) |
| Runner-up | St. Louis Hawks |
| Semifinalists |
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← 1956
1958 →
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It was the first title in Celtics history; as of 2020, they are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers in NBA titles won with 17.
The Celtics and Hawks met in 4 out of 5 NBA Finals from 1957–1961, with the Celtics winning 3 out of 4. While the Hawks' dominance of the Western Division was succeeded by the Los Angeles Lakers afterward, Boston missed the NBA Finals just once between 1957–1969, and won the NBA title in every year but two.
In the division semifinals, the Philadelphia Warriors were swept by the Syracuse Nationals 2–0. This was the first time in NBA history that the defending champions were swept in the opening round. The next time the defending champions were swept in the opening round was in 2007. It was also the only time in which the playoff series leading to the Final resulted in sweeps.
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 3 | |||||||||||
| E3 | Philadelphia | 0 | E2 | Syracuse | 0 | ||||||||
| E2 | Syracuse | 2 | E1 | Boston* | 4 | ||||||||
| W1 | St. Louis* | 3 | |||||||||||
| W1 | St. Louis* | 3 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Fort Wayne | 0 | W2 | Minneapolis | 0 | ||||||||
| W2 | Minneapolis | 2 | |||||||||||
March 14 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 103, St. Louis Hawks 115 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–21, 18–45, 33–24, 23–25 | ||
| Pts: George Yardley26 Rebs: Hutchins, Foust 10 each |
Pts: Jack McMahon24 Rebs: Cliff Hagan16 | |
| Fort Wayne finishes as the West's #3 seed | ||
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March 16 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 111, St. Louis Hawks 114 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–22, 24–21, 29–27, 28–30, Overtime: 11–14 | ||
| Pts: Clyde Lovellette30 Rebs: Lovellette, Dukes 12 each |
Pts: Cliff Hagan28 Rebs: Bob Pettit18 | |
| St. Louis finishes as the West's #1 seed, Minneapolis as the West's #2 seed | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
March 16 |
| Syracuse Nationals 103, Philadelphia Warriors96 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–27, 24–21, 23–18, 32–30 | ||
| Pts: Red Kerr25 Rebs: Red Kerr21 Asts: Dolph Schayes6 |
Pts: Neil Johnston25 Rebs: Neil Johnston26 Asts: George Dempsey8 | |
| Syracuse leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 18 |
| Philadelphia Warriors 80, Syracuse Nationals 91 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–20, 20–15, 16–23, 27–33 | ||
| Pts: Joe Graboski16 Rebs: Walt Davis10 Asts: Neil Johnston5 |
Pts: Red Kerr22 Rebs: Dolph Schayes20 Asts: Schayes, Conlin 4 each | |
| Syracuse wins series, 2–0 | ||
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the 76ers/Nationals winning three of the first four meetings.
| Philadelphia 76ers/ Syracuse Nationals leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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March 17 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 127, Minneapolis Lakers 131 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 32–41, 37–29, 28–37, 30–24 | ||
| Pts: George Yardley34 | Pts: Clyde Lovellette30 | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 19 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 110, Fort Wayne Pistons 108 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–28, 27–23, 30–24, 28–33 | ||
| Pts: Slick Leonard19 | Pts: Larry Foust30 | |
| Minneapolis wins series, 2–0 | ||
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning three of the first four meetings.
| Minneapolis leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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March 21 |
| Syracuse Nationals 90, Boston Celtics 108 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–22, 17–31, 20–30, 26–25 | ||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes21 Rebs: Dolph Schayes23 |
Pts: Frank Ramsey20 Rebs: Bill Russell31 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 23 |
| Boston Celtics 120, Syracuse Nationals 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–26, 23–23, 26–27, 40–29 | ||
| Pts: Tom Heinsohn30 Rebs: Bill Russell30 |
Pts: Dolph Schayes31 Rebs: Dolph Schayes15 | |
| Boston leads series, 2–0 | ||
March 24 |
| Syracuse Nationals 80, Boston Celtics 83 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–23, 17–18, 23–22, 21–20 | ||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes22 Rebs: Dolph Schayes17 |
Pts: Bill Sharman23 Rebs: Bill Russell23 | |
| Boston wins series, 3–0 | ||
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Nationals winning four of the first five meetings.
| Syracuse leads 4–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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March 21 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 109, St. Louis Hawks 118 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–30, 26–31, 37–27, 23–30 | ||
| Pts: Vern Mikkelsen24 Rebs: Clyde Lovellette11 Asts: Slick Leonard9 |
Pts: Slater Martin24 Rebs: Bob Pettit16 Asts: Jack McMahon9 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 1–0 | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
March 24 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 104, St. Louis Hawks 106 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–26, 24–25, 30–26, 25–29 | ||
| Pts: Clyde Lovellette33 Rebs: Walter Dukes20 |
Pts: Bob Pettit30 Rebs: Jack Coleman15 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 2–0 | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
March 25 |
| St. Louis Hawks 143, Minneapolis Lakers 135 (2OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–23, 28–26, 27–32, 38–33, Overtime: 17–17, 12–4 | ||
| Pts: Bob Pettit35 | Pts: Slick Leonard42 | |
| St. Louis wins series, 3–0 | ||
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Hawks winning the first meeting.
| St. Louis leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series | ||||||
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March 30 |
| St. Louis Hawks 125, Boston Celtics 123 (2OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–21, 18–26, 22–27, 31–28, Overtime: 11–11, 12–10 | ||
| Pts: Bob Pettit37 Rebs: Bob Pettit14 |
Pts: Bill Sharman36 Rebs: Bill Russell18 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 1–0 | ||
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts |
March 31 |
| St. Louis Hawks 99, Boston Celtics 119 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–31, 22–31, 27–32, 29–25 | ||
| Pts: Ed Macauley19 Rebs: Bob Pettit13 Asts: Slick Leonard4 |
Pts: Cousy, Ramsey 22 each Rebs: Bill Russell25 Asts: Bob Cousy7 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts |
April 6 |
| Boston Celtics 98, St. Louis Hawks 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–19, 25–21, 28–29, 26–31 | ||
| Pts: Bill Sharman28 Rebs: Bill Russell19 Asts: Bob Cousy8 |
Pts: Bob Pettit26 Rebs: Bob Pettit28 Asts: three players 5 each | |
| St. Louis leads series, 2–1 | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
April 7 |
| Boston Celtics 123, St. Louis Hawks 118 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–36, 35–17, 30–37, 27–28 | ||
| Pts: Bob Cousy31 Rebs: Bill Russell20 Asts: Arnie Risen9 |
Pts: Bob Pettit33 Rebs: Bob Pettit16 Asts: Martin, Hagan 6 each | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
April 9 |
| St. Louis Hawks 109, Boston Celtics 124 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–21, 30–38, 25–35, 24–30 | ||
| Pts: Bob Pettit33 Rebs: Bob Pettit15 Asts: Med Park6 |
Pts: Bill Sharman32 Rebs: Bill Russell23 Asts: Bob Cousy19 | |
| Boston leads series, 3–2 | ||
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts |
April 11 |
| Boston Celtics 94, St. Louis Hawks 96 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–22, 28–27, 27–28, 16–19 | ||
| Pts: Tom Heinsohn28 Rebs: Bill Russell23 |
Pts: Bob Pettit32 Rebs: Bob Pettit23 | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
April 13 |
| St. Louis Hawks 123, Boston Celtics 125 (2OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–26, 25–25, 24–32, 26–20, Overtime: 10–10, 10–12 | ||
| Pts: Bob Pettit39 Rebs: Bob Pettit19 Asts: Martin, Coleman 7 each |
Pts: Tom Heinsohn37 Rebs: Bill Russell32 Asts: Bob Cousy11 | |
| Boston wins series, 4–3 | ||
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts |
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[5]