| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 15–April 7, 1956 |
| Season | 1955–56 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Philadelphia Warriors (2nd title) |
| Runner-up | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| Semifinalists |
|
← 1955
1957 →
| |
The 1956 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1955-56 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Warriors defeating the Western Conference champion Fort Wayne Pistons 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.
It was the Warriors' second NBA title; their first was in 1947 back when the NBA was known as the BAA. They would have to wait until 1975 to taste championship gold again; by that time they had moved to the Bay Area and become the Golden State Warriors. Philadelphia's later team, the Philadelphia 76ers, would win the title in 1967.
This was the Pistons' second straight trip to the NBA Finals, but they would not make another appearance until 1988 as the Detroit Pistons. No team from Indiana would return to the NBA Finals until the Indiana Pacers did so in 2000.
The play-in game between the Syracuse Nationals and the New York Knicks was the last play-in game to determine a playoff spot until 2020.[1]
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||
| E1 | Philadelphia* | 3 | |||||||||||
| E3 | Syracuse | 2 | E3 | Syracuse | 2 | ||||||||
| E2 | Boston | 1 | E1 | Philadelphia* | 4 | ||||||||
| W1 | Fort Wayne* | 1 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Fort Wayne* | 3 | |||||||||||
| W3 | St. Louis | 2 | W3 | St. Louis | 2 | ||||||||
| W2 | Minneapolis | 1 | |||||||||||
March 15 |
| New York Knicks 77, Syracuse Nationals 82 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–17, 21–27, 21–20, 16–18 | ||
| Pts: Harry Gallatin19 Rebs: Ray Felix13 Asts: Dick McGuire9 |
Pts: Dolph Schayes14 Rebs: Dolph Schayes14 Asts: Seymour, King 6 each | |
| Syracuse finishes as the East's #3 seed, New York fails to qualify | ||
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York |
March 16 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 103, St. Louis Hawks97 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–33, 25–19, 29–17, 22–28 | ||
| Pts: Slater Martin28 | Pts: Bob Pettit22 | |
| Minneapolis finishes as the West's #2 seed, St. Louis as the West's #3 seed | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
March 17 |
| Syracuse Nationals 93, Boston Celtics 110 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–25, 19–26, 31–29, 21–30 | ||
| Pts: Ed Conlin21 Asts: Dolph Schayes6 |
Pts: Bob Cousy29 Asts: Bob Cousy9 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 19 |
| Boston Celtics 98, Syracuse Nationals 101 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–21, 29–32, 20–28, 28–20 | ||
| Pts: Bob Cousy28 Rebs: Arnie Risen17 Asts: Bob Cousy10 |
Pts: Red Kerr23 Rebs: Red Kerr14 Asts: Seymour, Schayes 5 each | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 21 |
| Syracuse Nationals 102, Boston Celtics97 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–22, 36–23, 21–31, 24–21 | ||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes27 Rebs: Dolph Schayes17 Asts: Dolph Schayes5 |
Pts: Bill Sharman24 Rebs: Arnie Risen15 Asts: Bob Cousy7 | |
| Syracuse wins series, 2–1 | ||
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Nationals winning three of the first four meetings.
| Syracuse leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
March 17 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 115, St. Louis Hawks 116 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–25, 29–20, 31–39, 24–32 | ||
| Pts: Mikkelsen, Martin 19 each | Pts: Bob Pettit25 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 19 |
| St. Louis Hawks 75, Minneapolis Lakers 133 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 15–25, 15–36, 24–36, 21–36 | ||
| Pts: Bob Pettit14 | Pts: Slater Martin19 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 21 |
| St. Louis Hawks 116, Minneapolis Lakers 115 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–27, 32–29, 33–28, 31–31 | ||
| Pts: Bob Pettit41 | Pts: Clyde Lovellette31 | |
| St. Louis wins series, 2–1 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[3]
March 23 |
| Syracuse Nationals 87, Philadelphia Warriors 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–28, 27–23, 25–24, 18–34 | ||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes19 Rebs: Kerr, Schayes 14 each Asts: George King8 |
Pts: Paul Arizin29 Rebs: Neil Johnston24 Asts: Gola, Beck 5 each | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 25 |
| Philadelphia Warriors 118, Syracuse Nationals 122 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 38–35, 19–27, 33–36, 28–24 | ||
| Pts: Neil Johnston43 Rebs: Neil Johnston16 Asts: Neil Johnston7 |
Pts: Dolph Schayes33 Rebs: Dolph Schayes16 Asts: George King10 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 27 |
| Syracuse Nationals 96, Philadelphia Warriors 119 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–32, 24–30, 25–25, 24–32 | ||
| Pts: Ed Conlin19 Rebs: Dolph Schayes21 Asts: George King6 |
Pts: Joe Graboski20 Rebs: Neil Johnston18 Asts: Tom Gola10 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 2–1 | ||
March 28 |
| Philadelphia Warriors 104, Syracuse Nationals 108 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–26, 25–26, 18–30, 30–26 | ||
| Pts: Neil Johnston35 Rebs: Neil Johnston12 Asts: Neil Johnston7 |
Pts: George King25 Rebs: Red Kerr9 Asts: George King15 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
March 29 |
| Syracuse Nationals 104, Philadelphia Warriors 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–32, 20–24, 25–22, 31–31 | ||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes28 Rebs: Dolph Schayes16 Asts: George King13 |
Pts: Paul Arizin35 Rebs: Neil Johnston18 Asts: Neil Johnston8 | |
| Philadelphia wins series, 3–2 | ||
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the 76ers/Nationals winning the first three meetings.
| Philadelphia 76ers/ Syracuse Nationals leads 3–0 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||
March 22 |
| St. Louis Hawks 86, Fort Wayne Pistons85 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–25, 23–20, 19–23, 17–17 | ||
| Pts: Al Ferrari17 | Pts: George Yardley23 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 24 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 74, St. Louis Hawks 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 12–30, 23–17, 18–19, 21–18 | ||
| Pts: Larry Foust16 | Pts: Al Ferrari21 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 2–0 | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
March 25 |
| St. Louis Hawks 84, Fort Wayne Pistons 107 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–29, 24–26, 16–22, 25–30 | ||
| Pts: Alex Hannum18 | Pts: Houbregs, Yardley 19 each | |
| St. Louis leads series, 2–1 | ||
March 27 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 93, St. Louis Hawks84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–21, 28–27, 18–18, 23–18 | ||
| Pts: George Yardley30 | Pts: Jack Coleman19 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
March 29 |
| St. Louis Hawks 97, Fort Wayne Pistons 102 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–24, 18–22, 31–21, 29–35 | ||
| Pts: Jack Coleman20 | Pts: Foust, Yardley 20 each | |
| Fort Wayne wins series, 3–2 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[5]
March 31 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 94, Philadelphia Warriors 98 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–20, 24–20, 15–33, 30–25 | ||
| Pts: George Yardley27 Rebs: George Yardley15 Asts: Hutchins, Phillip 6 each |
Pts: Paul Arizin28 Rebs: Neil Johnston14 Asts: Tom Gola10 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 1–0 | ||
Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
April 1 |
| Philadelphia Warriors 83, Fort Wayne Pistons 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–20, 26–22, 19–23, 18–19 | ||
| Pts: Paul Arizin27 Rebs: Arizin, Johnston 9 each Asts: Ernie Beck6 |
Pts: George Yardley30 Rebs: George Yardley19 Asts: Andy Phillip5 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana |
April 3 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 96, Philadelphia Warriors 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–25, 25–23, 14–25, 31–27 | ||
| Pts: Larry Foust19 Rebs: Larry Foust14 Asts: Chuck Noble4 |
Pts: Paul Arizin27 Rebs: Neil Johnston17 Asts: Tom Gola8 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 2–1 | ||
Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
April 5 |
| Philadelphia Warriors 107, Fort Wayne Pistons 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–24, 26–32, 30–26, 27–23 | ||
| Pts: Paul Arizin30 Rebs: Tom Gola9 Asts: Joe Graboski7 |
Pts: George Yardley21 Rebs: Larry Foust14 Asts: Andy Phillip6 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 3–1 | ||
War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana |
April 7 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 88, Philadelphia Warriors 99 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–22, 19–22, 20–28, 25–27 | ||
| Pts: George Yardley30 Rebs: George Yardley20 Asts: Corky Devlin6 |
Pts: Joe Graboski29 Rebs: Joe Graboski16 Asts: Jack George10 | |
| Philadelphia wins series, 4–1 | ||
Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[6]
