| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 15–April 12, 1958 |
| Season | 1957–58 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | St. Louis Hawks (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Boston Celtics |
| Semifinalists |
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← 1957
1959 →
| |
The 1958 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1957-58 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion St. Louis Hawks defeating the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.
It was the second straight year the Celtics and Hawks met in the Finals; they met four out of five years, with the Celtics winning three series and the Hawks one.
This was the first (and as of 2023, only) title in Hawks franchise history. St. Louis made it to the NBA Finals four times in five years between 1957–1961, but since moving to Atlanta in 1968, they have had considerably less success in the playoffs.
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 4 | |||||||||||
| E3 | Philadelphia | 2 | E3 | Philadelphia | 1 | ||||||||
| E2 | Syracuse | 1 | E1 | Boston* | 2 | ||||||||
| W1 | St. Louis* | 4 | |||||||||||
| W1 | St. Louis* | 4 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Cincinnati | 0 | W2 | Detroit | 1 | ||||||||
| W2 | Detroit | 2 | |||||||||||
March 15 |
| Philadelphia Warriors 82, Syracuse Nationals 86 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–31, 24–18, 22–18, 16–19 | ||
| Pts: Paul Arizin24 Rebs: Graboski, Gola 13 each Asts: Jack George5 |
Pts: Dolph Schayes22 Rebs: Red Kerr22 Asts: Schayes, Costello 4 each | |
| Syracuse leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 16 |
| Syracuse Nationals 93, Philadelphia Warriors 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–21, 22–25, 29–23, 26–26 | ||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes32 Rebs: Red Kerr20 Asts: Paul Seymour4 |
Pts: Joe Graboski23 Rebs: Woody Sauldsberry14 Asts: George, Gola 5 each | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 18 |
| Philadelphia Warriors 101, Syracuse Nationals88 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–27, 25–19, 24–27, 26–15 | ||
| Pts: Paul Arizin25 Rebs: Joe Graboski15 Asts: Joe Graboski7 |
Pts: Dolph Schayes26 Rebs: Red Kerr19 Asts: Larry Costello7 | |
| Philadelphia wins series, 2–1 | ||
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the 76ers/Nationals winning four of the first five meetings.
| Philadelphia 76ers/ Syracuse Nationals leads 4–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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March 15 |
| Cincinnati Royals 83, Detroit Pistons 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–32, 18–24, 29–19, 18–25 | ||
| Pts: Clyde Lovellette15 | Pts: George Yardley29 | |
| Detroit leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 16 |
| Detroit Pistons 124, Cincinnati Royals 104 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–20, 28–27, 28–27, 39–30 | ||
| Pts: Yardley, Dukes 24 each | Pts: Jack Twyman24 | |
| Detroit wins series, 2–0 | ||
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Royals winning three of the first five meetings while the Pistons were based in Fort Wayne and the Royals were based in Rochester.
| Cincinnati/ Rochester leads 3–2 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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March 19 |
| Philadelphia Warriors 98, Boston Celtics 107 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–33, 25–26, 24–25, 29–23 | ||
| Pts: Woody Sauldsberry25 Rebs: Woody Sauldsberry12 Asts: Paul Arizin5 |
Pts: Bob Cousy29 Rebs: Bill Russell25 Asts: Bob Cousy8 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 22 |
| Boston Celtics 109, Philadelphia Warriors87 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–21, 30–28, 30–21, 31–17 | ||
| Pts: Bill Sharman32 Rebs: Bill Russell28 Asts: Sharman, Cousy 4 each |
Pts: Paul Arizin25 Rebs: Joe Graboski15 Asts: George, Beck 4 each | |
| Boston leads series, 2–0 | ||
March 23 |
| Philadelphia Warriors 92, Boston Celtics 106 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–26, 20–22, 20–28, 24–30 | ||
| Pts: Paul Arizin25 Rebs: Joe Graboski15 Asts: Joe Graboski8 |
Pts: Bill Sharman27 Rebs: Bill Russell40 Asts: Bob Cousy14 | |
| Boston leads series, 3–0 | ||
March 26 |
| Boston Celtics 97, Philadelphia Warriors 112 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–23, 25–22, 29–34, 27–33 | ||
| Pts: Tom Heinsohn20 Rebs: Bill Russell21 Asts: Cousy, Ramsey 5 each |
Pts: Gola, Arizin 31 each Rebs: Neil Johnston17 Asts: Neil Johnston7 | |
| Boston leads series, 3–1 | ||
March 27 |
| Philadelphia Warriors 88, Boston Celtics 93 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 15–20, 29–21, 23–25, 21–27 | ||
| Pts: Paul Arizin28 Rebs: Woody Sauldsberry18 Asts: Tom Gola6 |
Pts: Heinsohn, Ramsey 22 each Rebs: Bill Russell30 Asts: Bob Cousy5 | |
| Boston wins series, 4–1 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[3]
March 19 |
| Detroit Pistons 111, St. Louis Hawks 114 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–23, 32–35, 28–26, 21–30 | ||
| Pts: Gene Shue29 | Pts: Cliff Hagan38 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 1–0 | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
March 22 |
| St. Louis Hawks 99, Detroit Pistons96 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–28, 32–22, 13–27, 25–19 | ||
| Pts: Cliff Hagan27 | Pts: George Yardley26 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 2–0 | ||
University of Detroit Fieldhouse, Detroit, Michigan |
March 23 |
| Detroit Pistons 109, St. Louis Hawks89 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 35–21, 20–23, 23–15, 31–30 | ||
| Pts: George Yardley31 | Pts: Cliff Hagan29 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 2–1 | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
March 25 |
| St. Louis Hawks 145, Detroit Pistons 101 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 40–20, 32–24, 31–26, 42–31 | ||
| Pts: Cliff Hagan28 | Pts: Yardley, Dukes 16 each | |
| St. Louis leads series, 3–1 | ||
March 27 |
| Detroit Pistons 96, St. Louis Hawks 120 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–18, 22–31, 26–39, 28–32 | ||
| Pts: Yardley, Dukes 18 each | Pts: Cliff Hagan32 | |
| St. Louis wins series, 4–1 | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Pistons winning the first meeting while being based in Fort Wayne.
| Detroit/ Fort Wayne leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series | ||||||
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March 29 |
| St. Louis Hawks 104, Boston Celtics 102 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–23, 42–30, 21–30, 24–19 | ||
| Pts: Cliff Hagan33 Rebs: Bob Pettit19 |
Pts: Bob Cousy27 Rebs: Bill Russell29 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 1–0 | ||
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts |
March 30 |
| St. Louis Hawks 112, Boston Celtics 136 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–33, 35–35, 28–38, 24–30 | ||
| Pts: Cliff Hagan37 Rebs: Cliff Hagan12 |
Pts: Bob Cousy25 Rebs: Bill Russell27 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts |
April 2 |
| Boston Celtics 108, St. Louis Hawks 111 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–23, 24–26, 26–34, 33–28 | ||
| Pts: Frank Ramsey29 Rebs: Bill Russell13 |
Pts: Bob Pettit32 Rebs: Bob Pettit19 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 2–1 | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
April 5 |
| Boston Celtics 109, St. Louis Hawks98 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–16, 32–35, 27–20, 25–27 | ||
| Pts: Bob Cousy24 Rebs: three players 13 each |
Pts: Cliff Hagan27 Rebs: Bob Pettit17 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
April 9 |
| St. Louis Hawks 102, Boston Celtics 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–18, 32–25, 26–27, 18–30 | ||
| Pts: Bob Pettit33 Rebs: Bob Pettit21 |
Pts: Frank Ramsey30 Rebs: Tom Heinsohn20 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 3–2 | ||
Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts |
April 12 |
| Boston Celtics 109, St. Louis Hawks 110 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–22, 34–35, 25–21, 32–32 | ||
| Pts: Bill Sharman26 Rebs: Arnie Risen13 |
Pts: Bob Pettit50 Rebs: Bob Pettit19 | |
| St. Louis wins series, 4–2 | ||
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri |
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning the first meeting.
| Boston leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series | ||||||
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