1956–57 St. Louis Hawks season

1956–57 St. Louis Hawks season
Division champions
Head coachRed Holzman, Slater Martin and Alex Hannum
ArenaKiel Auditorium
Results
Record34–38 (.472)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Western)
Playoff finishNBA Finals
(eliminated 3–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
< 1955–56 1957–58 >

The 1956–57 St. Louis Hawks season was the 11th season for the franchise and eighth in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Prior to the start of the season, the Hawks made one of the biggest draft-day deals in NBA history. The Hawks sent 2nd overall pick Bill Russell to the Boston Celtics for Cliff Hagan and second-year star Ed Macauley.[1] Macauley had been a popular player at St. Louis University. The Hawks struggled for most of the season and coach Red Holzman was fired midway through the season.[1] The new head coach was Slater Martin, who led the Hawks to a 5–3 record.[1] Martin did not want the added responsibility of head coach, so Alex Hannum took over for the rest of the season. Despite a 34–38 record, the Hawks claimed the Western Division by a tiebreaker and earned a bye into the Western Finals, where the Hawks swept the Minneapolis Lakers in three straight games. The Hawks met the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.[1] The Hawks won Game 1 in double overtime, 125–123 in Boston.[1] The Celtics took Game 2 and the Hawks took Game 3 at home by 2 points. After losing Game 5 in Boston, the Hawks needed another victory at home to force a decisive seventh game. Game 7 in Boston went into double overtime and the Celtics emerged victorious, winning by 2 points.

Offseason

NBA draft

Pick Player Position School
2 Bill Russell Center San Francisco

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-St. Louis Hawks 34 38 .472 - 17-9 10-20 7-9 22-14
x-Minneapolis Lakers 34 38 .472 - 15-9 5-22 14-7 18-18
x-Fort Wayne Pistons 34 38 .472 - 23-5 5-23 6-10 17-19
Rochester Royals 31 41 .431 3 19-10 7-17 5-14 15-21


Record vs. opponents

1956-57 NBA Records
Team BOS FWP MIN NYK PHI ROC STL SYR
Boston — 6–3 5–4 7–5 8–4 6–3 7–2 5–7
Fort Wayne 3–6 — 7–5 5–4 4–5 6–6 4–8 5–4
Minneapolis 4–5 5–7 — 3–6 5–4 9–3 4–8 4–5
New York 5–7 4–5 6–3 — 4–8 5–4 6–3 6–6
Philadelphia 4–8 5–4 4–5 8–4 — 4–5 7–2 5–7
Rochester 3–6 6–6 3–9 4–5 5–4 — 6–6 4–5
St. Louis 2–7 8–4 8–4 3–6 2–7 6–6 — 5–4
Syracuse 7–5 4–5 5–4 6–6 7–5 5–4 4–5 —

Game log

1956–57 Game log
# Date Opponent Score High points Record
1 October 27 Minneapolis 75–97 Bob Pettit (25) 1–0
2 November 3 N Syracuse 75–73 Jack McMahon (21) 1–1
3 November 4 @ Syracuse 78–76 Ed Macauley (20) 2–1
4 November 7 New York 101–107 Bob Pettit (34) 3–1
5 November 10 Fort Wayne 79–86 Bob Pettit (27) 4–1
6 November 11 @ Fort Wayne 81–96 Bob Pettit (27) 4–2
7 November 13 Rochester 105–118 Bob Pettit (49) 5–2
8 November 17 Fort Wayne 87–92 Ed Macauley (23) 6–2
9 November 18 @ New York 69–102 Bob Pettit (13) 6–3
10 November 20 Syracuse 81–104 Bob Pettit (26) 7–3
11 November 21 @ Rochester 76–85 Bob Pettit (28) 7–4
12 November 24 Minneapolis 104–102 (OT) Ed Macauley (27) 7–5
13 November 25 @ Minneapolis 95–94 Ed Macauley (26) 8–5
14 November 27 Boston 102–90 Bob Pettit (25) 8–6
15 December 1 Philadelphia 107–95 Bob Pettit (23) 8–7
16 December 4 N Boston 107–108 Bob Pettit (24) 8–8
17 December 6 N Minneapolis 96–103 Bob Pettit (17) 8–9
18 December 7 New York 107–101 Bob Pettit (22) 8–10
19 December 8 N New York 104–109 Bob Pettit (21) 8–11
20 December 11 @ New York 137–128 Bob Pettit (41) 9–11
21 December 12 @ Philadelphia 99–115 Jack Coleman (25) 9–12
22 December 15 @ Boston 99–102 Bob Pettit (31) 9–13
23 December 16 @ Syracuse 91–101 Bob Pettit (26) 9–14
24 December 18 N Fort Wayne 95–84 Bob Pettit (30) 10–14
25 December 22 @ Boston 93–95 Bob Pettit (28) 10–15
26 December 25 @ New York 107–105 (OT) Bob Pettit (37) 11–15
27 December 27 Syracuse 95–102 Bob Pettit (39) 12–15
28 December 29 @ Minneapolis 95–92 Bob Pettit (22) 13–15
29 December 30 Minneapolis 93–100 Bob Pettit (41) 14–15
30 January 1 @ Rochester 101–102 (OT) Bob Pettit (32) 14–16
31 January 3 N Philadelphia 81–82 Bob Pettit (26) 14–17
32 January 4 @ Philadelphia 92–96 Jack Coleman (21) 14–18
33 January 6 Rochester 93–86 Bob Pettit (33) 14–19
34 January 10 N New York 84–89 (OT) Bob Pettit (38) 14–20
35 January 12 Boston 98–100 Bob Pettit (39) 15–20
36 January 13 @ Fort Wayne 89–91 Bob Pettit (28) 15–21
37 January 16 @ Rochester 108–106 (OT) Bob Pettit (26) 16–21
38 January 17 N Fort Wayne 106–82 Slater Martin (22) 17–21
39 January 18 @ Boston 117–126 Bob Pettit (38) 17–22
40 January 19 @ Syracuse 104–96 Bob Pettit (30) 18–22
41 January 20 Philadelphia 102–104 (OT) Bob Pettit (23) 19–22
42 January 22 @ Fort Wayne 87–97 Bob Pettit (30) 19–23
43 January 23 N Fort Wayne 101–78 Bob Pettit (22) 20–23
44 January 24 @ Philadelphia 96–107 Bob Pettit (30) 20–24
45 January 25 N Rochester 100–99 Bob Pettit (36) 21–24
46 January 27 Rochester 83–107 Bob Pettit (33) 22–24
47 January 29 Fort Wayne 91–85 Bob Pettit (26) 22–25
48 February 2 @ Minneapolis 106–97 Bob Pettit (37) 23–25
49 February 3 Minneapolis 85–102 Bob Pettit (31) 24–25
50 February 5 Philadelphia 101–87 Bob Pettit (26) 24–26
51 February 6 @ Rochester 100–103 Bob Pettit (24) 24–27
52 February 7 @ Syracuse 110–112 Bob Pettit (31) 24–28
53 February 8 @ Philadelphia 90–93 Bob Pettit (41) 24–29
54 February 10 Rochester 93–117 Bob Pettit (44) 25–29
55 February 11 N Syracuse 101–107 Bob Pettit (33) 26–29
56 February 12 N Minneapolis 105–110 Bob Pettit (35) 26–30
57 February 15 Boston 123–116 (2OT) Bob Pettit (31) 26–31
58 February 17 @ Minneapolis 118–115 (OT) Ed Macauley (36) 27–31
59 February 19 Fort Wayne 83–96 Ed Macauley (23) 28–31
60 February 21 @ Boston 112–125 Jack Coleman (33) 28–32
61 February 23 @ Rochester 86–101 Ed Macauley (21) 28–33
62 February 24 Philadelphia 112–113 Chuck Share (28) 29–33
63 February 25 N Minneapolis 110–94 Med Park (24) 30–33
64 February 26 @ New York 76–107 Jack Coleman (17) 30–34
65 February 27 N Syracuse 108–93 Ed Macauley (21) 30–35
66 March 2 New York 97–94 Cliff Hagan (19) 30–36
67 March 3 @ Fort Wayne 112–102 Jack McMahon (27) 31–36
68 March 5 Boston 102–104 Jack McMahon (21) 32–36
69 March 8 N Rochester 100–92 Ed Macauley (26) 33–36
70 March 9 Fort Wayne 96–97 Bob Pettit (23) 34–36
71 March 10 @ Minneapolis 104–117 Ed Macauley (17) 34–37
72 March 13 N Rochester 99–104 Ed Macauley (22) 34–38

Playoffs

1957 playoff game log
Division Tiebreaker (finished as West's #1 seed)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds Location Record
1 March 14 Fort Wayne W 115–103 Jack McMahon (24) Cliff Hagan (16) Kiel Auditorium 1–0
2 March 16 Minneapolis W 114–111 (OT) Cliff Hagan (28) Bob Pettit (18) Kiel Auditorium 2–0
Division Finals: 3–0 (home: 2–0; road: 1–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 March 21 Minneapolis W 118–109 Slater Martin (24) Bob Pettit (16) Jack McMahon (9) Kiel Auditorium
6,028 		1–0
2 March 24 Minneapolis W 106–104 Bob Pettit (30) Jack Coleman (15) — Kiel Auditorium
9,451 		2–0
3 March 26 @ Minneapolis W 143–135 (2OT) Bob Pettit (35) — — Minneapolis Auditorium 3–0
NBA Finals: 3–4 (home: 2–1; road: 1–3)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 March 30 @ Boston W 125–123 (2OT) Bob Pettit (37) Bob Pettit (14) — Boston Garden
5,976 		1–0
2 March 31 @ Boston L 99–119 Ed Macauley (19) Bob Pettit (13) Slick Leonard (4) Boston Garden
13,909 		1–1
3 April 6 Boston W 100–98 Bob Pettit (26) Bob Pettit (28) three player tied (5) Kiel Auditorium
10,048 		2–1
4 April 7 Boston L 118–123 Bob Pettit (33) Bob Pettit (16) Martin, Hagan (6) Kiel Auditorium
10,035 		2–2
5 April 9 @ Boston L 109–124 Bob Pettit (33) Bob Pettit (15) Med Park (6) Boston Garden
13,909 		2–3
6 April 11 Boston W 96–94 Bob Pettit (32) Bob Pettit (23) — Kiel Auditorium
10,053 		3–3
7 April 13 @ Boston L 123–125 (2OT) Bob Pettit (39) Bob Pettit (19) Martin, Coleman (7) Boston Garden
13,909 		3–4
1957 schedule

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "St. Louis Hawks – Sports Ecyclopedia".