1956–57 NBA season

11th NBA season

Sports season

1956–57 NBA season

League| National Basketball Association
Sport| Basketball
Duration|

* October 27, 1956 – March 13, 1957
* March 14–25, 1957 (Playoffs)
* March 30 – April 13, 1957 (Finals)

Number of games| 72
Number of teams| 8
TV partner(s)| NBC
Draft
Top draft pick| Sihugo Green
Picked by| Rochester Royals
Regular season
Season MVP| Bob Cousy (Boston)
Top scorer| Paul Arizin (Philadelphia)
Playoffs
Eastern champions| Boston Celtics
Eastern runners-up| Syracuse Nationals
Western champions| St. Louis Hawks
Western runners-up| Minneapolis Lakers
Finals
Venue|

* Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
* Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri

Champions| Boston Celtics
Runners-up| St. Louis Hawks
NBA seasons

← 1955–56

1957–58 →

The 1956–57 NBA season was the 11th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship (which would be the first of their 18 NBA titles), beating the St. Louis Hawks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.

## Notable occurrences

[edit]

* The 1957 NBA All-Star Game was played in Boston, Massachusetts, with the East beating the West 109–97. Local hero Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics wins the game's MVP award.

Coaching changes  Offseason

Team  | 1955–56 coach  | 1956–57 coach
N/A
In-season
Team  | Outgoing coach  | Incoming coach
St. Louis Hawks | Red Holzman | Slater Martin
Alex Hannum
Syracuse Nationals | Al Cervi | Paul Seymour

## Final standings

[edit]

### Eastern Division

[edit]

Eastern Division

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|  W  |  L  |  PCT  |  GB  |  Home  |  Road  |  Neutral  |  Div

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x-Boston Celtics | 44 | 28 | .611 | - | 24-4 | 11-18 | 9-6 | 20-16
x-Syracuse Nationals | 38 | 34 | .528 | 6 | 23-9 | 9-15 | 6-10 | 20-16
x-Philadelphia Warriors | 37 | 35 | .514 | 7 | 20-5 | 5–25 | 12-5 | 17-19
New York Knicks | 36 | 36 | .500 | 8 | 18-10 | 9-19 | 9-7 | 15-21

### Western Division

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Western Division

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|  W  |  L  |  PCT  |  GB  |  Home  |  Road  |  Neutral  |  Div

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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

* St. Louis finished ahead of Fort Wayne and Minneapolis by defeating them in tiebreaker matches.

x – clinched playoff spot

## Playoffs

[edit]

Main article: 1957 NBA playoffs

| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Division Semifinals| | | Division Finals| | | NBA Finals
| |

Eastern Division

| | E1| Boston*| 3
| |
| E3| Philadelphia| 0| | | E2| Syracuse| 0| | |
| | | |
| E2| Syracuse| 2| | | | E1| Boston*| 4
| | | |
| |

Western Division

| | | W1| St. Louis*| 3
| |
| | W1| St. Louis*| 3|
| |
| W3| Fort Wayne| 0| | | W2| Minneapolis| 0| | |
| | | |
| W2| Minneapolis| 2| | | |
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* * Division winner
* Bold Series winner
* Italic Team with home-court advantage in NBA Finals

## Statistics leaders

[edit]

Category | Player | Team | Stat

|
|
|

Points | Paul Arizin | Philadelphia Warriors | 1,817
Rebounds | Maurice Stokes | Rochester Royals | 1,256
Assists | Bob Cousy | Boston Celtics | 478
FG% | Neil Johnston | Philadelphia Warriors | .447
FT% | Bill Sharman | Boston Celtics | .905

Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points, rebounds, and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.

## NBA awards

[edit]

* Most Valuable Player: Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics
* Rookie of the Year: Tom Heinsohn, Boston Celtics

* All-NBA First Team:
* F – Paul Arizin, Philadelphia Warriors
* F – Dolph Schayes, Syracuse Nationals
* C – Bob Pettit, St. Louis Hawks
* G – Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics
* G – Bill Sharman, Boston Celtics
* All-NBA Second Team:
* F – Maurice Stokes, Rochester Royals
* F – George Yardley, Fort Wayne Pistons
* C – Neil Johnston, Philadelphia Warriors
* G – Dick Garmaker, Minneapolis Lakers
* G – Slater Martin, St. Louis Hawks

## See also

[edit]

* List of NBA regular season records

## References

[edit]

* 1956–57 NBA Season Summary basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 10, 2010

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* v
* t
* e

1956–57 NBA season

* Draft
* All-Star Game
* Playoffs
* Finals
* Transactions

Eastern|

* Boston
* New York
* Philadelphia
* Syracuse

Western|

* Fort Wayne
* Minneapolis
* Rochester
* St. Louis

This article related to a basketball competition is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
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*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[ W ]: Games won
*[ L ]: Games lost
*[ PCT ]: Winning percentage
*[ GB ]: Games behind
*[ Home ]: Home record
*[ Road ]: Road record
*[ Neutral ]: Neutral record
*[ Div ]: Division record