1958–59 NBA season

13th NBA season

Sports season

1958–59 NBA season

League| National Basketball Association
Sport| Basketball
Duration| October 17, 1958 – March 11, 1959
March 13 – April 1, 1959 (Playoffs)
April 4–9, 1959 (Finals)
Number of games| 72
Number of teams| 8
TV partner(s)| NBC
Draft
Top draft pick| Elgin Baylor
Picked by| Minneapolis Lakers
Regular season
Top seed| Boston Celtics
Season MVP| Bob Pettit (St. Louis)
Top scorer| Bob Pettit (St. Louis)
Playoffs
Eastern champions| Boston Celtics
Eastern runners-up| Syracuse Nationals
Western champions| Minneapolis Lakers
Western runners-up| St. Louis Hawks
Finals
Venue|

* Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
* Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
* St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Champions| Boston Celtics
Runners-up| Minneapolis Lakers
NBA seasons

← 1957–58

1959–60 →

The 1958–59 NBA Season was the 13th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship (the first of what would be 8 straight), beating the Minneapolis Lakers 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals.

## Notable occurrences

[edit]

* The 1959 NBA All-Star Game was played in Detroit, Michigan, with the West beating the East 124–108. Bob Pettit of the St. Louis Hawks and Elgin Baylor of the Minneapolis Lakers shared the game's MVP award.
* The Boston Celtics set the record for the most points scored by a team in regulation, in their 173–139 victory over the Minneapolis Lakers.[1]

Coaching changes  Offseason

Team  | 1957–58 coach  | 1958–59 coach
Minneapolis Lakers | George Mikan | John Kundla
New York Knicks | Vince Boryla | Andrew Levane
Philadelphia Warriors | George Senesky | Al Cervi
In-season
Team  | Outgoing coach  | Incoming coach
Cincinnati Royals | Bobby Wanzer | Tom Marshall
St. Louis Hawks | Andy Phillip | Ed Macauley

## Final standings

[edit]

### Eastern Division

[edit]

Eastern Division

* v
* t
* e

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

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

x-Boston Celtics | 52 | 20 | .722 | – | 26–4 | 13–15 | 13–1 | 23–13
x-New York Knicks | 40 | 32 | .556 | 12 | 21–9 | 15–15 | 4–8 | 19–17
x-Syracuse Nationals | 35 | 37 | .486 | 17 | 17–9 | 7–24 | 8–7 | 14–22
Philadelphia Warriors | 32 | 40 | .444 | 20 | 17–9 | 7–24 | 8–7 | 14–22

### Western Division

[edit]

Western Division

* v
* t
* e

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

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

x-St. Louis Hawks | 49 | 23 | .681 | – | 28–3 | 14–15 | 7–5 | 27–9
x-Minneapolis Lakers | 33 | 39 | .458 | 16 | 15–7 | 9–17 | 9–15 | 18–18
x-Detroit Pistons | 28 | 44 | .389 | 21 | 13–17 | 8–20 | 7–7 | 17–19
Cincinnati Royals | 19 | 53 | .264 | 30 | 9–19 | 2–25 | 8–9 | 10–26

x – clinched playoff spot

## Playoffs

[edit]

Main article: 1959 NBA playoffs

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

Eastern Division

| | E1| Boston*| 4
| |
| E3| Syracuse| 2| | | E3| Syracuse| 3| | |
| | | |
| E2| New York| 0| | | | E1| Boston*| 4
| | | |
| |

Western Division

| | | W2| Minneapolis| 0
| |
| | W1| St. Louis*| 2|
| |
| W3| Detroit| 1| | | W2| Minneapolis| 4| | |
| | | |
| W2| Minneapolis| 2| | | |
| |
| | | | | | |

* * Division winner
* Bold Series winner
* Italic Team with home-court advantage in NBA Finals

## Statistics leaders

[edit]

Category | Player | Team | Stat

|
|
|

Points | Bob Pettit | St. Louis Hawks | 2,105
Rebounds | Bill Russell | Boston Celtics | 1,612
Assists | Bob Cousy | Boston Celtics | 557
FG% | Kenny Sears | New York Knicks | .490
FT% | Bill Sharman | Boston Celtics | .932

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 Pettit, St. Louis Hawks
* Rookie of the Year: Elgin Baylor, Minneapolis Lakers

* All-NBA First Team:
* F – Elgin Baylor, Minneapolis Lakers
* F – Bob Pettit, St. Louis Hawks
* C – Bill Russell, Boston Celtics
* G – Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics
* G – Bill Sharman, Boston Celtics
* All-NBA Second Team:
* F – Paul Arizin, Philadelphia Warriors
* F – Cliff Hagan, St. Louis Hawks
* C – Dolph Schayes, Syracuse Nationals
* G – Richie Guerin, New York Knicks
* G – Slater Martin, St. Louis Hawks

## See also

[edit]

* List of NBA regular season records

## References

[edit]

* 1958–59 NBA Season Summary basketball-reference.com. Retrieved March 30, 2010.

1. ^ "Minneapolis Lakers at Boston Celtics Box Score, February 27, 1959". www.basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 29, 2020.

* v
* t
* e

NBA seasons

1940s|

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  1946–47 |  1947–48 |  1948–49

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1950s|

|  1949–50 |  1950–51 |  1951–52 |  1952–53 |  1953–54 |  1954–55 |  1955–56 |  1956–57 |  1957–58 |  1958–59

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1960s|

|  1959–60 |  1960–61 |  1961–62 |  1962–63 |  1963–64 |  1964–65 |  1965–66 |  1966–67 |  1967–68 |  1968–69

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1970s|

|  1969–70 |  1970–71 |  1971–72 |  1972–73 |  1973–74 |  1974–75 |  1975–76 |  1976–77 |  1977–78 |  1978–79

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1980s|

|  1979–80 |  1980–81 |  1981–82 |  1982–83 |  1983–84 |  1984–85 |  1985–86 |  1986–87 |  1987–88 |  1988–89

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1990s|

|  1989–90 |  1990–91 |  1991–92 |  1992–93 |  1993–94 |  1994–95 |  1995–96 |  1996–97 |  1997–98 |  1998–99

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

2000s|

|  1999–2000 |  2000–01 |  2001–02 |  2002–03 |  2003–04 |  2004–05 |  2005–06 |  2006–07 |  2007–08 |  2008–09

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

2010s|

|  2009–10 |  2010–11 |  2011–12 |  2012–13 |  2013–14 |  2014–15 |  2015–16 |  2016–17 |  2017–18 |  2018–19

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

2020s|

|  2019–20 |  2020–21 |  2021–22 |  2022–23 |  2023–24 |  2024–25 |  2025–26 |  |  |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

* v
* t
* e

1958–59 NBA season

* 1958 NBA draft
* All-Star Game
* Playoffs
* Finals
* Transactions

Eastern|

* Boston
* New York
* Philadelphia
* Syracuse

Western|

* Cincinnati
* Detroit
* Minneapolis
* St. Louis

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

|

* v
* t
* e

*[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