1956–57 Boston Celtics season

The 1956–57 Boston Celtics season was the 11th season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). This was the first time in franchise history, where the Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals, which they would later go onto win over the St. Louis Hawks in 7 games. The Celtics would make the Finals a record 10 consecutive seasons, spanning from this season to the 1965–66 season. They were led by 1957's MVP Bob Cousy, as well as Bill Russell, Bill Sharman, and 1957's Rookie of the Year Tom Heinsohn.

1956–57 Boston Celtics season
NBA champions
Division champions
Head coachRed Auerbach
ArenaBoston Garden
Results
Record44–28 (.611)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishNBA Champions
(Defeated Hawks 4–3)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
RadioWHDH
The 1956-57 complete roster that won their first championship.

With Heinsohn's death in 2020 -- he would become a beloved player, coach, and broadcaster for the team -- only two players from the 1957 championship team are alive as of 2021: Hall of Famers Cousy and Russell.

Offseason

Roster
Boston Celtics roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOB (Y-M-D)From
G 14 Cousy, Bob 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1928-08-09 Holy Cross
F/C 15 Heinsohn, Tom 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1934-08-26 Holy Cross
F 20 Hemric, Dick 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1933-08-29 Wake Forest
F 18 Loscutoff, Jim 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1930-02-04 Oregon
F/C 16 Nichols, Jack 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) 1926-04-09 Washington
G 17 Phillip, Andy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1922-03-07 Illinois
G/F 23 Ramsey, Frank 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1931-07-13 Kentucky
F/C 19 Risen, Arnie 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1924-10-09 Ohio State
C 6 Russell, Bill 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1934-02-12 San Francisco
G 21 Sharman, Bill 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1926-05-25 Southern California
F 29 Tsioropoulos, Lou 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1930-08-31 Kentucky
Head coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

Season standings
Eastern Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Boston Celtics4428.611-24-411-189-620-16
x-Syracuse Nationals3834.528623-99-156-1020-16
x-Philadelphia Warriors3735.514720-55–2512-517-19
New York Knicks3636.500818-109-199-715-21

Record vs. opponents
1956-57 NBA Records
Team BOS FWP MIN NYK PHI ROC STL SYR
Boston –6–35–47–58–46–37–25–7
Fort Wayne 3–6–7–55–44–56–64–85–4
Minneapolis 4–55–7–3–65–49–34–84–5
New York 5–74–56–3–4–85–46–36–6
Philadelphia 4–85–44–58–4–4–57–25–7
Rochester 3–66–63–94–55–4–6–64–5
St. Louis 2–78–48–43–62–76–6–5–4
Syracuse 7–54–55–46–67–55–44–5—

Player statistics
Legend
  GP Games played  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game
 PPG  Points per game

Season
Player GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
Bob Cousy6436.9.378.8214.87.520.6
Tom Heinsohn7229.9.397.7909.81.616.2
Dick Hemric6715.7.344.6954.50.65.4
Jim Loscutoff7031.7.345.70610.41.310.6
Jack Nichols6122.5.363.7946.11.48.2
Togo Palazzi*2111.1.347.7193.60.45.0
Andy Phillip6722.0.379.6422.72.54.4
Frank Ramsey3523.1.393.7915.11.911.9
Arnie Risen4321.7.388.6796.71.28.0
Bill Russell4835.3.427.49219.61.814.7
Bill Sharman6735.9.416.9054.33.521.1
Lou Tsioropoulos5212.9.309.7754.00.64.4

* – Stats with the Celtics.

Playoffs
Player GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
Bob Cousy1044.0.324.7476.19.320.2
Tom Heinsohn1037.0.390.71011.72.022.9
Dick Hemric29.5.143.4.50.51.0
Jim Loscutoff1025.9.284.6438.30.58.0
Jack Nichols1011.7.400.6001.70.73.5
Andy Phillip1012.8.364.4002.01.72.2
Frank Ramsey1022.9.463.7804.31.712.2
Arnie Risen1015.2.444.6555.80.87.5
Bill Russell1040.9.365.50824.43.213.9
Bill Sharman1037.7.381.9533.52.921.1

Playoffs
1957 playoff game log
Division Finals: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsLocationSeries
1 March 21 Syracuse W 108–90 Frank Ramsey (20) Bill Russell (31) Boston Garden 1–0
2 March 23 @ Syracuse W 120–105 Tom Heinsohn (30) Bill Russell (30) Onondaga War Memorial 2–0
3 March 24 Syracuse W 83–80 Bill Sharman (23) Bill Russell (23) Boston Garden 3–0
NBA Finals: 4–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 March 30 St. Louis L 123–125 (2OT) Bill Sharman (36) Bill Russell (18) — Boston Garden
5,976		 0–1
2 March 31 St. Louis W 119–99 Cousy, Ramsey (22) Bill Russell (25) Bob Cousy (7) Boston Garden
13,909		 1–1
3 April 6 @ St. Louis L 98–100 Bill Sharman (28) Bill Russell (19) Bob Cousy (8) Kiel Auditorium
10,048		 1–2
4 April 7 @ St. Louis W 123–118 Bob Cousy (31) Bill Russell (20) Arnie Risen (9) Kiel Auditorium
10,035		 2–2
5 April 9 St. Louis W 124–109 Bill Sharman (32) Bill Russell (23) Bob Cousy (19) Boston Garden
13,909		 3–2
6 April 11 @ St. Louis L 94–96 Tom Heinsohn (28) Bill Russell (23) — Kiel Auditorium
10,053		 3–3
7 April 13 St. Louis W 125–123 (2OT) Tom Heinsohn (37) Bill Russell (32) Bob Cousy (11) Boston Garden
13,909		 4–3
1957 schedule

Awards and honors
  • Bob Cousy, NBA MVP of the Year
  • Bob Cousy, All-NBA First Team
  • Tom Heinsohn, NBA Rookie of the Year
  • Bill Sharman, All-NBA First Team

References
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.