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The '''1958 NBA World Championship Series''' pitted the Western Champion [[St. Louis Hawks]] against the Eastern Champion [[Boston Celtics]]. The Hawks won the series in six games to become the [[National Basketball Association]] champions.
The '''1958 NBA World Championship Series''' pitted the Western Champion [[St. Louis Hawks]] against the Eastern Champion [[Boston Celtics]]. The Hawks won the series in six games to become the [[National Basketball Association]] champions.


==Background==

===The Road to the Finals: St. Louis Hawks===
Tempered by the heat of the previous season's playoffs, in which the Boston edged St. Louis, four games to three, in the [[1957 NBA Finals]], the 1957-58 Hawks cruised to the top of the Western Division, finishing 41-31—eight games ahead of the second-place Detroit Pistons. Alex Hannum, who had retired as a player after the 1956-57 season, devoted his full attention to coaching in 1957-58, and it paid off. Pettit ranked third in the NBA in scoring (24.6 ppg) and second in rebounding (17.4 rpg). The team played a control game, pounding the ball inside to Pettit and forwards Cliff Hagan (19.9 ppg) and Ed Macauley (14.2 ppg). A rematch of the previous season's climactic Finals took shape after the Hawks eliminated the Pistons in the Western Division Finals, four games to one.<ref name="hawkshistory">[http://www.nba.com/hawks/history/00400483.html Atlanta Hawks Franchise History], nba.com/hawks. Retrieved November 8th, 2012.</ref>
===The Road to the Finals: Boston Celtics===
Meanwhile, Boston tore through the league. With Bill Russell patrolling the middle, the guards were free to take risks defensively, and the result was a team that offered breakneck offense fueled by tenacious trapping defense. Even as Jim Loscutoff missed the entire season with an injury, Boston posted the best record in the league for the second year in a row at 49-23, with Bob Cousy the NBA's leading assists man and Russell the league's top rebounder. Russell was named NBA Most Valuable Player, the first of five such honors he would receive in his illustrious career. The Celtics took out the Philadelphia Warriors in the Eastern Division Finals in five games, in similar fashion to the Hawks.<ref name="celticsrecap1950s">[http://www.nba.com/celtics/history/Recap_1950s.html Boston Celtics Franchise History], nba.com/celtics. Retrieved November 8th, 2012.</ref>
==Series summary==
==Series summary==
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
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''Hawks win series 4-2''
''Hawks win series 4-2''


===Games 1-5===
== A Brief Recap ==
The 1958 NBA Finals was a rematch between Boston and St. Louis. This time, no one was predicting an easy go of it for Boston, and the Hawks reinforced this with a two-point upset win in the opening contest at Boston Garden, 104-102. The Celtics evened the series at one game apiece by wiping out the Hawks in Game 2, 136-112, but, as the series moved to Kiel Auditorium at St. Louis, fortune turned in favor of the Hawks after Bill Russell suffered an ankle injury in Game 3. The Hawks took that encounter, 111-108. Without Russell, the Celtics evened the series with a 109-98 surprise victory in Game 4. As in the previous year, the series was tied after four games, but Boston was drastically undermanned in the frontcourt. Russell's bad ankle and Loscutoff's injury left only Tom Heinsohn and greybeard Arnie Risen to deal with the Hawks' power game. Even so, Game 5 in Boston was no cakewalk for St. Louis, as the Hawks squeezed a 102-100 win to take the series lead.<ref name="celticsrecap1950s"/><ref name="hawkshistory"/><ref name="1958nbafinals">[http://www.nba.com/history/finals/19571958.html 1958 NBA Finals], nba.com/history. Retrieved April 12th, 2013.</ref>
After suffering a heartbreaking loss to the Celtics in Game 7 of the [[1957 NBA Finals]], [[St. Louis Hawks|St. Louis]] survived rough times in the [[1957-58 NBA season]], coming back to the NBA Finals to face the Celtics once more. The teams split the first 2 games and were tied 49-49 in the third game when the series' decisive play occurred. [[Bill Russell]] soared high to block a shot by [[Bob Pettit]], landed heavily on his right ankle and collapsed in a heap on the floor with a severe sprain. He was through for almost the rest of the playoffs and, as a result, so were the Celtics. Boston won just one more game, the fourth, as the Hawks gained revenge with a six-game series victory that gave them their first and (to date) only NBA championship. It was also the first of two world championships won by a St. Louis pro sports team [[Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada|in any sport]] other than the [[Major League Baseball|MLB]] [[St. Louis Cardinals|Cardinals]].

=== 50 for Pettit and Revenge for 1957 ===
The sixth game was sweet vindication for Bob Pettit, and that's an understatement. Before a cheering, stomping crowd of 10,218 at St. Louis, Pettit put on a show perhaps unmatched by any individual in [[NBA]] playoff history. Russell was back in action, limping badly on a cast and obviously hampered, but it's questionable whether even if Russell had been at the top of his game he could have contained the inspired Pettit on this occasion.

Pettit scored 19 points as the Hawks took a 57-52 lead into the halftime intermission. Six straight points by Pettit pushed the Hawks' margin to 10 in the third quarter before the Celtics sparked by [[Bob Cousy]]'s brilliant playmaking, cut the margin back to six, 83-77. A Boston spurt in the opening moments of the final period gave the Celts an 86-84 lead, and the gloom was so thick in the arena one could practically cut it with a knife.


===Game 6===
That's when Pettit took charge. Despite double and triple-teaming by the Celtics, the Hawk star sank basket after basket, free throw after free throw, singlehandedly keeping St. Louis in a game they otherwise would have lost, and preventing a dreaded return trip to [[Boston]] for a seventh game.
Game 6 was played back in St. Louis on April 12 before a cheering, stomping crowd of 10,218, and the Hawks weren't about to miss their opportunity. The Celtics' Russell, forced to make an appearance, did his best to compete with limited mobility, but after 20 ineffective minutes he was lifted. Pettit, meanwhile, was unstoppable, scoring 31 points in the first three quarters, then zooming off in the final period, nailing 19 of his team's last 21 points. His last two points, on a tip-in with 15 seconds remaining, put the Hawks ahead 110-107. Pettit tied the then-single-game NBA playoff scoring record of 50 points set by Cousy against Syracuse in 1953. But Cousy's record had been set in a four-overtime game, an event so foul-plagued that 30 of his points had come at the free throw line. In terms of pure basketball prowess, Pettit's 50-point performance was stunning. The Hawks won by a single point, 110-109, to dethrone the Celtics and claim the crown.<ref name="celticsrecap1950s"/><ref name="hawkshistory"/><ref name="1958nbafinals"/> It was also the first of two world championships won by a St. Louis pro sports team [[Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada|in any sport]] other than the [[Major League Baseball|MLB]] [[St. Louis Cardinals|Cardinals]].


==Notes==
With a little more than 20 seconds to play, Pettit drove on Russell, stopped and arched a shot over the clawing grasp of the Celtic captain for the basket that gave the Hawks a 108-105 lead. But [[Tom Heinsohn]] made two foul shots with 16 second left to cut it to 108-107. With the Boston defense converging on Pettit, [[Slater Martin]] tried a set shot that missed, but Pettit somehow fought his way through the mob of Celtics around him to tap the ball in and make a final Celtic field goal meaningless. Pettit had scored 50 points, including 18 of the Hawks' final 21 points and gained sweet revenge from the Hawks' 1957 NBA Finals loss.
{{reflist}}


==Team rosters==
==Team rosters==

Revision as of 19:55, 23 May 2013

The 1958 NBA World Championship Series pitted the Western Champion St. Louis Hawks against the Eastern Champion Boston Celtics. The Hawks won the series in six games to become the National Basketball Association champions.

Background

The Road to the Finals: St. Louis Hawks

Tempered by the heat of the previous season's playoffs, in which the Boston edged St. Louis, four games to three, in the 1957 NBA Finals, the 1957-58 Hawks cruised to the top of the Western Division, finishing 41-31—eight games ahead of the second-place Detroit Pistons. Alex Hannum, who had retired as a player after the 1956-57 season, devoted his full attention to coaching in 1957-58, and it paid off. Pettit ranked third in the NBA in scoring (24.6 ppg) and second in rebounding (17.4 rpg). The team played a control game, pounding the ball inside to Pettit and forwards Cliff Hagan (19.9 ppg) and Ed Macauley (14.2 ppg). A rematch of the previous season's climactic Finals took shape after the Hawks eliminated the Pistons in the Western Division Finals, four games to one.[1]

The Road to the Finals: Boston Celtics

Meanwhile, Boston tore through the league. With Bill Russell patrolling the middle, the guards were free to take risks defensively, and the result was a team that offered breakneck offense fueled by tenacious trapping defense. Even as Jim Loscutoff missed the entire season with an injury, Boston posted the best record in the league for the second year in a row at 49-23, with Bob Cousy the NBA's leading assists man and Russell the league's top rebounder. Russell was named NBA Most Valuable Player, the first of five such honors he would receive in his illustrious career. The Celtics took out the Philadelphia Warriors in the Eastern Division Finals in five games, in similar fashion to the Hawks.[2]

Series summary

Game Date Home Team Result Road Team
Game 1 March 29 Boston Celtics 102-104 (0-1) St. Louis Hawks
Game 2 March 30 Boston Celtics 136-112 (1-1) St. Louis Hawks
Game 3 April 2 St. Louis Hawks 111-108 (2-1) Boston Celtics
Game 4 April 5 St. Louis Hawks 98-109 (2-2) Boston Celtics
Game 5 April 9 Boston Celtics 100-102 (2-3) St. Louis Hawks
Game 6 April 12 St. Louis Hawks 110-109 (4-2) Boston Celtics

Hawks win series 4-2

Games 1-5

The 1958 NBA Finals was a rematch between Boston and St. Louis. This time, no one was predicting an easy go of it for Boston, and the Hawks reinforced this with a two-point upset win in the opening contest at Boston Garden, 104-102. The Celtics evened the series at one game apiece by wiping out the Hawks in Game 2, 136-112, but, as the series moved to Kiel Auditorium at St. Louis, fortune turned in favor of the Hawks after Bill Russell suffered an ankle injury in Game 3. The Hawks took that encounter, 111-108. Without Russell, the Celtics evened the series with a 109-98 surprise victory in Game 4. As in the previous year, the series was tied after four games, but Boston was drastically undermanned in the frontcourt. Russell's bad ankle and Loscutoff's injury left only Tom Heinsohn and greybeard Arnie Risen to deal with the Hawks' power game. Even so, Game 5 in Boston was no cakewalk for St. Louis, as the Hawks squeezed a 102-100 win to take the series lead.[2][1][3]

Game 6

Game 6 was played back in St. Louis on April 12 before a cheering, stomping crowd of 10,218, and the Hawks weren't about to miss their opportunity. The Celtics' Russell, forced to make an appearance, did his best to compete with limited mobility, but after 20 ineffective minutes he was lifted. Pettit, meanwhile, was unstoppable, scoring 31 points in the first three quarters, then zooming off in the final period, nailing 19 of his team's last 21 points. His last two points, on a tip-in with 15 seconds remaining, put the Hawks ahead 110-107. Pettit tied the then-single-game NBA playoff scoring record of 50 points set by Cousy against Syracuse in 1953. But Cousy's record had been set in a four-overtime game, an event so foul-plagued that 30 of his points had come at the free throw line. In terms of pure basketball prowess, Pettit's 50-point performance was stunning. The Hawks won by a single point, 110-109, to dethrone the Celtics and claim the crown.[2][1][3] It was also the first of two world championships won by a St. Louis pro sports team in any sport other than the MLB Cardinals.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Atlanta Hawks Franchise History, nba.com/hawks. Retrieved November 8th, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c Boston Celtics Franchise History, nba.com/celtics. Retrieved November 8th, 2012.
  3. ^ a b 1958 NBA Finals, nba.com/history. Retrieved April 12th, 2013.

Team rosters

See also

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