1956–57 Boston Celtics season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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
< 1955–56 1957–58 >
The 1956-57 complete roster that won their first championship.

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.

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[]

NBA Draft[]

Roster[]

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

Regular season[]

Season standings[]

Eastern Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
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


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 —

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 Cousy 64 36.9 .378 .821 4.8 7.5 20.6
Tom Heinsohn 72 29.9 .397 .790 9.8 1.6 16.2
Dick Hemric 67 15.7 .344 .695 4.5 0.6 5.4
Jim Loscutoff 70 31.7 .345 .706 10.4 1.3 10.6
Jack Nichols 61 22.5 .363 .794 6.1 1.4 8.2
Togo Palazzi* 21 11.1 .347 .719 3.6 0.4 5.0
Andy Phillip 67 22.0 .379 .642 2.7 2.5 4.4
Frank Ramsey 35 23.1 .393 .791 5.1 1.9 11.9
Arnie Risen 43 21.7 .388 .679 6.7 1.2 8.0
Bill Russell 48 35.3 .427 .492 19.6 1.8 14.7
Bill Sharman 67 35.9 .416 .905 4.3 3.5 21.1
Lou Tsioropoulos 52 12.9 .309 .775 4.0 0.6 4.4

* – Stats with the Celtics.

Playoffs[]

Player GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
Bob Cousy 10 44.0 .324 .747 6.1 9.3 20.2
Tom Heinsohn 10 37.0 .390 .710 11.7 2.0 22.9
Dick Hemric 2 9.5 .143 . 4.5 0.5 1.0
Jim Loscutoff 10 25.9 .284 .643 8.3 0.5 8.0
Jack Nichols 10 11.7 .400 .600 1.7 0.7 3.5
Andy Phillip 10 12.8 .364 .400 2.0 1.7 2.2
Frank Ramsey 10 22.9 .463 .780 4.3 1.7 12.2
Arnie Risen 10 15.2 .444 .655 5.8 0.8 7.5
Bill Russell 10 40.9 .365 .508 24.4 3.2 13.9
Bill Sharman 10 37.7 .381 .953 3.5 2.9 21.1

Playoffs[]

1957 playoff game log
Division Finals: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds Location Series
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)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
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[]

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