From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
1957–58 St. Louis Hawks season
NBA professional basketball team season
NBA professional basketball team season
(Defeated Celtics 4–2) The 1957–58 St. Louis Hawks season was the third for the franchise in St. Louis, ninth in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and 12th overall. Coming off their trip to the 1957 NBA Finals, the Hawks won the Western Division by 8 games with a record of 41 wins and 31 losses. Bob Pettit ranked 3rd in scoring and 2nd in rebounding. In the Western Finals, the Hawks would beat the Detroit Pistons in 5 games. The Hawks would then face the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. After Games 1 and 2, the teams headed to St. Louis with the series tied at a game apiece. The Hawks took Game 3, as the Celtics lost Bill Russell to an ankle injury. Despite playing without Russell, the Celtics were triumphant in Game 4. The Hawks pulled out a 2-point victory in the Game 5 to take control of the series. Needing one more win for their first NBA Championship, the Hawks beat the Celtics 110–109 in Game 6. Bob Pettit scored 50 points playing against an injured Bill Russell as the Hawks and owner Ben Kerner won their first NBA Title.
The Hawks were the second St. Louis–based pro sports team to win a major championship, joining the, then, six-time World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. They would be followed by five more World Series championships by the Cardinals, a championship by the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV, and a championship by the St. Louis Blues in the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals which made St. Louis the eighth city to win a championship in each of the four major U.S. sports. The Hawks were the last non-integrated team to win an NBA title; every NBA champion since then has had at least one African-American player included.
The 1958 title remains the only one to be won by the franchise, which has been based in Atlanta since 1968. As such, it remains the second-longest drought for championship teams in NBA history behind only the Sacramento Kings, who had previously last won their only NBA Finals championship in 1951 back when they played as the Rochester Royals. HoopsHype later ranked this squad as the team with the 16th easiest route to the NBA Finals, primarily due to their first opponent being against a 33–39 Detroit Pistons team that had recently moved to Detroit that season.
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
Game log
| 1957–58 Game log |
|---|
| **#** |
| 1 |
| 2 |
| 3 |
| 4 |
| 5 |
| 6 |
| 7 |
| 8 |
| 9 |
| 10 |
| 11 |
| 12 |
| 13 |
| 14 |
| 15 |
| 16 |
| 17 |
| 18 |
| 19 |
| 20 |
| 21 |
| 22 |
| 23 |
| 24 |
| 25 |
| 26 |
| 27 |
| 28 |
| 29 |
| 30 |
| 31 |
| 32 |
| 33 |
| 34 |
| 35 |
| 36 |
| 37 |
| 38 |
| 39 |
| 40 |
| 41 |
| 42 |
| 43 |
| 44 |
| 45 |
| 46 |
| 47 |
| 48 |
| 49 |
| 50 |
| 51 |
| 52 |
| 53 |
| 54 |
| 55 |
| 56 |
| 57 |
| 58 |
| 59 |
| 60 |
| 61 |
| 62 |
| 63 |
| 64 |
| 65 |
| 66 |
| 67 |
| 68 |
| 69 |
| 70 |
| 71 |
| 72 |
Playoffs
|- | 1 | March 19 | Detroit | W 114–111 | Cliff Hagan (38) | Kiel Auditorium 7,328
| 1–0 |
|---|
| 2 |
| March 22 |
| @ Detroit |
| W 99–96 |
| Cliff Hagan (27) |
| University of Detroit Fieldhouse |
| 2–0 |
| - |
| 3 |
| March 23 |
| Detroit |
| L 89–109 |
| Cliff Hagan (29) |
| Kiel Auditorium |
| 9,321 |
| 2–1 |
| - |
| 4 |
| March 25 |
| @ Detroit |
| W 145–101 |
| Cliff Hagan (28) |
| Detroit Olympia |
| 3–1 |
| - |
| 5 |
| March 27 |
| Detroit |
| W 120–96 |
| Cliff Hagan (32) |
| Kiel Auditorium |
| 7,661 |
| 4–1 |
| - |
| - |
| 1 |
| March 29 |
| @ Boston |
| W 104–102 |
| Cliff Hagan (33) |
| Bob Pettit (19) |
| Boston Garden |
| 3,652 |
| 1–0 |
| - |
| 2 |
| March 30 |
| @ Boston |
| L 112–136 |
| Cliff Hagan (37) |
| Cliff Hagan (12) |
| Boston Garden |
| 10,249 |
| 1–1 |
| - |
| 3 |
| April 2 |
| Boston |
| W 111–108 |
| Bob Pettit (32) |
| Bob Pettit (19) |
| Kiel Auditorium |
| 10,148 |
| 2–1 |
| - |
| 4 |
| April 5 |
| Boston |
| L 98–109 |
| Cliff Hagan (27) |
| Bob Pettit (17) |
| Kiel Auditorium |
| 10,216 |
| 2–2 |
| - |
| 5 |
| April 9 |
| @ Boston |
| W 102–100 |
| Bob Pettit (33) |
| Bob Pettit (21) |
| Boston Garden |
| 13,909 |
| 3–2 |
| - |
| 6 |
| April 12 |
| Boston |
| W 110–109 |
| Bob Pettit (50) |
| Bob Pettit (19) |
| Kiel Auditorium |
| 10,216 |
| 4–2 |
| - |
Awards and honors
- Bob Pettit, All-NBA First Team
- Slater Martin, All-NBA Second Team
- Cliff Hagan, All-NBA Second Team
References
References
- "St. Louis Hawks – Sports Ecyclopedia".
- Urbina, Frank. (2024-06-17). "Ranking the easiest paths to an NBA title ever".
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about 1957–58 St. Louis Hawks season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report