The 1957 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1956–57 National Basketball Association season, and was the conclusion of the 1957 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics. This was the first trip to the Finals for each team, the first Finals in which both teams competing were making their first appearances since 1951. Red Auerbach became the first head coach to have taken two separate teams to the NBA Finals, having done so with Washington in 1949. The Celtics won the series over the Hawks, 4–3. It remains the only Game 7 in NBA history to be decided in double-overtime.
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| Dates | March 30–April 13 | |||||||||
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| Hall of Famers | Celtics: Bob Cousy (1971) Tom Heinsohn (1986) Andy Phillip (1961) Frank Ramsey (1982) Arnie Risen (1998) Bill Russell (1975) Bill Sharman (1976) Hawks: Bob Pettit (1970) Slater Martin (1982) Ed Macauley (1960) Coaches: Red Auerbach (1969) Alex Hannum (1998) | |||||||||
| Eastern Finals | Celtics defeated Nationals, 3–0 | |||||||||
| Western Finals | Hawks defeated Lakers, 3–0 | |||||||||
Game summaries
| Game | Date | Home team | Result | Road team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | March 30 | Boston Celtics | 123–125 (2OT) (0–1) | St. Louis Hawks |
| Game 2 | March 31 | Boston Celtics | 119–99 (1–1) | St. Louis Hawks |
| Game 3 | April 6 | St. Louis Hawks | 100–98 (2–1) | Boston Celtics |
| Game 4 | April 7 | St. Louis Hawks | 118–123 (2–2) | Boston Celtics |
| Game 5 | April 9 | Boston Celtics | 124–109 (3–2) | St. Louis Hawks |
| Game 6 | April 11 | St. Louis Hawks | 96–94 (3–3) | Boston Celtics |
| Game 7 | April 13 | Boston Celtics | 125–123 (2OT) (4–3) | St. Louis Hawks |
Celtics win series 4–3
Team rosters
Boston Celtics
St. Louis Hawks
Records
Celtics center Bill Russell set a rookie record for rebounds in a single NBA finals game with 32 in game 7, and averaged an NBA finals rookie record of 22.9 rebounds per game for the entire series.[1]