1957–58 St. Louis Hawks season

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.^[1] 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.^[1] 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.^[1]

1957–58 St. Louis Hawks season
NBA champions
Division champions
Head coach	Alex Hannum
Arena	Kiel Auditorium
Results
Record	41–31 (.569)
Place	Division: 1st (Western)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions (Defeated Celtics 4-2)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
< 1956–57 1958–59 >

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.^[2]

Roster

St. Louis Hawks roster

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Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From PF 11 Coleman, Jack 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1924-05-23 Louisville PF 12 Davis, Walt 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1931-01-05 Texas A&M SF 16 Hagan, Cliff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1931-12-09 Kentucky C 20 Macauley, Ed 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1928-03-22 Saint Louis PG 22 Martin, Slater 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1925-10-22 Texas SG 21 McMahon, Jack 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1928-12-03 St. John's C 12 Morrison, Red 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1932-04-26 Idaho SG 17 Park, Med 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1933-04-11 Missouri PF 9 Pettit, Bob 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1932-12-12 LSU G/F 19 Selvy, Frank 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1932-11-09 Furman C 13 Share, Chuck 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1927-03-14 Bowling Green PG 15 Wilfong, Win 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1933-03-18 Memphis

Head coach Alex Hannum Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-St. Louis Hawks	41	31	.569	-	23-8	8-19	10-4	24-12
x-Detroit Pistons	33	39	.458	8	14-14	13-17	6-8	18-18
x-Cincinnati Royals	33	39	.458	8	17-12	10-19	6-8	17-19
Minneapolis Lakers	19	53	.264	22	10-15	4-21	5-17	13-23

Record vs. opponents

1957-58 NBA Records
Team	BOS	CIN	DET	MIN	NYK	PHI	STL	SYR
Boston	—	7–2	8–1	9–0	7–5	6–6	5–4	7–5
Cincinnati	2–7	—	6–6	8–4	4–5	6–3	3–9	4–5
Detroit	1–8	6–6	—	6–6	4–5	5–4	6–6	5–4
Minneapolis	0–9	4–8	6–6	—	1–8	3–6	3–9	2–7
New York	5–7	5–4	5–4	8–1	—	4–8	3–6	5–7
Philadelphia	6–6	3–6	4–5	6–3	8–4	—	7–2	3–9
St. Louis	4–5	9–3	6–6	9–3	6–3	2–7	—	5–4
Syracuse	5–7	5–4	4–5	7–2	7–5	9–3	4–5	—

Game log

1957–58 Game log
#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	October 22	Boston	115–90	Bob Pettit (26)	0–1
2	October 23	N New York	95–112	Cliff Hagan (19)	0–2
3	October 26	Minneapolis	84–112	Bob Pettit (27)	1–2
4	November 1	@ Cincinnati	92–99	Bob Pettit (45)	1–3
5	November 2	Cincinnati	93–102	Slater Martin (25)	2–3
6	November 5	Syracuse	101–115	Bob Pettit (34)	3–3
7	November 9	Philadelphia	100–105	Bob Pettit (23)	4–3
8	November 11	@ Boston	88–92	Ed Macauley (19)	4–4
9	November 15	@ Syracuse	86–91	Cliff Hagan (22)	4–5
10	November 16	Syracuse	101–118	Bob Pettit (33)	5–5
11	November 17	@ Cincinnati	98–97	Bob Pettit (24)	6–5
12	November 19	New York	115–118	Bob Pettit (38)	7–5
13	November 23	Detroit	110–115	Cliff Hagan (40)	8–5
14	November 26	@ New York	120–110	Bob Pettit (27)	9–5
15	November 27	@ Detroit	121–110	Bob Pettit (27)	10–5
16	November 28	Cincinnati	96–112	Bob Pettit (28)	11–5
17	November 30	@ Minneapolis	113–118	Bob Pettit (28)	11–6
18	December 3	N Minneapolis	115–108	Bob Pettit (31)	12–6
19	December 5	@ Philadelphia	109–124	Slater Martin (27)	12–7
20	December 6	@ Boston	97–111	Bob Pettit (28)	12–8
21	December 8	New York	113–110	Cliff Hagan (24)	12–9
22	December 10	N Cincinnati	102–90	Bob Pettit (31)	13–9
23	December 11	N New York	135–126	Bob Pettit (43)	14–9
24	December 12	N Boston	97–94	Cliff Hagan (28)	15–9
25	December 14	New York	124–136	Bob Pettit (23)	16–9
26	December 15	@ Minneapolis	138–118	Cliff Hagan (40)	17–9
27	December 17	N Detroit	106–99	Bob Pettit (36)	18–9
28	December 21	N Syracuse	136–146	Bob Pettit (51)	19–9
29	December 22	Minneapolis	115–123	Cliff Hagan (31)	20–9
30	December 26	Detroit	110–106	Cliff Hagan (21)	20–10
31	December 27	@ Cincinnati	97–96	Ed Macauley (25)	21–10
32	December 28	Boston	107–112	Cliff Hagan (33)	22–10
33	December 30	N Minneapolis	105–98	Ed Macauley (27)	23–10
34	January 2	@ Philadelphia	93–95	Ed Macauley (26)	23–21
35	January 5	Detroit	93–95	Bob Pettit (26)	24–11
36	January 7	@ New York	114–112	Ed Macauley (25)	25–11
37	January 10	@ Philadelphia	93–124	Share, Wilfong (15)	25–12
38	January 11	Boston	98–102	Cliff Hagan (25)	26–12
39	January 12	Minneapolis	105–111	Cliff Hagan (27)	27–12
40	January 14	Philadelphia	110–109	Cliff Hagan (36)	27–13
41	January 16	@ Syracuse	96–112	Hagan, Pettit (24)	27–14
42	January 17	N Minneapolis	110–112 (OT)	Cliff Hagan (32)	27–15
43	January 18	Detroit	103–105	Bob Pettit (40)	28–15
44	January 19	Cincinnati	90–108	Bob Pettit (28)	29–15
45	January 25	@ Detroit	98–105	Ed Macauley (24)	29–16
46	January 26	Philadelphia	125–112	Cliff Hagan (32)	29–17
47	January 28	N Philadelphia	123–109	Bob Pettit (29)	30–17
48	January 29	@ Boston	101–111	Bob Pettit (22)	30–18
49	January 31	@ Cincinnati	92–100	Cliff Hagan (23)	30–19
50	February 1	Cincinnati	88–127	Cliff Hagan (24)	31–19
51	February 2	Syracuse	102–100	Cliff Hagan (29)	31–20
52	February 4	@ New York	116–120	Cliff Hagan (41)	31–21
53	February 7	N Detroit	107–125	Cliff Hagan (19)	31–22
54	February 8	@ Syracuse	103–102	Bob Pettit (32)	32–22
55	February 9	@ Philadelphia	98–105	Bob Pettit (29)	32–23
56	February 11	New York	105–107	Win Wilfong (25)	33–23
57	February 12	@ Detroit	122–105	Bob Pettit (25)	34–23
58	February 14	@ Minneapolis	104–100	Bob Pettit (23)	35–23
59	February 16	Detroit	100–98	Bob Pettit (27)	35–24
60	February 18	Minneapolis	98–118	Bob Pettit (33)	36–24
61	February 21	Boston	100–119	Bob Pettit (29)	37–24
62	February 22	@ Detroit	96–98	Cliff Hagan (32)	37–25
63	February 23	@ Syracuse	92–101	Bob Pettit (21)	37–26
64	February 25	N Detroit	113–114 (OT)	Cliff Hagan (34)	37–27
65	February 26	N Cincinnati	105–103	Ed Macauley (29)	38–27
66	March 2	Cincinnati	93–103	Bob Pettit (21)	39–27
67	March 5	@ Boston	102–109	Bob Pettit (30)	39–28
68	March 7	Syracuse	100–102	Bob Pettit (39)	40–28
69	March 8	Minneapolis	123–126	Hagan, Pettit (25)	41–28
70	March 9	@ Minneapolis	99–107	Bob Pettit (28)	41–29
71	March 10	@ Cincinnati	84–122	Hagan, Pettit (17)	41–30
72	March 11	Philadelphia	106–101	Bob Pettit (30)	41–31

Playoffs

1958 playoff game log
Division Finals: 4–1 (home: 2–1; road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Series 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
NBA Finals: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds Location Attendance Series 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
1958 schedule

Awards and honors

• Bob Pettit, All-NBA First Team
• Slater Martin, All-NBA Second Team
• Cliff Hagan, All-NBA Second Team

References

1. "St. Louis Hawks – Sports Ecyclopedia".
2. "Ranking the easiest paths to an NBA title ever". June 18, 2024.

• Hawks on Basketball Reference