1960 NBA Finals

The 1960 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1960 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association 1959–60 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics. It was Boston's fourth trip to the NBA Finals and St. Louis' third. This was the fourth meeting between teams from Boston and St. Louis for a major professional sports championship.^[1]

1960 NBA finals

Team Coach Wins Boston Celtics Red Auerbach 4 St. Louis Hawks Ed Macauley 3
Dates	March 27–April 9
Hall of Famers	Celtics: Bob Cousy (1971) Bill Russell (1975) Bill Sharman (1976) Frank Ramsey (1982) Sam Jones (1984) Tom Heinsohn (1986 as player, 2015 as coach) K. C. Jones (1989) Hawks: Bob Pettit (1971) Cliff Hagan (1978) Slater Martin (1982) Clyde Lovellette (1988) Coaches: Red Auerbach (1969)[a]
Eastern finals	Celtics defeated Warriors, 4–2
Western finals	Hawks defeated Lakers, 4–3
← 1959 NBA finals 1961 →

The Celtics beat the Hawks 4–3. The Finals featured Hall of Famers Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Bill Sharman, Frank Ramsey, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones, Coach Red Auerbach, Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan, Slater Martin, Clyde Lovellette.

This was the last time the NBA Finals would be played in March.

Series summary

Game	Date	Home team	Result	Road team
Game 1	March 27	Boston Celtics	140–122 (1–0)	St. Louis Hawks
Game 2	March 29	Boston Celtics	103–113 (1–1)	St. Louis Hawks
Game 3	April 2	St. Louis Hawks	86–102 (1–2)	Boston Celtics
Game 4	April 3	St. Louis Hawks	106–96 (2–2)	Boston Celtics
Game 5	April 5	Boston Celtics	127–102 (3–2)	St. Louis Hawks
Game 6	April 7	St. Louis Hawks	105–102 (3–3)	Boston Celtics
Game 7	April 9	Boston Celtics	122–103 (4–3)	St. Louis Hawks

Celtics win series 4–3

Team rosters

Boston Celtics

1959–60 Boston Celtics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From PF 17 Conley, Gene 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1930–11–10 Washington State PG 14 Cousy, Bob 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1928-08-09 Holy Cross SF 20 Guarilia, Gene 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1937-09-13 George Washington PF 15, 20 Heinsohn, Tom 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1934–08–26 Holy Cross PG 25 Jones, K.C. 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1932–05–25 San Francisco SG 24 Jones, Sam 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 1933-06-24 North Carolina Central SF 18 Loscutoff, Jim 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1930–02–04 Oregon SG 23 Ramsey, Frank 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1931–07–13 Kentucky C 16 Richter, John 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1937-03-12 NC State C 6 Russell, Bill 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1934–02–12 San Francisco SG 21 Sharman, Bill 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1926–05–25 USC

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

St. Louis Hawks

1959–60 Western Division Champions St. Louis Hawks roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From SG 11 Ferrari, Al 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1933–07–06 Michigan State C 20 Ferry, Bob 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1937–05–31 Saint Louis C 13 Foust, Larry 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1928–06–24 La Salle SF 12 Gambee, Dave 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1937–04–16 Oregon State PG 17 Green, Si 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1933–08–20 Duquesne SF 16 Hagan, Cliff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1931–12–09 Kentucky C 34 Lovellette, Clyde 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 234 lb (106 kg) 1929–09–07 Kansas PG 22 Martin, Slater 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1925–10–22 Texas SG 15 McCarthy, Johnny 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1934–04–25 Canisius PG 21 McMahon, Jack 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1928–12–03 St. John's PF 9 Pettit, Bob 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1932–12–12 LSU SG 12, 25 Piontek, Dave 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1934–08–27 Xavier SF 13 Ramsey, Cal 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1937–07–13 NYU C 19 Reed, Hub 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1936–10–04 Oklahoma City C 13 Share, Chuck 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1927–03–14 Bowling Green

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

Box scores

March 27

Boxscore

St. Louis Hawks 122, Boston Celtics 140
Scoring by quarter: 25–30, 26–46, 34–38, 37–26
Pts: Cliff Hagan 25 Rebs: Bob Pettit 17 Asts: Johnny McCarthy 6		Pts: Tom Heinsohn 24 Rebs: Bill Russell 19 Asts: Bob Cousy 12
Boston leads series, 1–0

Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Attendance: 10,002

March 29

Boxscore

St. Louis Hawks 113, Boston Celtics 103
Scoring by quarter: 25–21, 24–35, 34–23, 30–24
Pts: Bob Pettit 35 Rebs: Bob Pettit 22 Asts: Bob Pettit 7		Pts: Bill Sharman 30 Rebs: Bill Russell 40 Asts: Bob Cousy 8
Series tied, 1–1

Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Attendance: 13,909

• Bill Russell's 40 rebounds set a single-game Finals record for an individual player.

April 2

Boxscore

Boston Celtics 102, St. Louis Hawks 86
Scoring by quarter: 31–32, 23–23, 23–17, 25–14
Pts: Tom Heinsohn 30 Rebs: Bill Russell 19 Asts: Bob Cousy 13		Pts: Bob Pettit 23 Rebs: Bob Pettit 18 Asts: Green, Lovellette 6 each
Boston leads series, 2–1

Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri Attendance: 10,612 Referees: Sid Borgia, Arnie Heft

April 3

Boxscore

Boston Celtics 96, St. Louis Hawks 106
Scoring by quarter: 18–28, 21–22, 24–31, 33–25
Pts: Ramsey, Sharman 20 each Rebs: Bill Russell 19 Asts: Bob Cousy 4		Pts: Bob Pettit 32 Rebs: Bob Pettit 11 Asts: Johnny McCarthy 8
Series tied, 2–2

Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri Attendance: 10,612 Referees: Jim Duffy, Mendy Rudolph

April 5

Boxscore

St. Louis Hawks 102, Boston Celtics 127
Scoring by quarter: 26–34, 27–31, 25–30, 24–32
Pts: Cliff Hagan 28 Rebs: Cliff Hagan 12 Asts: Si Green 8		Pts: Tom Heinsohn 34 Rebs: Bill Russell 26 Asts: Bob Cousy 10
Boston leads series, 3–2

Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Attendance: 13,909

April 7

Boxscore

Boston Celtics 102, St. Louis Hawks 105
Scoring by quarter: 16–24, 36–30, 12–36, 38–15
Pts: Bill Russell 17 Rebs: Bill Russell 16 Asts: Bob Cousy 9		Pts: Cliff Hagan 36 Rebs: Clyde Lovellette 15 Asts: Johnny McCarthy 9
Series tied, 3–3

Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri Attendance: 10,612 Referees: Jim Duffy, Mendy Rudolph

April 9

Boxscore

St. Louis Hawks 103, Boston Celtics 122
Scoring by quarter: 30–29, 23–41, 25–26, 25–26
Pts: Bob Pettit 22 Rebs: Bob Pettit 14 Asts: Si Green 5		Pts: Frank Ramsey 24 Rebs: Bill Russell 35 Asts: Bob Cousy 14
Boston wins series, 4–3

Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Attendance: 13,909

Notes

1. Although Macauley was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1960, he has not been inducted as a coach.

References

1. Flores Jr., Johnny (May 21, 2019). "Boston & St. Louis meet for 11th time, only two to meet in NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL finals". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved December 16, 2024.

External links

• 1960 Finals at NBA.com
• 1960 NBA Playoffs at Basketball-Reference.com