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]
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]
| 1957-58 NBA Records | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=100 | Team | BOS | CIN | DET | MIN | NYK | PHI | STL | SYR |
| — | 7–2 | 8–1 | 9–0 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–4 | 7–5 | ||
| 2–7 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 3–9 | 4–5 | ||
| 1–8 | 6–6 | — | 6–6 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 6–6 | 5–4 | ||
| 0–9 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 1–8 | 3–6 | 3–9 | 2–7 | ||
| 5–7 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 8–1 | — | 4–8 | 3–6 | 5–7 | ||
| 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 | |
| 5–7 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 7–2 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 4–5 | — | ||
| 1957–58 Game log | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Opponent | Score | High points | Record | ||
| 1 | October 22 | 115–90 | Bob Pettit (26) | 0–1 | ||
| 2 | October 23 | 95–112 | Cliff Hagan (19) | 0–2 | ||
| 3 | October 26 | 84–112 | Bob Pettit (27) | 1–2 | ||
| 4 | November 1 | 92–99 | Bob Pettit (45) | 1–3 | ||
| 5 | November 2 | Cincinnati | 93–102 | Slater Martin (25) | 2–3 | |
| 6 | November 5 | 101–115 | Bob Pettit (34) | 3–3 | ||
| 7 | November 9 | 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 | 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 |
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 1| March 19| Detroit| W 114–111| Cliff Hagan (38)| Kiel Auditorium
7,328| 1–0|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 2| March 22| @ Detroit| W 99–96| Cliff Hagan (27)| University of Detroit Fieldhouse| 2–0|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 3| March 23| Detroit| L 89–109| Cliff Hagan (29)| Kiel Auditorium
9,321| 2–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 4| March 25| @ Detroit| W 145–101| Cliff Hagan (28)| Detroit Olympia| 3–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 5| March 27| Detroit| W 120–96| Cliff Hagan (32)| Kiel Auditorium
7,661| 4–1|-|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 1| March 29| @ Boston| W 104–102| Cliff Hagan (33)| Bob Pettit (19)| Boston Garden
3,652| 1–0|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 2| March 30| @ Boston| L 112–136| Cliff Hagan (37)| Cliff Hagan (12)| Boston Garden
10,249| 1–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 3| April 2| Boston| W 111–108| Bob Pettit (32)| Bob Pettit (19)| Kiel Auditorium
10,148| 2–1|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"| 4| April 5| Boston| L 98–109| Cliff Hagan (27)| Bob Pettit (17)| Kiel Auditorium
10,216| 2–2|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 5| April 9| @ Boston| W 102–100| Bob Pettit (33)| Bob Pettit (21)| Boston Garden
13,909| 3–2|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"| 6| April 12| Boston| W 110–109| Bob Pettit (50)| Bob Pettit (19)| Kiel Auditorium
10,216| 4–2|-