1957 Overview

From Hoopedia

1956-57 NBA Season

The scoring title went to Philadelphia’s Paul Arizin in 1957, but nobody paid much attention. The league had been overwhelmed by a shotblocking, rebounding revolution, in the form of Bill Russell. Boston’s exciting rookie would lead his team to 11 championships in 13 seasons, a drive he started immediately.

For years, the Celtics had been a fast-breaking bunch, but without rebounding and defense, they hadn’t gone very far in the playoffs. Then Boston’s Red Auerbach traded veteran Ed Macauley and a young Cliff Hagan to St. Louis for the draft rights to Russell, a college standout at the University of San Francisco and a member of the 1956 U.S. Olympic team. Boston also drafted high-scoring 6-7 forward Tom Heinsohn of Holy Cross.

With Russell and Heinsohn joining guards Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman, muscleman Jim Loscutoff and sixth man Frank Ramsey, the Celtics assembled a team that would be the scourge of the league for years to come. Sharman (21.1 points per game) and Cousy (20.6) still piled up the points, but with Russell (who arrived in midseason, after the Olympics were over) anchoring a tough Celtics defense, Boston cruised to a league-best 44-28 record, winning the Eastern Division by a comfortable six games.

St. Louis, led by Bob Pettit (24.7 points per game) and buoyed by the addition of Macauley (16.5 points per game) and Hagan, advanced to the NBA Finals, a classic seven-game series won by the Celtics in a thrilling Game 7 in Boston, 125-123 in double overtime. That Game 7 would be talked about for years: how rookies Russell (19 points, 32 rebounds) and Heinsohn (37 points, 23 rebounds) stepped up and provided the win that would set the Celtic dynasty in motion.

“The first one [championship] is always the hardest, and it’s also the most satisfying,” said Auerbach.