The 1956–57 St. Louis Hawks season was the 11th season for the franchise and eighth in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Prior to the start of the season, the

Hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...

made one of the biggest draft-day deals in NBA history. The Hawks sent 2nd overall pick Bill Russell to the Boston Celtics for Cliff Hagan and second-year star Ed Macauley. Macauley had been a popular player at St. Louis University. The Hawks struggled for most of the season and coach Red Holzman was fired midway through the season. The new head coach was Slater Martin, who led the Hawks to a 5–3 record. Martin did not want the added responsibility of head coach, so Alex Hannum took over for the rest of the season. Despite a 34–38 record, the Hawks claimed the Western Division by a tiebreaker and earned a bye into the Western Finals, where the Hawks swept the Minneapolis Lakers in three straight games. The Hawks met the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

in the NBA Finals. The Hawks won Game 1 in double overtime, 125–123 in Boston. The Celtics took Game 2 and the Hawks took Game 3 at home by 2 points. After losing Game 5 in Boston, the Hawks needed another victory at home to force a decisive seventh game. Game 7 in Boston went into double overtime and the Celtics emerged victorious, winning by 2 points.

Offseason

NBA draft

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , March 14 ,

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

W 115–103
, Jack McMahon (24) , Cliff Hagan (16) ,

Kiel Auditorium Kiel Auditorium was an indoor arena located in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the home of the St. Louis University basketball team and hosted the NBA's St. Louis Hawks, from 1955 to 1968. The site was home to Charles H. Turpin's Booker T. Wash ...

, 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , March 16 , Minneapolis
W 114–111 (OT)
, Cliff Hagan (28) , Bob Pettit (18) ,

, 2–0 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , March 21 , Minneapolis
W 118–109
,

Slater Martin Slater Nelson "Dugie" Martin Jr. (October 22, 1925 – October 18, 2012) was an American professional basketball player and coach who was a playmaking guard for 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born in Elmina, ...

(24) , Bob Pettit (16) , Jack McMahon (9) ,

6,028 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , March 24 , Minneapolis
W 106–104
, Bob Pettit (30) , Jack Coleman (15) , — ,

9,451 , 2–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , March 26 , @ Minneapolis
W 143–135 (2OT)
, Bob Pettit (35) , — , — ,

Minneapolis Auditorium Minneapolis Auditorium was an indoor arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It hosted the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers from 1947 until they moved to the Minneapolis Armory in 1959. The arena held 10,000 people and was built in 1927. The building fell into ...

, 3–0 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , March 30 , @ Boston
W 125–123 (2OT)
, Bob Pettit (37) , Bob Pettit (14) , — , Boston Garden
5,976 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , March 31 , @ Boston
L 99–119
, Ed Macauley (19) , Bob Pettit (13) ,

Slick Leonard William Robert "Slick" Leonard (July 17, 1932April 13, 2021) was an American professional basketball player, coach and color commentator. He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball, Indiana Hoosiers, where he was a t ...

(4) , Boston Garden
13,909 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , April 6 , Boston
W 100–98
, Bob Pettit (26) , Bob Pettit (28) , three player tied (5) ,

10,048 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , April 7 , Boston
L 118–123
, Bob Pettit (33) , Bob Pettit (16) ,

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

Hagan Hagan may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places Iran * Hagan, Iran, a village in Hamadan Province Norway * Hagan, a village in Harstad * Hagan, a village in Akershus United States * Hagan, Georgia, a city * Hagan, Minnesota, an unincorporated community * Hag ...

(6) ,

10,035 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 5 , April 9 , @ Boston
L 109–124
, Bob Pettit (33) , Bob Pettit (15) ,

Med Park Medford R. "Med" Park (April 11, 1933 – July 23, 1998) was an American professional basketball player. Park grew up in Lexington, Missouri. Park attended Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington from 1947 to 1951 and was a star athlete. He the ...

(6) , Boston Garden
13,909 , 2–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 6 , April 11 , Boston
W 96–94
, Bob Pettit (32) , Bob Pettit (23) , — ,

10,053 , 3–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 7 , April 13 , @ Boston
L 123–125 (2OT)
, Bob Pettit (39) , Bob Pettit (19) ,

, Coleman (7) , Boston Garden
13,909 , 3–4 , -

Awards and honors

* Bob Pettit, All-NBA First Team *

, All-NBA Second Team

References

Hawks on Basketball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:1956-57 St. Louis Hawks season St. Louis Atlanta Hawks seasons St. Louis Hawks St. Louis Hawks