Prior to the 1960–61 St. Louis Hawks season owner Ben Kerner changed coaches despite reaching the

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 Conference champion St. ...

. Ed Macauley was replaced with Paul Seymour. On the court, rookie Lenny Wilkens was averaging 11.7 points per game in his first year. The brunt of the scoring came from the Hawks' front line of Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan, and Clyde Lovellette. They combined for 72.0 points per game, and the Hawks won the West by 15 games. The Hawks finished the season with a record of 51–28. In the playoffs, the Hawks needed a 1-point overtime win in Game 6 on the road to force a 7th game with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. Game 7 was played in St. Louis and the Hawks beat the Lakers by 2 points. The Hawks then were up against 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 fell in 5 games as the Celtics won their 4th NBA Title in 5 seasons.

Regular season

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , March 21 , Los Angeles
L 118–122
, Bob Pettit (28) , Bob Pettit (20) , Kiel Auditorium
8,147 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , March 22 , Los Angeles
W 121–106
, Clyde Lovellette (28) , Bob Pettit (19) , Kiel Auditorium
8,472 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , March 24 , @ Los Angeles
L 112–118
, Bob Pettit (26) , Bob Pettit (13) , Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
5,006 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , March 25 , @ Los Angeles
W 118–117
, Bob Pettit (40) , Bob Pettit (18) , Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
4,923 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 5 , March 27 , Los Angeles
L 112–121
, Cliff Hagan (26) , Bob Pettit (21) , Kiel Auditorium , 2–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 6 , March 29 , @ Los Angeles
W 114–113 (OT)
, Bob Pettit (31) , Bob Pettit (21) , Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
14,840 , 3–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 7 , April 1 , Los Angeles
W 105–103
, Bob Pettit (31) , Bob Pettit (17) , Kiel Auditorium , 4–3 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , April 2 , @ Boston
L 95–129
, Cliff Hagan (33) , Cliff Hagan (13) , Hagan, Sauldsberry (4) , Boston Garden
11,531 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , April 5 , @ Boston
L 108–116
, Cliff Hagan (40) , Bob Pettit (19) , Cliff Hagan (6) , Boston Garden
13,909 , 0–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , April 8 , Boston
W 124–120
, Bob Pettit (31) , Bob Pettit (24) , Si Green (7) , Kiel Auditorium
8,468 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , April 9 , Boston
L 104–119
, Bob Pettit (40) , Bob Pettit (18) , Cliff Hagan (7) , Kiel Auditorium
10,442 , 1–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 5 , April 11 , @ Boston
L 112–121
, Bob Pettit (24) , Pettit, Sauldsberry (11) , Johnny McCarthy (6) , Boston Garden
13,909 , 1–4 , -

Awards and honors

* Bob Pettit, All-NBA First Team

References

Hawks on Basketball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:1960-61 St. Louis Hawks season St. Louis Atlanta Hawks seasons St. Louis Hawks St. Louis Hawks