You Are Here > Basketball-Reference.com > Leagues > 1955-56 NBA

1955-56 NBA Season Summary

Previous Season ▪ Next Season

1955-56 NBA:

League Standings

Glossary ▪ Playoff teams are marked with an asterisk (*)
Team W L W-L% GB PS/G PA/G SRS
Eastern Division              
Philadelphia Warriors* 45 27 .625 — 103.1 98.8 3.82
Boston Celtics* 39 33 .542 6.0 106.0 105.3 0.72
New York Knickerbockers* 35 37 .486 10.0 100.2 100.6 -0.20
Syracuse Nationals* 35 37 .486 10.0 96.9 96.9 0.17
Western Division              
Fort Wayne Pistons* 37 35 .514 — 94.4 93.7 0.45
Minneapolis Lakers* 33 39 .458 4.0 99.3 100.2 -0.92
St. Louis Hawks* 33 39 .458 4.0 96.6 98.0 -1.42
Rochester Royals 31 41 .431 6.0 95.8 98.7 -2.61

League Playoffs

Finals (4-1): Philadelphia Warriors over Fort Wayne Pistons
 
Eastern Division Finals (3-2): Philadelphia Warriors over Syracuse Nationals
Western Division Finals (3-2): Fort Wayne Pistons over St. Louis Hawks
 
Eastern Division Semifinals (2-1): Syracuse Nationals over Boston Celtics
Western Division Semifinals (2-1): St. Louis Hawks over Minneapolis Lakers
 
Eastern Division Third Place Tiebreaker (1-0): Syracuse Nationals over New York Knickerbockers
Western Division Second Place Tiebreaker (1-0): Minneapolis Lakers over St. Louis Hawks

Team Statistics

Glossary ▪ CSV ▪ PRE ▪ Playoff teams are marked with an asterisk (*)
Rk Team G MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS PTS/G
1 Boston Celtics* 72 2745 6913 .397 2142 2785 .769 4583 1834 1874 7632 106.0
2 Philadelphia Warriors* 72 2641 6437 .410 2142 2829 .757 4362 1886 1872 7424 103.1
3 New York Knickerbockers* 72 2508 6395 .392 2196 2913 .754 4562 1610 1923 7212 100.2
4 Minneapolis Lakers* 72 2541 6543 .388 2066 2627 .786 4133 1689 1978 7148 99.3
5 Syracuse Nationals* 72 2466 6661 .370 2044 2703 .756 4060 1710 1783 6976 96.9
6 St. Louis Hawks* 72 2506 6628 .378 1941 2761 .703 4493 1748 1971 6953 96.6
7 Rochester Royals 72 2551 6890 .370 1798 2567 .700 4449 1747 1990 6900 95.8
8 Fort Wayne Pistons* 72 2396 6174 .388 2002 2729 .734 3974 1752 1789 6794 94.4
League Average 72 2544 6580 .387 2041 2739 .745 4327 1747 1898 7130 99.0

Opponent Statistics

Glossary ▪ CSV ▪ PRE ▪ Playoff teams are marked with an asterisk (*)
Rk Team G MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS PTS/G
1 Fort Wayne Pistons* 72 6743 93.7
2 Syracuse Nationals* 72 6975 96.9
3 St. Louis Hawks* 72 7059 98.0
4 Rochester Royals 72 7106 98.7
5 Philadelphia Warriors* 72 7117 98.8
6 Minneapolis Lakers* 72 7212 100.2
7 New York Knickerbockers* 72 7242 100.6
8 Boston Celtics* 72 7585 105.3
League Average 72 7130 99.0

Miscellaneous Statistics

Glossary ▪ CSV ▪ PRE ▪ Playoff teams are marked with an asterisk (*)
Offense Four Factors Defense Four Factors
Rk Team W Pyth L Pyth SRS ORtg DRtg Pace eFG% TOV% ORB% FT/FGA eFG% TOV% DRB% FT/FGA Arena Attendance
1 Philadelphia Warriors* 46.3 25.7 3.82 .410 .333 Philadelphia Civic Center 164,929
2 Boston Celtics* 37.6 34.4 0.72 .397 .310 Boston Garden 209,645
3 Fort Wayne Pistons* 37.9 34.1 0.45 .388 .324 War Memorial Coliseum 128,102
4 New York Knickerbockers* 35.0 37.0 -0.20 .392 .343 Madison Square Garden (III) 246,756
5 Syracuse Nationals* 36.0 36.0 0.17 .370 .307 Onondaga War Memorial 140,714
6 Minneapolis Lakers* 33.8 38.2 -0.92 .388 .316 Minneapolis Auditorium 112,360
7 St. Louis Hawks* 32.2 39.8 -1.42 .378 .293 Kiel Auditorium 156,009
8 Rochester Royals 28.7 43.3 -2.61 .370 .261 Rochester Community War Memorial 102,468
League Average 36.0 36.0 0.00 .387 .310 157,623

League Awards

Most Valuable Player: Bob Pettit*
Rookie of the Year: Maurice Stokes*

League Leaders

Glossary ▪ Rate statistic requirements

Minutes Played

1. Jack George-PHW 2840
2. Slater Martin*-MNL 2838
3. Bob Pettit*-STL 2794
4. Bob Cousy*-BOS 2767
5. Jack Coleman-TOT 2738

Field Goals

1. Bob Pettit*-STL 646
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW 617
3. Clyde Lovellette*-MNL 594
4. Bill Sharman*-BOS 538
5. Neil Johnston*-PHW 499

Field Goal Attempts

1. Bob Pettit*-STL 1507
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW 1378
3. Clyde Lovellette*-MNL 1370
4. Bill Sharman*-BOS 1229
5. Bob Cousy*-BOS 1223

Field Goal Pct

1. Neil Johnston*-PHW .457
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW .448
3. Larry Foust-FTW .447
4. Kenny Sears-NYK .438
5. Bill Sharman*-BOS .438

Free Throws

1. Bob Pettit*-STL 557
2. Neil Johnston*-PHW 549
3. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 542
4. Paul Arizin*-PHW 507
5. Bob Cousy*-BOS 476

Free Throw Attempts

1. Bob Pettit*-STL 757
2. Neil Johnston*-PHW 685
3. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 632
4. Paul Arizin*-PHW 626
5. Bob Cousy*-BOS 564

Free Throw Pct

1. Bill Sharman*-BOS .867
2. Dolph Schayes*-SYR .858
3. Dick Schnittker-MNL .856
4. Bob Cousy*-BOS .844
5. Carl Braun-NYK .838

Total Rebounds

1. Bob Pettit*-STL 1164
2. Maurice Stokes*-ROC 1094
3. Clyde Lovellette*-MNL 992
4. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 891
5. Neil Johnston*-PHW 872

Assists

1. Bob Cousy*-BOS 642
2. Jack George-PHW 457
3. Slater Martin*-MNL 445
4. George King-SYR 410
  Andy Phillip*-FTW 410

Personal Fouls

1. Vern Mikkelsen*-MNL 319
2. Chuck Share-STL 318
3. Arnie Risen*-BOS 300
4. Ray Felix-NYK 293
5. Dick Ricketts-TOT 287

Points

1. Bob Pettit*-STL 1849
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW 1741
3. Neil Johnston*-PHW 1547
4. Clyde Lovellette*-MNL 1526
5. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 1472

Minutes Per Game

1. Jack George-PHW 39.4
2. Slater Martin*-MNL 39.4
3. Bob Pettit*-STL 38.8
4. Bob Cousy*-BOS 38.4
5. Paul Arizin*-PHW 37.8

Points Per Game

1. Bob Pettit*-STL 25.7
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW 24.2
3. Neil Johnston*-PHW 22.1
4. Clyde Lovellette*-MNL 21.5
5. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 20.4

Rebounds Per Game

1. Maurice Stokes*-ROC 16.3
2. Bob Pettit*-STL 16.2
3. Clyde Lovellette*-MNL 14.0
4. Neil Johnston*-PHW 12.5
5. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 12.4

Assists Per Game

1. Bob Cousy*-BOS 8.9
2. Jack George-PHW 6.3
3. Slater Martin*-MNL 6.2
4. Tom Gola*-PHW 5.9
5. Andy Phillip*-FTW 5.9

Player Efficiency Rating

1. Bob Pettit*-STL 27.3
2. Neil Johnston*-PHW 25.1
3. Larry Foust-FTW 23.8
4. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 23.7
5. Clyde Lovellette*-MNL 23.5

True Shooting Pct

1. Neil Johnston*-PHW .555
2. Larry Foust-FTW .547
3. Paul Arizin*-PHW .526
4. Bob Houbregs*-FTW .522
5. Kenny Sears-NYK .515

Effective Field Goal Pct

1. Neil Johnston*-PHW .457
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW .448
3. Larry Foust-FTW .447
4. Kenny Sears-NYK .438
5. Bill Sharman*-BOS .438

Offensive Win Shares

1. Neil Johnston*-PHW 11.2
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW 10.2
3. Bob Pettit*-STL 8.9
4. Larry Foust-FTW 8.6
5. Bill Sharman*-BOS 7.2

Defensive Win Shares

1. Maurice Stokes*-ROC 5.9
2. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 4.9
3. Bob Pettit*-STL 4.8
4. Jack Coleman-TOT 4.1
5. George King-SYR 3.3

Win Shares

1. Neil Johnston*-PHW 13.9
2. Bob Pettit*-STL 13.8
3. Paul Arizin*-PHW 12.2
4. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 11.8
5. Larry Foust-FTW 11.1
     

All-NBA Teams

1st Team
Paul Arizin*
Bob Cousy*
Neil Johnston*
Bob Pettit*
Bill Sharman*
 2nd Team
Jack George
Clyde Lovellette*
Slater Martin*
Dolph Schayes*
Maurice Stokes*

All-Star Game Rosters

East
Paul Arizin*
Carl Braun
Bob Cousy*
Harry Gallatin*
Jack George
Neil Johnston*
Red Kerr
Ed Macauley*
Dick McGuire*
Dolph Schayes*
Bill Sharman*
 West
Larry Foust
Bob Harrison
Mel Hutchins
Clyde Lovellette*
Slater Martin*
Vern Mikkelsen*
Bob Pettit*
Maurice Stokes*
Bobby Wanzer*
George Yardley*