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1956-57 NBA Season Summary

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League Champion: Boston Celtics

Most Valuable Player: Bob Cousy (20.6/4.8/7.5)
Rookie of the Year: Tom Heinsohn (16.2/9.8/1.6)

PPG Leader: Paul Arizin (25.6)
RPG Leader: Bill Russell (19.6)
APG Leader: Bob Cousy (7.5)
WS Leader: Neil Johnston (13.7)

League Standings

Playoff teams are marked with an asterisk (*)
Team W L W-L% GB PS/G PA/G SRS
Eastern Division              
Boston Celtics* 44 28 .611 — 105.5 100.2 4.79
Syracuse Nationals* 38 34 .528 6.0 99.7 101.1 -1.02
Philadelphia Warriors* 37 35 .514 7.0 100.4 98.8 1.55
New York Knicks 36 36 .500 8.0 100.8 100.9 0.07
Western Division              
St. Louis Hawks* 34 38 .472 — 98.5 98.6 -0.26
Minneapolis Lakers* 34 38 .472 — 102.3 103.1 -0.88
Fort Wayne Pistons* 34 38 .472 — 96.4 98.7 -2.17
Rochester Royals 31 41 .431 3.0 93.4 95.6 -2.07

League Playoffs

Click series name to show/hide game results
Finals (4-3): Boston Celtics over St. Louis Hawks
 
Eastern Division Finals (3-0): Boston Celtics over Syracuse Nationals
Western Division Finals (3-0): St. Louis Hawks over Minneapolis Lakers
 
Eastern Division Semifinals (2-0): Syracuse Nationals over Philadelphia Warriors
Western Division Semifinals (2-0): Minneapolis Lakers over Fort Wayne Pistons
 
Western Division Tiebreaker (1-0): St. Louis Hawks over Fort Wayne Pistons
Western Division Tiebreaker (1-0): St. Louis Hawks over Minneapolis Lakers

Team Stats

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 2808 7326 .383 1983 2644 .750 4963 1464 1851 7599 105.5
2 Minneapolis Lakers* 72 2584 6965 .371 2195 2899 .757 4581 1195 1887 7363 102.3
3 New York Knicks 72 2569 6645 .387 2117 2844 .744 4723 1312 1824 7255 100.8
4 Philadelphia Warriors* 72 2584 6533 .396 2062 2658 .776 4305 1467 1732 7230 100.4
5 Syracuse Nationals* 72 2550 6915 .369 2075 2613 .794 4350 1282 1809 7175 99.7
6 St. Louis Hawks* 72 2557 6669 .383 1977 2710 .730 4566 1454 1848 7091 98.5
7 Fort Wayne Pistons* 72 2532 6612 .383 1874 2510 .747 4289 1398 1643 6938 96.4
8 Rochester Royals 72 2515 6807 .369 1698 2402 .707 4171 1298 1866 6728 93.4
League Average 72 2587 6809 .380 1998 2660 .751 4494 1359 1808 7172 99.6

Opponent Stats

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 Rochester Royals 72 6886 95.6
2 St. Louis Hawks* 72 7097 98.6
3 Fort Wayne Pistons* 72 7104 98.7
4 Philadelphia Warriors* 72 7116 98.8
5 Boston Celtics* 72 7213 100.2
6 New York Knicks 72 7265 100.9
7 Syracuse Nationals* 72 7277 101.1
8 Minneapolis Lakers* 72 7421 103.1
League Average 72 7172 99.6

Miscellaneous Stats

Playoff teams are marked with an asterisk (*)
Offense Four Factors Defense Four Factors
Rk Team Age PW PL MOV SOS SRS ORtg DRtg Pace eFG% TOV% ORB% FT/FGA eFG% TOV% DRB% FT/FGA Arena Attendance
1 Boston Celtics* 27.0 49 23 5.36 -0.57 4.79 .383 .271 Boston Garden 262,918
2 Philadelphia Warriors* 26.7 40 32 1.58 -0.03 1.55 .396 .316 Philadelphia Civic Center 158,004
3 New York Knicks 27.0 36 36 -0.14 0.21 0.07 .387 .319 Madison Square Garden (III) 266,998
4 St. Louis Hawks* 27.6 36 36 -0.08 -0.18 -0.26 .383 .296 Kiel Auditorium 217,300
5 Minneapolis Lakers* 25.5 34 38 -0.81 -0.08 -0.88 .371 .315 Minneapolis Auditorium 82,211
6 Syracuse Nationals* 25.0 32 40 -1.42 0.39 -1.02 .369 .300 Onondaga War Memorial 188,883
7 Rochester Royals 23.4 30 42 -2.19 0.12 -2.07 .369 .249 Rochester Community War Memorial 122,502
8 Fort Wayne Pistons* 26.6 30 42 -2.31 0.14 -2.17 .383 .283 War Memorial Coliseum 108,054
League Average 26.2 36 36 0.00 0.00 0.00 .380 .293 175,859

League Leaders

Rate statistic requirements
Minutes Played
1. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 2851
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW 2767
3. Maurice Stokes*-ROC 2761
4. George Yardley*-FTW 2691
5. Mel Hutchins-FTW 2647
Field Goals
1. Bob Pettit*-STL 613
  Paul Arizin*-PHW 613
3. Clyde Lovellette*-MNL 574
4. George Yardley*-FTW 522
5. Neil Johnston*-PHW 520
Field Goal Attempts
1. Bob Pettit*-STL 1477
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW 1451
3. Clyde Lovellette*-MNL 1348
4. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 1308
5. George Yardley*-FTW 1273
Free Throws
1. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 625
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW 591
3. Neil Johnston*-PHW 535
4. Bob Pettit*-STL 529
5. George Yardley*-FTW 503
Free Throw Attempts
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW 713
2. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 691
3. Bob Pettit*-STL 684
4. Neil Johnston*-PHW 648
5. George Yardley*-FTW 639
Total Rebounds
1. Maurice Stokes*-ROC 1256
2. Bob Pettit*-STL 1037
3. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 1008
4. Bill Russell*-BOS 943
5. Clyde Lovellette*-MNL 932
Assists
1. Bob Cousy*-BOS 478
2. Jack McMahon-STL 367
3. Maurice Stokes*-ROC 331
4. Jack George-PHW 307
5. Slater Martin*-TOT 269
Personal Fouls
1. Vern Mikkelsen*-MNL 312
2. Dick Ricketts-ROC 307
3. Tom Heinsohn*-BOS 304
4. Maurice Stokes*-ROC 287
5. Ray Felix-NYK 284
Points
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW 1817
2. Bob Pettit*-STL 1755
3. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 1617
4. Neil Johnston*-PHW 1575
5. George Yardley*-FTW 1547
Field Goal Pct
1. Neil Johnston*-PHW .447
2. Chuck Share-STL .439
3. Jack Twyman*-ROC .439
4. Bob Houbregs*-FTW .432
5. Bill Russell*-BOS .427
Free Throw Pct
1. Bill Sharman*-BOS .905
2. Dolph Schayes*-SYR .904
3. Dick Garmaker-MNL .839
4. Paul Arizin*-PHW .829
5. Neil Johnston*-PHW .826
Minutes Per Game
1. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 39.6
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW 39.0
3. Maurice Stokes*-ROC 38.3
4. George Yardley*-FTW 37.4
5. Bob Cousy*-BOS 36.9
Points Per Game
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW 25.6
2. Bob Pettit*-STL 24.7
3. Neil Johnston*-PHW 22.8
4. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 22.5
5. George Yardley*-FTW 21.5
Rebounds Per Game
1. Bill Russell*-BOS 19.6
2. Maurice Stokes*-ROC 17.4
3. Bob Pettit*-STL 14.6
4. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 14.0
5. Clyde Lovellette*-MNL 13.5
Assists Per Game
1. Bob Cousy*-BOS 7.5
2. Jack McMahon-STL 5.1
3. Maurice Stokes*-ROC 4.6
4. Jack George-PHW 4.6
5. Slater Martin*-TOT 4.1
Player Efficiency Rating
1. Bob Pettit*-STL 28.1
2. Neil Johnston*-PHW 26.6
3. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 24.4
4. Harry Gallatin*-NYK 22.9
5. Paul Arizin*-PHW 22.2
True Shooting Pct
1. Neil Johnston*-PHW .544
2. Chuck Share-STL .522
3. Kenny Sears-NYK .517
4. Harry Gallatin*-NYK .516
5. Paul Arizin*-PHW .515
Effective Field Goal Pct
1. Neil Johnston*-PHW .447
2. Chuck Share-STL .439
3. Jack Twyman*-ROC .439
4. Bob Houbregs*-FTW .432
5. Bill Russell*-BOS .427
Offensive Win Shares
1. Neil Johnston*-PHW 11.6
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW 10.7
3. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 8.8
4. Bob Pettit*-STL 8.4
5. George Yardley*-FTW 8.0
Defensive Win Shares
1. Maurice Stokes*-ROC 6.8
2. Bob Cousy*-BOS 4.7
3. Bill Russell*-BOS 4.6
4. Tom Heinsohn*-BOS 4.1
5. Jim Loscutoff-BOS 4.1
Win Shares
1. Neil Johnston*-PHW 13.7
2. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 12.5
3. Paul Arizin*-PHW 12.3
4. Bob Pettit*-STL 11.6
5. Bill Sharman*-BOS 10.4
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes
1. Neil Johnston*-PHW .259
2. Bob Pettit*-STL .224
3. Paul Arizin*-PHW .213
4. Dolph Schayes*-SYR .211
5. Bill Sharman*-BOS .207