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1961-62 NBA Season Summary

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1961-62 NBA:

League Standings

Glossary ▪ Playoff teams are marked with an asterisk (*)
Team W L W-L% GB PS/G PA/G SRS
Eastern Division              
Boston Celtics* 60 20 .750 — 121.1 111.9 8.25
Philadelphia Warriors* 49 31 .613 11.0 125.4 122.7 2.63
Syracuse Nationals* 41 39 .513 19.0 120.7 118.4 2.24
New York Knickerbockers 29 51 .363 31.0 114.8 119.7 -3.98
Western Division              
Los Angeles Lakers* 54 26 .675 — 118.5 116.3 1.80
Cincinnati Royals* 43 37 .538 11.0 123.1 121.3 1.28
Detroit Pistons* 37 43 .463 17.0 115.4 117.1 -1.72
St. Louis Hawks 29 51 .363 25.0 118.9 122.1 -2.96
Chicago Packers 18 62 .225 36.0 110.9 119.4 -7.54

League Playoffs

Finals (4-3): Boston Celtics over Los Angeles Lakers
 
Eastern Division Finals (4-3): Boston Celtics over Philadelphia Warriors
Western Division Finals (4-2): Los Angeles Lakers over Detroit Pistons
 
Eastern Division Semifinals (3-2): Philadelphia Warriors over Syracuse Nationals
Western Division Semifinals (3-1): Detroit Pistons over Cincinnati Royals

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 Philadelphia Warriors* 80 3917 8929 .439 2201 3207 .686 5939 2073 2013 10035 125.4
2 Cincinnati Royals* 80 3806 8414 .452 2233 2969 .752 5665 2154 2081 9845 123.1
3 Boston Celtics* 80 3855 9109 .423 1977 2715 .728 6080 2049 1909 9687 121.1
4 Syracuse Nationals* 80 3706 8875 .418 2246 2880 .780 5764 1791 2344 9658 120.7
5 St. Louis Hawks 80 3641 8461 .430 2226 2939 .757 5557 1996 2166 9508 118.9
6 Los Angeles Lakers* 80 3552 8315 .427 2378 3240 .734 5600 1878 2057 9482 118.5
7 Detroit Pistons* 80 3472 8366 .415 2290 3142 .729 5823 1723 2040 9234 115.4
8 New York Knickerbockers 80 3638 8696 .418 1911 2693 .710 5440 1765 2056 9187 114.8
9 Chicago Packers 80 3461 8405 .412 1952 2901 .673 5547 1802 1954 8874 110.9
League Average 80 3672 8619 .426 2157 2965 .727 5713 1915 2069 9501 118.8

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 Boston Celtics* 80 8948 111.9
2 Los Angeles Lakers* 80 9306 116.3
3 Detroit Pistons* 80 9369 117.1
4 Syracuse Nationals* 80 9473 118.4
5 Chicago Packers 80 9553 119.4
6 New York Knickerbockers 80 9574 119.7
7 Cincinnati Royals* 80 9704 121.3
8 St. Louis Hawks 80 9770 122.1
9 Philadelphia Warriors* 80 9813 122.7
League Average 80 9501 118.8

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 Boston Celtics* 60.2 19.8 8.25 .423 .217 Boston Garden 191,855
2 Los Angeles Lakers* 45.2 34.8 1.80 .427 .286 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 190,321
3 Philadelphia Warriors* 46.2 33.8 2.63 .439 .247 Philadelphia Civic Center 161,795
4 Cincinnati Royals* 44.0 36.0 1.28 .452 .265 Cincinnati Gardens 146,468
5 Syracuse Nationals* 45.4 34.6 2.24 .418 .253 Onondaga War Memorial 112,486
6 Detroit Pistons* 35.9 44.1 -1.72 .415 .274 Cobo Arena 143,081
7 New York Knickerbockers 28.8 51.2 -3.98 .418 .220 Madison Square Garden (III) 265,153
8 St. Louis Hawks 32.5 47.5 -2.96 .430 .263 Kiel Auditorium 256,747
9 Chicago Packers 21.0 59.0 -7.54 .412 .232 International Amphitheatre 103,126
League Average 40.0 40.0 0.00 .426 .250 174,559

League Awards

Most Valuable Player: Bill Russell*
Rookie of the Year: Walt Bellamy*

League Leaders

Glossary ▪ Rate statistic requirements

Minutes Played

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 3882
2. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 3503
3. Bill Russell*-BOS 3433
4. Richie Guerin-NYK 3346
5. Walt Bellamy*-CHP 3344

Field Goals

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 1597
2. Walt Bellamy*-CHP 973
3. Bob Pettit*-STL 867
4. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 866
5. Richie Guerin-NYK 839

Field Goal Attempts

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 3159
2. Bob Pettit*-STL 1928
3. Richie Guerin-NYK 1897
4. Walt Bellamy*-CHP 1875
5. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 1810

Field Goal Pct

1. Walt Bellamy*-CHP .519
2. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW .505
3. Jack Twyman*-CIN .479
4. Oscar Robertson*-CIN .478
5. Al Attles-PHW .474

Free Throws

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 835
2. Jerry West*-LAL 712
3. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 700
4. Bob Pettit*-STL 695
5. Richie Guerin-NYK 625

Free Throw Attempts

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 1363
2. Jerry West*-LAL 926
3. Bob Pettit*-STL 901
4. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 872
5. Walt Bellamy*-CHP 853

Free Throw Pct

1. Dolph Schayes*-SYR .897
2. Willie Naulls-NYK .842
3. Larry Costello-SYR .837
4. Frank Ramsey*-BOS .825
5. Cliff Hagan*-STL .825

Total Rebounds

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 2052
2. Bill Russell*-BOS 1790
3. Walt Bellamy*-CHP 1500
4. Bob Pettit*-STL 1459
5. Red Kerr-SYR 1176

Assists

1. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 899
2. Guy Rodgers-PHW 643
3. Bob Cousy*-BOS 584
4. Richie Guerin-NYK 539
5. Gene Shue-DET 465

Personal Fouls

1. Tom Meschery-PHW 330
2. Walter Dukes-DET 327
3. Jack Twyman*-CIN 323
4. Bailey Howell*-DET 317
5. Guy Rodgers-PHW 312

Points

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 4029
2. Walt Bellamy*-CHP 2495
3. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 2432
4. Bob Pettit*-STL 2429
5. Jerry West*-LAL 2310

Minutes Per Game

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 48.5
2. Bill Russell*-BOS 45.2
3. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 44.3
4. Richie Guerin-NYK 42.9
5. Walt Bellamy*-CHP 42.3

Points Per Game

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 50.4
2. Walt Bellamy*-CHP 31.6
3. Bob Pettit*-STL 31.1
4. Jerry West*-LAL 30.8
5. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 30.8

Rebounds Per Game

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 25.6
2. Bill Russell*-BOS 23.6
3. Walt Bellamy*-CHP 19.0
4. Bob Pettit*-STL 18.7
5. Red Kerr-SYR 14.7

Assists Per Game

1. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 11.4
2. Guy Rodgers-PHW 8.0
3. Bob Cousy*-BOS 7.8
4. Richie Guerin-NYK 6.9
5. Gene Shue-DET 5.8

Player Efficiency Rating

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 31.8
2. Elgin Baylor*-LAL 26.5
3. Walt Bellamy*-CHP 26.3
4. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 26.0
5. Bob Pettit*-STL 24.3

True Shooting Pct

1. Walt Bellamy*-CHP .554
2. Oscar Robertson*-CIN .554
3. Bailey Howell*-DET .539
4. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW .536
5. Jack Twyman*-CIN .528

Effective Field Goal Pct

1. Walt Bellamy*-CHP .519
2. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW .506
3. Jack Twyman*-CIN .479
4. Oscar Robertson*-CIN .478
5. Al Attles-PHW .474

Offensive Win Shares

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 17.1
2. Walt Bellamy*-CHP 13.4
3. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 13.4
4. Jerry West*-LAL 9.8
5. Bob Pettit*-STL 9.6

Defensive Win Shares

1. Bill Russell*-BOS 11.6
2. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 6.0
3. Bob Cousy*-BOS 5.6
4. Tom Heinsohn*-BOS 5.5
5. Tom Sanders-BOS 5.1

Win Shares

1. Wilt Chamberlain*-PHW 23.1
2. Walt Bellamy*-CHP 16.3
3. Oscar Robertson*-CIN 15.6
4. Bill Russell*-BOS 15.5
5. Jerry West*-LAL 12.9
     

All-NBA Teams

1st Team
Elgin Baylor*
Wilt Chamberlain*
Bob Pettit*
Oscar Robertson*
Jerry West*
 2nd Team
Bob Cousy*
Richie Guerin
Tom Heinsohn*
Bill Russell*
Jack Twyman*

All-Star Game Rosters

East
Paul Arizin*
Wilt Chamberlain*
Larry Costello
Bob Cousy*
Tom Gola*
Johnny Green
Hal Greer*
Richie Guerin
Tom Heinsohn*
Sam Jones*
Willie Naulls
Bill Russell*
Dolph Schayes*
 West
Elgin Baylor*
Walt Bellamy*
Wayne Embry
Cliff Hagan*
Bailey Howell*
Rudy LaRusso
Bob Pettit*
Oscar Robertson*
Frank Selvy
Gene Shue
Jack Twyman*
Jerry West*