The 1957 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1956-57 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Division champion St. Louis Hawks, four games to three in the NBA Finals. It was the first championship in Celtics history; as of 2009, the Celtics lead the league in NBA titles won, with 17.
The Celtics and Hawks would meet in four out of five NBA Finals from 1957 to 1961, with the Celtics winning three series and the Hawks one. While the Hawks' dominance of the Western Division would be succeeded by the Los Angeles Lakers afterward, the Celtics would only miss the NBA Finals once between 1957 and 1969, and win the NBA championship in every year but two.
In the division semifinals, the Philadelphia Warriors were swept by the Syracuse Nationals in two straight games. This was the first time in NBA history that the defending champions were swept in the opening round of the playoffs. It would be another 50 years before the defending champions were swept in the opening round of the playoffs.
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||
| 1 | St. Louis | 3 | |||||||||||
| Western Division | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Minneapolis | 0 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Fort Wayne | 0 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Minneapolis | 2 | |||||||||||
| W1 | St. Louis | 3 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Boston | 4 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Boston | 3 | |||||||||||
| Eastern Division | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Syracuse | 0 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Philadelphia | 0 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Syracuse | 2 | |||||||||||
Contents |
St. Louis Hawks vs. Minneapolis Lakers: Hawks win series 1-0
St. Louis Hawks vs. Fort Wayne Pistons: Hawks win series 1-0
St. Louis defeats Fort Wayne & Minneapolis for #1 seed in West. Minneapolis gets #2 seed, Fort Wayne #3.
Champion: St. Louis Hawks
Division Semifinals
(1) St. Louis Hawks have division semifinals byes.
(2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) Fort Wayne Pistons: Lakers win series 2-0
Division Finals
(1) St. Louis Hawks vs. (2) Minneapolis Lakers: Hawks win series 3-0
Champion: Boston Celtics
Division Semifinals
(1) Boston Celtics have division semifinals byes.
(2) Syracuse Nationals vs. (3) Philadelphia Warriors: Nationals win series 2-0
Division Finals
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (2) Syracuse Nationals: Celtics win series 3-0
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (1) St. Louis Hawks: Celtics win series 4-3
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||