1955–56 St. Louis Hawks season

The 1955–1956 Saint Louis Hawks season was the 10th season for the franchise. After 4 last-place seasons in Milwaukee, the Hawks relocated to St. Louis. The city had once been home to the St. Louis Bombers, an early BAA franchise that folded in 1950. The Hawks were on the verge of becoming one of the top teams in the NBA, led by second year forward Bob Pettit, who would earn the very first MVP award in NBA history.[1] The Hawks would finish in third place with a 33–39 record.

1955–56 St. Louis Hawks season
Head coachRed Holzman
ArenaKiel Auditorium
Results
Record33–39 (.458)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finishWest Division Finals(eliminated 2–3)

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKTVI
RadioKMOX
< 1954–55 1956–57 >

In the playoffs against the Minneapolis Lakers, the Hawks were triumphant in Game 1 by a single point. Game 2 was played in Minneapolis, and the Hawks were blown out by 58 points in Game 2. The third game was contested in St. Louis. Once again, the Hawks would win by 1 point to advance to the Western Finals. In the three games, the Hawks were outscored by 56 points. In the Western Finals, the Hawks would win the first 2 games against the Fort Wayne Pistons. However, the Pistons would rebound to take the next 3 games and win the series.[1]

Regular season

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Season standings

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W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Fort Wayne Pistons 37 35 .514 - 19-7 10-17 8-11 19-17
x-Minneapolis Lakers 33 39 .458 4 14-12 6-21 13-6 19-17
x-St. Louis Hawks 33 39 .458 4 15-11 11-17 7-11 18-18
Rochester Royals 31 41 .431 6 15-14 6-21 10-6 16-20


Record vs. opponents

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1955-56 NBA Records
Team BOS FWP MIN NYK PHI ROC STL SYR
Boston 4–5 7–2 5–7 5–7 5–4 5–4 8–4
Fort Wayne 5–4 5–7 5–4 4–5 7–5 7–5 4–5
Minneapolis 2–7 7–5 5–4 3–6 7–5 5–7 4–5
New York 7–5 4–5 4–5 6–6 6–3 4–5 4–8
Philadelphia 7–5 5–4 6–3 6–6 6–3 6–3 9–3
Rochester 4–5 5–7 5–7 3–6 3–6 6–6 5–4
St. Louis 4–5 5–7 7–5 5–4 3–6 6–6 3–6
Syracuse 4–8 5–4 5–4 8–4 3–9 4–5 6–3

Game log

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1955–56 Game log
# Date Opponent Score High points Record
1 November 5 Minneapolis 89–101 Pettit, Selvy (21) 1–0
2 November 12 Syracuse 91–81 Bob Pettit (32) 1–1
3 November 15 New York 95–121 Bob Pettit (23) 2–1
4 November 19 @ New York 104–91 Bob Pettit (33) 3–1
5 November 20 @ Syracuse 80–84 Chuck Share (20) 3–2
6 November 23 Rochester 88–90 (OT) Pettit, Share (20) 4–2
7 November 24 @ Minneapolis 99–107 Bob Pettit (20) 4–3
8 November 26 Minneapolis 95–104 Pettit, Selvy (20) 5–3
9 November 27 @ Fort Wayne 106–114 (OT) Bob Pettit (27) 5–4
10 November 29 Philadelphia 95–108 Bob Pettit (40) 6–4
11 November 30 N Minneapolis 99–97 Bob Harrison (19) 7–4
12 December 1 @ Philadelphia 98–115 Bob Pettit (22) 7–5
13 December 2 @ Boston 81–94 Bob Pettit (24) 7–6
14 December 3 @ Rochester 89–78 Bob Pettit (25) 8–6
15 December 6 Boston 122–99 Bob Pettit (24) 8–7
16 December 10 New York 99–80 Bob Pettit (20) 8–8
17 December 11 @ Rochester 91–93 Bob Pettit (30) 8–9
18 December 14 N Rochester 109–117 Bob Pettit (34) 8–10
19 December 16 N Rochester 100–97 (OT) Bob Pettit (23) 9–10
20 December 18 Rochester 85–86 Bob Pettit (26) 10–10
21 December 26 N Fort Wayne 67–83 Bob Harrison (12) 10–11
22 December 27 Boston 105–102 Bob Pettit (46) 10–12
23 December 28 @ Minneapolis 111–90 Bob Pettit (33) 11–12
24 December 29 N Minneapolis 71–74 Bob Pettit (20) 11–13
25 December 30 N Fort Wayne 89–90 Jack Stephens (21) 11–14
26 January 1 @ Fort Wayne 68–85 Bob Schafer (17) 11–15
27 January 2 Syracuse 84–82 Chuck Share (20) 11–16
28 January 4 @ Minneapolis 76–94 Bob Pettit (27) 11–17
29 January 7 Fort Wayne 108–97 Bob Pettit (22) 11–18
30 January 8 @ Fort Wayne 96–91 Bob Pettit (21) 12–18
31 January 10 @ Philadelphia 107–109 (OT) Bob Pettit (26) 12–19
32 January 12 @ Syracuse 78–93 Chuck Share (13) 12–20
33 January 13 N Rochester 90–98 Bob Pettit (20) 12–21
34 January 14 @ New York 104–101 (2OT) Jack McMahon (29) 13–21
35 January 15 Philadelphia 108–96 Bob Pettit (23) 13–22
36 January 17 N Minneapolis 86–97 Chuck Share (21) 13–23
37 January 19 N Fort Wayne 83–90 Bob Pettit (25) 13–24
38 January 20 @ Boston 112–133 Jack McMahon (22) 13–25
39 January 21 N Rochester 90–97 Bob Pettit (28) 13–26
40 January 22 @ Syracuse 109–105 Bob Pettit (39) 14–26
41 January 25 Rochester 106–114 Bob Pettit (33) 15–26
42 January 28 Syracuse 85–93 Al Ferrari (21) 16–26
43 January 29 @ Minneapolis 114–107 Bob Pettit (39) 17–26
44 January 31 Boston 91–114 Al Ferrari (20) 18–26
45 February 2 Fort Wayne 90–98 Bob Pettit (27) 19–26
46 February 4 N Fort Wayne 98–94 Bob Pettit (40) 20–26
47 February 5 Philadelphia 93–105 Bob Pettit (30) 21–26
48 February 8 N Boston 111–110 Bob Pettit (36) 22–26
49 February 9 @ Philadelphia 97–108 Bob Pettit (27) 22–27
50 February 10 @ Boston 100–124 Jack Coleman (23) 22–28
51 February 11 @ New York 91–107 Bob Pettit (24) 22–29
52 February 12 Philadelphia 87–79 Bob Pettit (37) 22–30
53 February 14 New York 103–99 Bob Pettit (30) 22–31
54 February 19 Fort Wayne 89–83 Bob Pettit (20) 22–32
55 February 20 N Fort Wayne 84–82 Bob Pettit (26) 23–32
56 February 21 Boston 97–101 Pettit, Share (27) 24–32
57 February 22 N Rochester 109–110 Park, Pettit (22) 24–33
58 February 24 N Syracuse 103–116 Bob Pettit (46) 25–33
59 February 25 @ New York 99–89 Bob Pettit (37) 26–33
60 February 26 New York 85–103 Bob Pettit (32) 27–33
61 February 27 N New York 109–113 Bob Pettit (23) 27–34
62 March 1 Rochester 95–94 Bob Pettit (27) 27–35
63 March 3 Fort Wayne 86–92 Ferrari, Share (19) 28–35
64 March 4 @ Minneapolis 84–113 Jack Stephens (14) 28–36
65 March 6 N Philadelphia 102–97 Bob Pettit (32) 29–36
66 March 7 @ Rochester 96–89 Bob Pettit (28) 30–36
67 March 8 @ Syracuse 88–92 Jack Stephens (21) 30–37
68 March 9 Minneapolis 102–103 Bob Pettit (44) 31–37
69 March 10 Minneapolis 97–105 Bob Pettit (34) 32–37
70 March 11 @ Boston 127–121 Bob Pettit (43) 33–37
71 March 12 N Syracuse 97–92 Chuck Share (30) 33–38
72 March 13 @ Philadelphia 113–116 Bob Pettit (29) 33–39

Playoffs

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1956 playoff game log
Division Tiebreaker (finished as West's #3 seed)
Game Date Team Score High points Location Record
1 March 16 Minneapolis L 97–103 Bob Pettit (22) Kiel Auditorium 0–1
Division Semifinals: 2–1 (home: 1–0; road: 1–1)
Game Date Team Score High points Location Series
1 March 17 Minneapolis W 116–115 Bob Pettit (25) Kiel Auditorium 1–0
2 March 19 @ Minneapolis L 75–133 Bob Pettit (14) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–1
3 March 21 @ Minneapolis W 116–115 Bob Pettit (41) Minneapolis Auditorium 2–1
Division Finals: 2–3 (home: 1–1; road: 1–2)
Game Date Team Score High points Location Series
1 March 22 @ Fort Wayne W 86–85 Al Ferrari (17) War Memorial Coliseum 1–0
2 March 24 Fort Wayne W 84–74 Al Ferrari (21) Kiel Auditorium 2–0
3 March 25 @ Fort Wayne L 84–107 Alex Hannum (18) War Memorial Coliseum 2–1
4 March 27 Fort Wayne L 84–93 Jack Coleman (19) Kiel Auditorium 2–2
5 March 29 @ Fort Wayne L 97–102 Jack Coleman (20) War Memorial Coliseum 2–3
1956 schedule

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ a b "St. Louis Hawks – Sports Ecyclopedia".