NBA basketball team season (Season champions)
NBA professional basketball team season
1956–57 Boston Celtics season NBA champions
Division champions
Head coach Red Auerbach Arena Boston Garden Results Record 44–28 (.611) Place Division: 1st (Eastern) Playoff finish NBA Champions (Defeated Hawks 4–3) Stats at Basketball-Reference.com Radio WHDH
The 1956-57 complete roster that won their first championship. The 1956–57 Boston Celtics season was the 11th season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). This was the first time in franchise history where the Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals, which they won over the St. Louis Hawks in 7 games. The Celtics would make the Finals a record 10 consecutive seasons, spanning from this season to the 1965–66 season . They were led by 1957's MVP Bob Cousy, as well as Bill Russell, Bill Sharman, and 1957's Rookie of the Year Tom Heinsohn.
With Russell's death in 2022, Bob Cousy is the only remaining player from the 1957 championship team still alive.
Offseason NBA draft Roster Boston Celtics roster Players Coaches Pos. # Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From G 14 Cousy, Bob 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1928-08-09 Holy Cross F/C 15 Heinsohn, Tom 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1934-08-26 Holy Cross F 20 Hemric, Dick 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1933-08-29 Wake Forest F 18 Loscutoff, Jim 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1930-02-04 Oregon F/C 16 Nichols, Jack 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) 1926-04-09 Washington G 17 Phillip, Andy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1922-03-07 Illinois G/F 23 Ramsey, Frank 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1931-07-13 Kentucky F/C 19 Risen, Arnie 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1924-10-09 Ohio State C 6 Russell, Bill 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1934-02-12 San Francisco G 21 Sharman, Bill 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1926-05-25 USC F 29 Tsioropoulos, Lou 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1930-08-31 Kentucky
Head coach Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick(FA) Free agent(S) Suspended Injured
Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents 1956-57 NBA Records Team BOS FWP MIN NYK PHI ROC STL SYR Boston – 6–3 5–4 7–5 8–4 6–3 7–2 5–7 Fort Wayne 3–6 – 7–5 5–4 4–5 6–6 4–8 5–4 Minneapolis 4–5 5–7 – 3–6 5–4 9–3 4–8 4–5 New York 5–7 4–5 6–3 – 4–8 5–4 6–3 6–6 Philadelphia 4–8 5–4 4–5 8–4 – 4–5 7–2 5–7 Rochester 3–6 6–6 3–9 4–5 5–4 – 6–6 4–5 St. Louis 2–7 8–4 8–4 3–6 2–7 6–6 – 5–4 Syracuse 7–5 4–5 5–4 6–6 7–5 5–4 4–5 —
Game log 1956–57 Game log # Date Opponent Score High points Record 1 October 27 @ New York 115–112 Bob Cousy (35) 1–0 2 November 3 New York 113–107 Bill Sharman (31) 1–1 3 November 10 Minneapolis 110–117 Bob Cousy (27) 2–1 4 November 11 @ Syracuse 94–83 Bill Sharman (28) 3–1 5 November 14 N Minneapolis 113–97 Bill Sharman (28) 3–2 6 November 15 @ Fort Wayne 95–98 Bill Sharman (24) 3–3 7 November 17 Rochester 86–108 Jim Loscutoff (20) 4–3 8 November 18 @ Rochester 101–87 Bill Sharman (32) 5–3 9 November 21 Philadelphia 83–95 Bill Sharman (28) 6–3 10 November 22 @ Philadelphia 101–78 Bill Sharman (30) 7–3 11 November 24 Syracuse 99–114 Cousy, Sharman (21) 8–3 12 November 27 @ St. Louis 102–90 Bob Cousy (27) 9–3 13 November 28 N Minneapolis 93–105 Jim Loscutoff (26) 10–3 14 November 30 N Fort Wayne 102–104 Arnie Risen (22) 11–3 15 December 1 Fort Wayne 93–108 Bill Sharman (22) 12–3 16 December 4 N St. Louis 107–108 Cousy, Heinsohn (26) 13–3 17 December 6 @ Philadelphia 111–113 Bob Cousy (32) 13–4 18 December 7 Minneapolis 114–121 Bob Cousy (34) 14–4 19 December 9 @ Syracuse 110–116 Tom Heinsohn (25) 14–5 20 December 11 N Fort Wayne 97–113 Tom Heinsohn (34) 15–5 21 December 12 Rochester 103–93 Bob Cousy (23) 15–6 22 December 15 St. Louis 99–102 Bob Cousy (26) 16–6 23 December 16 N Philadelphia 116–104 Bob Cousy (21) 16–7 24 December 18 @ New York 99–110 Bob Cousy (35) 16–8 25 December 22 St. Louis 93–95 Tom Heinsohn (19) 17–8 26 December 23 @ Fort Wayne 87–95 Bill Sharman (26) 17–9 27 December 25 N Philadelphia 89–82 Bob Cousy (22) 17–10 28 December 26 Philadelphia 97–120 Dickie Hemric (27) 18–10 29 December 27 N Rochester 92–97 Bill Sharman (19) 19–10 30 December 30 Syracuse 92–105 Bill Sharman (28) 20–10 31 January 1 N Philadelphia 87–100 Tom Heinsohn (30) 21–10 32 January 4 N Syracuse 116–106 Bob Cousy (32) 21–11 33 January 6 Fort Wayne 92–118 Bob Cousy (20) 22–11 34 January 8 @ New York 102–113 Cousy, Sharman (25) 22–12 35 January 10 @ Fort Wayne 98–81 Jim Loscutoff (22) 23–12 36 January 12 @ St. Louis 98–100 Bill Sharman (32) 23–13 37 January 13 @ Minneapolis 87–104 Bill Sharman (24) 23–14 38 January 18 St. Louis 117–126 Bill Sharman (33) 24–14 39 January 19 @ Rochester 97–83 Bob Cousy (33) 25–14 40 January 20 New York 78–114 Bob Cousy (32) 26–14 41 January 23 Syracuse 108–140 Bill Sharman (22) 27–14 42 January 25 Minneapolis 106–115 Bob Cousy (30) 28–14 43 January 27 @ Philadelphia 107–87 Bill Sharman (30) 29–14 44 January 28 Philadelphia 95–105 Bob Cousy (22) 30–14 45 January 29 N Minneapolis 91–103 Bill Sharman (32) 31–14 46 January 30 Syracuse 119–116 Bill Sharman (26) 31–15 47 January 31 @ Syracuse 104–105 Bill Sharman (30) 31–16 48 February 2 @ New York 114–111 Bill Russell (22) 32–16 49 February 3 New York 98–116 Bill Sharman (33) 33–16 50 February 5 N Syracuse 101–105 Bob Cousy (24) 34–16 51 February 6 Fort Wayne 93–108 Bill Sharman (28) 35–16 52 February 8 N New York 92–90 Frank Ramsey (23) 35–17 53 February 9 @ Rochester 102–103 Tom Heinsohn (20) 35–18 54 February 10 Philadelphia 98–103 (OT) Bob Cousy (26) 36–18 55 February 13 @ Minneapolis 114–115 Cousy, Heinsohn (27) 36–19 56 February 14 @ Fort Wayne 106–112 Frank Ramsey (25) 36–20 57 February 15 @ St. Louis 123–116 (2OT) Bob Cousy (33) 37–20 58 February 17 @ Syracuse 106–116 Bill Russell (23) 37–21 59 February 19 @ New York 112–110 Bob Cousy (27) 38–21 60 February 21 St. Louis 112–125 Tom Heinsohn (32) 39–21 61 February 22 @ Philadelphia 109–117 Heinsohn, Russell (30) 39–22 62 February 24 New York 85–97 Bill Sharman (27) 40–22 63 February 26 N Rochester 77–92 Bill Sharman (32) 41–22 64 February 28 N New York 122–121 (OT) Tom Heinsohn (35) 41–23 65 March 1 Philadelphia 80–90 Ramsey, Sharman (19) 42–23 66 March 2 @ Rochester 87–96 Tom Heinsohn (20) 42–24 67 March 3 Rochester 102–111 Bill Russell (30) 43–24 68 March 5 @ St. Louis 102–104 Tom Heinsohn (41) 43–25 69 March 7 @ Minneapolis 104–109 Bill Sharman (26) 43–26 70 March 9 @ Syracuse 102–104 Bill Sharman (27) 43–27 71 March 10 Syracuse 94–92 Bill Sharman (24) 43–28 72 March 13 New York 91–122 Bill Sharman (28) 44–28
Player statistics Legend GP Games played MPG Minutes per game FG% Field-goal percentage FT% Free-throw percentage RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game PPG Points per game
Season * – Stats with the Celtics.
Playoffs Player GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG Bob Cousy 10 44.0 .324 .747 6.1 9.3 20.2 Tom Heinsohn 10 37.0 .390 .710 11.7 2.0 22.9 Dick Hemric 2 9.5 .143 . 4.5 0.5 1.0 Jim Loscutoff 10 25.9 .284 .643 8.3 0.5 8.0 Jack Nichols 10 11.7 .400 .600 1.7 0.7 3.5 Andy Phillip 10 12.8 .364 .400 2.0 1.7 2.2 Frank Ramsey 10 22.9 .463 .780 4.3 1.7 12.2 Arnie Risen 10 15.2 .444 .655 5.8 0.8 7.5 Bill Russell 10 40.9 .365 .508 24.4 3.2 13.9 Bill Sharman 10 37.7 .381 .953 3.5 2.9 21.1
Playoffs 1957 playoff game log Division Finals: 3–0 (home: 2–0; road: 1–0)
NBA Finals: 4–3 (home: 3–1; road: 1–2)
1957 schedule
Awards and honors Bob Cousy, NBA MVP of the Year Bob Cousy, All-NBA First Team Tom Heinsohn, NBA Rookie of the Year Bill Sharman, All-NBA First Team References
Celtics on Database Basketball Celtics on Basketball Reference
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Boston Celtics seasons
Franchise History Seasons 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Bold indicates NBA Finals victory