Celtics Win in 1957.

Celtics Win in 1957. Although the Boston Celtics basketball team was founded in 1946, they did not win a championship until 1957, when Celtics coach Red Auerbach helped put together one of the finest teams in basketball history. The hard-fought 1957 series against the St. Louis Hawks is recounted here. . The Celtics Win in 1957 In the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Boston Celtics loom large. Before the 1956-1957 season, however, the Celtics were a struggling team in a fledgling league, and the Boston Garden, their legendary home for 49 seasons (the team moved to the FleetCenter during the 1994-1995 season), was just another arena. Celtics coach Arnold "Red" Auerbach changed that situation by assembling the core of a dynasty that stands unmatched in major American professional sports. From 1957 to 1969 the Celtics won 11 NBA championships, winning 8 of those championships consecutively. The first title, and perhaps most important, came in 1957, when the Celtics defeated the St. Louis Hawks, 125-123, in a double-overtime affair at Boston Garden. The wild game capped a terrific series and offered a first look at the team that would go on to dominate the NBA for more than a decade. In the 1956-1957 season the Celtics won the Eastern Division with a 44-28 win-loss record and defeated the Syracuse Nationals in the playoffs to advance to the NBA Finals against the St. Louis Hawks. Although they won ten fewer games in the regular season than the Celtics did, the Hawks presented a challenge for Boston. They played exceptionally well late in the year and possessed plenty of scoring power, much of it from forward Bob Pettit, who averaged 24.7 points per game. The Hawks also featured Bob Macauley and Cliff Hagan, both traded to the Hawks by the Celtics in the 1956 draft, and guard Slater Martin. Game one, staged in Boston Garden, provided the first glimpse of what the series would be like. Guard Bill Sharman paced the Celtics with 36 points, but Pettit countered with 37 while Macauley and Martin each scored 23 points to push the game into double overtime. Hawks guard Jack Coleman nailed a jumper as the 24second clock expired in the final seconds to give St. Louis a 125-123 win. In game two the Celtics evened the series by limiting Pettit to just 11 points in a 119-99 win. The series moved to St. Louis for game three. Before the game started, Auerbach complained to the officials that the rims were low; Auerbach's complaint offended Hawks owner Ben Kerner, who accused Auerbach of trying to embarrass the home team. An argument ensued, and Auerbach punched Kerner in the mouth. With this lead, the game itself was a rugged, close affair. Pettit netted a long basket late in the contest to give the Hawks a 100-98 victory. The Celtics tied the series at two apiece with a 123-118 win in game four. Celtic guard Bob Cousy scored 31 points while Pettit came up with 33 points. With a 124-109 game five victory, Boston took its first series lead, 3-2. Game six, held in St. Louis, was the lowest-scoring game of the series. With the contest tied at 94 in the final seconds, Pettit missed a difficult shot. Hagan, however, managed to tip in the rebound to give the Hawks the win. That brought the series to Boston Garden for the deciding game seven. The Celtics grabbed the lead in the opening minutes, but the Hawks responded to take a 28-26 lead as the first quarter closed. Boston tore back to grab a nine-point lead, only to see St. Louis, behind Hagan's six points, claw back to stake a two-point halftime lead, 53-51. In the third quarter the momentum swung back to the Celtics, who recaptured the advantage. They pushed their lead to nine points early in the fourth period. The Hawks, however, refused to roll over, scoring nine straight points to grab a four-point lead with less than two minutes to play. With under a minute left, the Celtics managed to cut the margin to one point, at 101-100, when Hawks guard Jack Coleman got free in close for what looked to be the winning bucket. Bill Russell, however, blocked the attempt. Russell then scored on the other end to put the Celtics ahead, 102-101. The Hawks failed to score on their next possession, and with about four seconds left they fouled Cousy, who calmly swished the first free throw. As Cousy explained later, he "didn't even think about" the pressure until the Hawks called time-out and he went to the Celtics' bench. "Then there were 11 guys and the coach saying ...'all you gotta do is make this and we win the championship,'" he said. "Now it gets in my mind." Cousy's second attempt was an air ball. "It was a pure and complete choke," he later said. The Hawks then pulled even when Pettit sunk two free throws to send the game into overtime. The game stayed close throughout the first overtime and a last-second basket pulled the Hawks back into another tie, forcing a second extra period. Late in the second overtime Boston's Jim Loscutoff hit two free throws for a 125-123 Celtics lead in the final seconds. Because several St. Louis players had fouled out in overtime, Alex Hannum, the player-coach for the Hawks, inserted himself into the game for the first time in the series. Hannum threw an inbounds pass off the backboard that Pettit gathered and shot in one motion as time expired. But the breaks were with the Celtics and the shot rolled off the rim. The Celtics had won their first championship series. Later many of the Celtics, including Auerbach, spoke fondly of that first championship. "It was hard," Auerbach said. "The first one is always the hardest, and it's also the most satisfying." The Hawks came back to win the 1958 NBA title. The Celtics reclaimed the title in 1959, and went on to win eight NBA championships in a row. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.