1956 NBA playoffs
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 15–April 7, 1956 |
| Season | 1955–56 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Philadelphia Warriors (2nd title) |
| Runner-up | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| Semifinalists | |
The 1956 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the
Fort Wayne Pistons 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals
.
It was the Warriors' second NBA title; their first was in
Bay Area and become the Golden State Warriors. Philadelphia's later team, the Philadelphia 76ers, would win the title in 1967
.
This was the Pistons' second straight trip to the NBA Finals, but they would not make another appearance until 1988 as the Detroit Pistons. No team from Indiana would return to the NBA Finals until the Indiana Pacers did so in 2000.
The play-in game between the
Syracuse Nationals and the New York Knicks was the last play-in game to determine a playoff spot until 2020.[1]
Bracket
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||
| E1 | Philadelphia* | 3 | |||||||||||
| E3 | Syracuse | 2 | E3 | Syracuse | 2 | ||||||||
| E2 | Boston | 1 | E1 | Philadelphia* | 4 | ||||||||
| W1 | Fort Wayne* | 1 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Fort Wayne* | 3 | |||||||||||
| W3 | St. Louis | 2 | W3 | St. Louis | 2 | ||||||||
| W2 | Minneapolis | 1 | |||||||||||
- * Division winner
- Bold Series winner
- Italic Team with home-court advantage in NBA Finals
Division Tiebreakers
Eastern Division Tiebreaker
Syracuse Nationals
March 15
|
Syracuse Nationals 82
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–17, 21–27, 21–20, 16–18 | ||
| 9 | Pts: Dolph Schayes 14 Rebs: Dolph Schayes 14 Asts: Seymour, King 6 each | |
| Syracuse finishes as the East's #3 seed, New York fails to qualify | ||
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York Referees: Sid Borgia, Mendy Rudolph |
Western Division Tiebreaker
St. Louis Hawks
March 16
|
St. Louis Hawks 97
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–33, 25–19, 29–17, 22–28 | ||
Pts: Slater Martin 28 |
Pts: Bob Pettit 22 | |
| Minneapolis finishes as the West's #2 seed, St. Louis as the West's #3 seed | ||
Division Semifinals
Eastern Division Semifinals
(2) Syracuse Nationals
March 17
|
Syracuse Nationals 93, Boston Celtics 110
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–25, 19–26, 31–29, 21–30 | ||
| 6 | Pts: Bob Cousy 29 Asts: Bob Cousy 9 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 19
|
Syracuse Nationals 101
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–21, 29–32, 20–28, 28–20 | ||
| 10 | Pts: 5 each | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York |
March 21
|
Syracuse Nationals 102, Boston Celtics 97
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–22, 36–23, 21–31, 24–21 | ||
| 5 | Pts: Bill Sharman 24 Rebs: Arnie Risen 15 Asts: Bob Cousy 7 | |
| Syracuse wins series, 2–1 | ||
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Nationals winning three of the first four meetings.
| Syracuse leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
Western Division Semifinals
(2) St. Louis Hawks
March 17
|
St. Louis Hawks 116
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–25, 29–20, 31–39, 24–32 | ||
| 19 each | Pts: Bob Pettit 25 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 19
|
Minneapolis Lakers 133
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 15–25, 15–36, 24–36, 21–36 | ||
Pts: Bob Pettit 14 |
Pts: Slater Martin 19 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 21
|
Minneapolis Lakers 115
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–27, 32–29, 33–28, 31–31 | ||
Pts: Bob Pettit 41 |
Pts: Clyde Lovellette 31 | |
| St. Louis wins series, 2–1 | ||
- George Mikan’s final NBA game.
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[3]
Division Finals
Eastern Division Finals
(1) Syracuse Nationals
March 23
|
Philadelphia Warriors 109
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–28, 27–23, 25–24, 18–34 | ||
| 8 | Pts: Paul Arizin 29 Rebs: Neil Johnston 24 Asts: Gola, Beck 5 each | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 1–0 | ||
Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
March 25
|
Syracuse Nationals 122
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 38–35, 19–27, 33–36, 28–24 | ||
| 7 | Pts: Dolph Schayes 33 Rebs: Dolph Schayes 16 Asts: George King 10 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York |
March 27
|
Philadelphia Warriors 119
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–32, 24–30, 25–25, 24–32 | ||
| 6 | Pts: Joe Graboski 20 Rebs: Neil Johnston 18 Asts: Tom Gola 10 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 2–1 | ||
Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
March 28
|
Syracuse Nationals 108
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–26, 25–26, 18–30, 30–26 | ||
| 7 | Pts: Red Kerr 9 15Asts: George King | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York |
March 29
|
Philadelphia Warriors 109
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–32, 20–24, 25–22, 31–31 | ||
| 13 | Pts: Paul Arizin 35 Rebs: Neil Johnston 18 Asts: Neil Johnston 8 | |
| Philadelphia wins series, 3–2 | ||
Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the 76ers/Nationals winning the first three meetings.
| Philadelphia 76ers/ Syracuse Nationals leads 3–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
Western Division Finals
(1) St. Louis Hawks
March 22
|
Fort Wayne Pistons 85
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–25, 23–20, 19–23, 17–17 | ||
Pts: Al Ferrari 17 |
Pts: George Yardley 23 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 1–0 | ||
War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana |
March 24
|
St. Louis Hawks 84
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 12–30, 23–17, 18–19, 21–18 | ||
Pts: Larry Foust 16 |
Pts: Al Ferrari 21 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 2–0 | ||
March 25
|
Fort Wayne Pistons 107
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–29, 24–26, 16–22, 25–30 | ||
Pts: Alex Hannum 18 |
Pts: Houbregs, Yardley 19 each | |
| St. Louis leads series, 2–1 | ||
War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana |
March 27
|
St. Louis Hawks 84
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–21, 28–27, 18–18, 23–18 | ||
Pts: George Yardley 30 |
Pts: Jack Coleman 19 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
March 29
|
Fort Wayne Pistons 102
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–24, 18–22, 31–21, 29–35 | ||
Pts: Jack Coleman 20 |
Pts: Foust, Yardley 20 each | |
| Fort Wayne wins series, 3–2 | ||
War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana |
- Pistons become first team to come back after from a 2–0 deficit in NBA playoffs.
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[5]
NBA Finals: (E1) Philadelphia Warriors vs. (W1) Fort Wayne Pistons
March 31
|
Philadelphia Warriors 98
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–20, 24–20, 15–33, 30–25 | ||
| 6 each | Pts: Paul Arizin 28 Rebs: Neil Johnston 14 Asts: Tom Gola 10 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 1–0 | ||
Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attendance: 4,128 |
April 1
|
Fort Wayne Pistons 84
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–20, 26–22, 19–23, 18–19 | ||
| 6 | Pts: George Yardley 30 Rebs: George Yardley 19 Asts: Andy Phillip 5 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana Attendance: 6,976 |
April 3
|
Philadelphia Warriors 100
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–25, 25–23, 14–25, 31–27 | ||
| 4 | Pts: Paul Arizin 27 Rebs: Neil Johnston 17 Asts: Tom Gola 8 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 2–1 | ||
Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attendance: 11,698 |
April 5
|
Fort Wayne Pistons 105
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–24, 26–32, 30–26, 27–23 | ||
| 7 | Pts: George Yardley 21 Rebs: Larry Foust 14 Asts: Andy Phillip 6 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 3–1 | ||
War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana Attendance: 7,852 |
April 7
|
Philadelphia Warriors 99
| ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–22, 19–22, 20–28, 25–27 | ||
| 6 | Pts: Joe Graboski 29 Rebs: Joe Graboski 16 Asts: Jack George 10 | |
| Philadelphia wins series, 4–1 | ||
Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attendance: 11,194 |
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[6]
See also
- NBA records
References
- ^ "How the Blazers, Grizzlies, Spurs and Suns make the West play-in". ESPN.com. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
- ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Atlanta Hawks versus Los Angeles Lakers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Golden State Warriors versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Atlanta Hawks versus Detroit Pistons (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Detroit Pistons versus Golden State Warriors (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.