1960–61 NBA season
| 1960–61 NBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | St. Louis Hawks |
The 1960–61 NBA season was the 15th season of the
St. Louis Hawks 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals
.
Notable occurrences
- The Lakers relocate from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Los Angeles. They would play for seven seasons in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
- The NBA schedule expanded again, this time from 75 games per team to 79.
- The Cincinnati Royalswon the game's MVP award.
| Offseason | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | 1959–60 coach | 1960–61 coach |
Syracuse Nationals
|
Paul Seymour | Alex Hannum |
Cincinnati Royals
|
Tom Marshall | Charles Wolf |
| Los Angeles/Minneapolis Lakers | Jim Pollard | Fred Schaus |
St. Louis Hawks
|
Ed Macauley | Paul Seymour |
Final standings
Eastern Division
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x-Boston Celtics | 57 | 22 | .722 | – | 21–7 | 24–11 | 12–4 | 28–11 |
| x-Philadelphia Warriors | 46 | 33 | .582 | 11 | 23–6 | 12–21 | 11–6 | 22–17 |
| x-Syracuse Nationals | 38 | 41 | .481 | 19 | 19–9 | 8–21 | 11–11 | 18–21 |
| New York Knicks | 21 | 58 | .266 | 36 | 10–22 | 7–25 | 4–11 | 10–29 |
Western Division
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x-St. Louis Hawks | 51 | 28 | .646 | – | 29–5 | 15–20 | 7–3 | 25–14 |
| x-Los Angeles Lakers | 36 | 43 | .456 | 15 | 16–12 | 8–20 | 12–11 | 19–20 |
| x-Detroit Pistons | 34 | 45 | .430 | 17 | 20–11 | 3–19 | 11–15 | 18–21 |
| Cincinnati Royals | 33 | 46 | .418 | 18 | 18–13 | 8–19 | 7–14 | 16–23 |
x – clinched playoff spot
Playoffs
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 4 | |||||||||||
| E3 | Syracuse | 3 | E3 | Syracuse | 1 | ||||||||
| E2 | Philadelphia | 0 | E1 | Boston* | 4 | ||||||||
| W1 | St. Louis* | 1 | |||||||||||
| W1 | St. Louis* | 4 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Detroit | 2 | W2 | Los Angeles | 3 | ||||||||
| W2 | Los Angeles | 3 | |||||||||||
- * Division winner
- Bold Series winner
- Italic Team with home-court advantage in NBA Finals
Statistics leaders
| Category | Player | Team | Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Wilt Chamberlain | Philadelphia Warriors |
3,033 |
| Rebounds | Wilt Chamberlain | Philadelphia Warriors | 2,149 |
| Assists | Oscar Robertson | Cincinnati Royals |
690 |
| FG% | Wilt Chamberlain | Philadelphia Warriors | .509 |
| FT% | Bill Sharman | Boston Celtics | .921 |
Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points, rebounds, and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.
NBA awards
- Most Valuable Player: Bill Russell, Boston Celtics
- Cincinnati Royals
- All-NBA First Team:
- F – Elgin Baylor, Los Angeles Lakers
- F – St. Louis Hawks
- C – Philadelphia Warriors
- G – Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics
- G – Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati Royals
- All-NBA Second Team:
- F – Tom Heinsohn, Boston Celtics
- F – Dolph Schayes, Syracuse Nationals
- C – Bill Russell, Boston Celtics
- G – Syracuse Nationals
- G – Gene Shue, Detroit Pistons
See also
References
- 1960–61 NBA Season Summary basketball-reference.com. Retrieved March 30, 2010.