The 1956 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1955-56 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Warriors defeating the Western Conference champion Fort Wayne Pistons 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.
| 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 | |
It was the Warriors' second NBA title; their first was in 1947 back when the NBA was known as the BAA. They would have to wait until 1975 to taste championship gold again; by that time they had moved to the 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
edit| 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
editEastern Division Tiebreaker
editMarch 15
|
| New York Knicks 77, Syracuse Nationals 82 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–17, 21–27, 21–20, 16–18 | ||
| Pts: Harry Gallatin 19 Rebs: Ray Felix 13 Asts: Dick McGuire 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 | ||
Western Division Tiebreaker
editMarch 16
|
| Minneapolis Lakers 103, 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
editEastern Division Semifinals
edit(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Syracuse Nationals
editMarch 17
|
| Syracuse Nationals 93, Boston Celtics 110 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–25, 19–26, 31–29, 21–30 | ||
| Pts: Ed Conlin 21 Asts: Dolph Schayes 6 |
Pts: Bob Cousy 29 Asts: Bob Cousy 9 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 19
|
| Boston Celtics 98, Syracuse Nationals 101 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–21, 29–32, 20–28, 28–20 | ||
| Pts: Bob Cousy 28 Rebs: Arnie Risen 17 Asts: Bob Cousy 10 |
Pts: Red Kerr 23 Rebs: Red Kerr 14 Asts: Seymour, Schayes 5 each | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 21
|
| Syracuse Nationals 102, Boston Celtics 97 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–22, 36–23, 21–31, 24–21 | ||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes 27 Rebs: Dolph Schayes 17 Asts: Dolph Schayes 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
edit(2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) St. Louis Hawks
editMarch 17
|
| Minneapolis Lakers 115, St. Louis Hawks 116 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–25, 29–20, 31–39, 24–32 | ||
| Pts: Mikkelsen, Martin 19 each | Pts: Bob Pettit 25 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 19
|
| St. Louis Hawks 75, 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
|
| St. Louis Hawks 116, 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
editEastern Division Finals
edit(1) Philadelphia Warriors vs. (3) Syracuse Nationals
editMarch 23
|
| Syracuse Nationals 87, Philadelphia Warriors 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–28, 27–23, 25–24, 18–34 | ||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes 19 Rebs: Kerr, Schayes 14 each Asts: George King 8 |
Pts: Paul Arizin 29 Rebs: Neil Johnston 24 Asts: Gola, Beck 5 each | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 25
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 118, Syracuse Nationals 122 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 38–35, 19–27, 33–36, 28–24 | ||
| Pts: Neil Johnston 43 Rebs: Neil Johnston 16 Asts: Neil Johnston 7 |
Pts: Dolph Schayes 33 Rebs: Dolph Schayes 16 Asts: George King 10 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 27
|
| Syracuse Nationals 96, Philadelphia Warriors 119 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–32, 24–30, 25–25, 24–32 | ||
| Pts: Ed Conlin 19 Rebs: Dolph Schayes 21 Asts: George King 6 |
Pts: Joe Graboski 20 Rebs: Neil Johnston 18 Asts: Tom Gola 10 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 2–1 | ||
March 28
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 104, Syracuse Nationals 108 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–26, 25–26, 18–30, 30–26 | ||
| Pts: Neil Johnston 35 Rebs: Neil Johnston 12 Asts: Neil Johnston 7 |
Pts: George King 25 Rebs: Red Kerr 9 Asts: George King 15 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
March 29
|
| Syracuse Nationals 104, Philadelphia Warriors 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–32, 20–24, 25–22, 31–31 | ||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes 28 Rebs: Dolph Schayes 16 Asts: George King 13 |
Pts: Paul Arizin 35 Rebs: Neil Johnston 18 Asts: Neil Johnston 8 | |
| Philadelphia wins series, 3–2 | ||
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
edit(1) Fort Wayne Pistons vs. (3) St. Louis Hawks
editMarch 22
|
| St. Louis Hawks 86, 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 | ||
March 24
|
| Fort Wayne Pistons 74, 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
|
| St. Louis Hawks 84, 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 | ||
March 27
|
| Fort Wayne Pistons 93, 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
|
| St. Louis Hawks 97, 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 | ||
- 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
editMarch 31
|
| Fort Wayne Pistons 94, Philadelphia Warriors 98 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–20, 24–20, 15–33, 30–25 | ||
| Pts: George Yardley 27 Rebs: George Yardley 15 Asts: Hutchins, Phillip 6 each |
Pts: Paul Arizin 28 Rebs: Neil Johnston 14 Asts: Tom Gola 10 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 1
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 83, Fort Wayne Pistons 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–20, 26–22, 19–23, 18–19 | ||
| Pts: Paul Arizin 27 Rebs: Arizin, Johnston 9 each Asts: Ernie Beck 6 |
Pts: George Yardley 30 Rebs: George Yardley 19 Asts: Andy Phillip 5 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 3
|
| Fort Wayne Pistons 96, Philadelphia Warriors 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–25, 25–23, 14–25, 31–27 | ||
| Pts: Larry Foust 19 Rebs: Larry Foust 14 Asts: Chuck Noble 4 |
Pts: Paul Arizin 27 Rebs: Neil Johnston 17 Asts: Tom Gola 8 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 5
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 107, Fort Wayne Pistons 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–24, 26–32, 30–26, 27–23 | ||
| Pts: Paul Arizin 30 Rebs: Tom Gola 9 Asts: Joe Graboski 7 |
Pts: George Yardley 21 Rebs: Larry Foust 14 Asts: Andy Phillip 6 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 3–1 | ||
April 7
|
| Fort Wayne Pistons 88, Philadelphia Warriors 99 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–22, 19–22, 20–28, 25–27 | ||
| Pts: George Yardley 30 Rebs: George Yardley 20 Asts: Corky Devlin 6 |
Pts: Joe Graboski 29 Rebs: Joe Graboski 16 Asts: Jack George 10 | |
| Philadelphia wins series, 4–1 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "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.