# 1957–58 St. Louis Hawks season

The 1957–58 St. Louis Hawks season was the third for the franchise in St. Louis, ninth in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and 12th overall. Coming off their trip to the 1957 NBA Finals, the Hawks won the Western Division by 8 games with a record of 41 wins and 31 losses. Bob Pettit ranked 3rd in scoring and 2nd in rebounding. In the Western Finals, the Hawks would beat the Detroit Pistons in 5 games. The Hawks would then face the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. After Games 1 and 2, the teams headed to St. Louis with the series tied at a game apiece. The Hawks took Game 3, as the Celtics lost Bill Russell to an ankle injury. Despite playing without Russell, the Celtics were triumphant in Game 4. The Hawks pulled out a 2-point victory in the Game 5 to take control of the series. Needing one more win for their first NBA Championship, the Hawks beat the Celtics 110–109 in Game 6. Bob Pettit scored 50 points playing against an injured Bill Russell as the Hawks and owner Ben Kerner won their first NBA Title.
The Hawks were the second St. Louis–based pro sports team to win a major championship, joining the, then, six-time World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. They would be followed by five more World Series championships by the Cardinals, a championship by the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV, and a championship by the St. Louis Blues in the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals which made St. Louis the eighth city to win a championship in each of the four major U.S. sports. The Hawks were the last non-integrated team to win an NBA title; every NBA champion since then has had at least one African-American player included.
The 1958 title remains the only one to be won by the franchise, which has been based in Atlanta since 1968. As such, it remains the second-longest drought for championship teams in NBA history behind only the Sacramento Kings, who had previously last won their only NBA Finals championship in 1951 back when they played as the Rochester Royals. HoopsHype later ranked this squad as the team with the 16th easiest route to the NBA Finals, primarily due to their first opponent being against a 33–39 Detroit Pistons team that had recently moved to Detroit that season.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Western Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-St. Louis Hawks | 41 | 31 | .569 | - | 23-8 | 8-19 | 10-4 | 24-12 |
| x-Detroit Pistons | 33 | 39 | .458 | 8 | 14-14 | 13-17 | 6-8 | 18-18 |
| x-Cincinnati Royals | 33 | 39 | .458 | 8 | 17-12 | 10-19 | 6-8 | 17-19 |
| Minneapolis Lakers | 19 | 53 | .264 | 22 | 10-15 | 4-21 | 5-17 | 13-23 |

### Record vs. opponents

1957-58 NBA Records :
| Team | BOS | CIN | DET | MIN | NYK | PHI | STL | SYR |
| Boston | — | 7–2 | 8–1 | 9–0 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–4 | 7–5 |
| Cincinnati | 2–7 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 3–9 | 4–5 |
| Detroit | 1–8 | 6–6 | — | 6–6 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 6–6 | 5–4 |
| Minneapolis | 0–9 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 1–8 | 3–6 | 3–9 | 2–7 |
| New York | 5–7 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 8–1 | — | 4–8 | 3–6 | 5–7 |
| Philadelphia | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 8–4 | — | 7–2 | 3–9 |
| St. Louis | 4–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 6–3 | 2–7 | — | 5–4 |
| Syracuse | 5–7 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 7–2 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 4–5 | — |

### Game log
## Playoffs

1958 playoff game log :
Division Finals: 4–1 (home: 2–1; road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 19
Detroit
W 114–111
Cliff Hagan (38)
Kiel Auditorium 7,328
1–0
2
March 22
@ Detroit
W 99–96
Cliff Hagan (27)
University of Detroit Fieldhouse
2–0
3
March 23
Detroit
L 89–109
Cliff Hagan (29)
Kiel Auditorium 9,321
2–1
4
March 25
@ Detroit
W 145–101
Cliff Hagan (28)
Detroit Olympia
3–1
5
March 27
Detroit
W 120–96
Cliff Hagan (32)
Kiel Auditorium 7,661
4–1 :
NBA Finals: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 29
@ Boston
W 104–102
Cliff Hagan (33)
Bob Pettit (19)
Boston Garden 3,652
1–0
2
March 30
@ Boston
L 112–136
Cliff Hagan (37)
Cliff Hagan (12)
Boston Garden 10,249
1–1
3
April 2
Boston
W 111–108
Bob Pettit (32)
Bob Pettit (19)
Kiel Auditorium 10,148
2–1
4
April 5
Boston
L 98–109
Cliff Hagan (27)
Bob Pettit (17)
Kiel Auditorium 10,216
2–2
5
April 9
@ Boston
W 102–100
Bob Pettit (33)
Bob Pettit (21)
Boston Garden 13,909
3–2
6
April 12
Boston
W 110–109
Bob Pettit (50)
Bob Pettit (19)
Kiel Auditorium 10,216
4–2 :
1958 schedule :

## Awards and honors

* Bob Pettit, All-NBA First Team
* Slater Martin, All-NBA Second Team
* Cliff Hagan, All-NBA Second Team