# 1960–61 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 1960–61 Los Angeles Lakers season was the franchise's 13th season in the NBA and first season in Los Angeles, following their off-season relocation from the Twin Cities of Minnesota. The Lakers finished in second place in the NBA Western Division during the 1960–61 NBA season, with a record of 36–43, 15 games behind the St. Louis Hawks. The Lakers qualified for the Western Division playoffs, defeating the Detroit Pistons, three games to two in the semifinals, before losing again to the Hawks in the West Finals, four games to three.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Western Divisionvte | 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

### Record vs. opponents

1960–61 NBA records :
| Team | BOS | CIN | DET | LAL | NYK | PHI | STL | SYR |
| Boston | — | 7–3 | 8–2 | 8–2 | 10–3 | 8–5 | 6–4 | 10–3 |
| Cincinnati | 3–7 | — | 2–11 | 8–5 | 8–2 | 2–8 | 6–7 | 4–6 |
| Detroit | 2–8 | 11–2 | — | 4–9 | 5–5 | 5–5 | 3–10 | 4–6 |
| Los Angeles | 2–8 | 5–8 | 9–4 | — | 7–3 | 2–8 | 5–8 | 6–4 |
| New York | 3–10 | 2–8 | 5–5 | 3–7 | — | 2–11 | 1–9 | 5–8 |
| Philadelphia | 5–8 | 8–2 | 5–5 | 8–2 | 11–2 | — | 3–7 | 6–7 |
| St. Louis | 4–6 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 8–5 | 9–1 | 7–3 | — | 6–4 |
| Syracuse | 3–10 | 6–4 | 6–4 | 4–6 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 4–6 | — |

### Game log
## Playoffs

1961 playoff game log :
Division semifinals: 3–2 (home: 3–0; road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 14
Detroit
W 120–102
Elgin Baylor (40)
Ray Felix (21)
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
1–0
2
March 15
Detroit
W 127–118
Elgin Baylor (49)
Elgin Baylor (21)
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 4,253
2–0
3
March 17
@ Detroit
L 113–124
Elgin Baylor (26)
Detroit Olympia 3,422
2–1
4
March 18
@ Detroit
L 114–123
Elgin Baylor (47)
Detroit Olympia
2–2
5
March 19
Detroit
W 137–120
Elgin Baylor (35)
Baylor, Felix (15)
Shrine Auditorium 3,705
3–2 :
Division finals: 3–4 (home: 1–2; road: 2–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 21
@ St. Louis
W 122–118
Elgin Baylor (44)
Elgin Baylor (14)
Kiel Auditorium 8,147
1–0
2
March 22
@ St. Louis
L 106–121
Elgin Baylor (35)
Elgin Baylor (9)
Kiel Auditorium 8,472
1–1
3
March 24
St. Louis
W 118–112
Elgin Baylor (25)
Elgin Baylor (18)
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 5,006
2–1
4
March 25
St. Louis
L 117–118
Jerry West (33)
Elgin Baylor (15)
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 4,923
2–2
5
March 27
@ St. Louis
W 121–112
Elgin Baylor (47)
Elgin Baylor (20)
Kiel Auditorium
3–2
6
March 29
St. Louis
L 113–114 (OT)
Elgin Baylor (39)
Elgin Baylor (21)
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 14,840
3–3
7
April 1
@ St. Louis
L 103–105
Elgin Baylor (39)
Baylor, West (12)
Kiel Auditorium–
3–4 :
1961 schedule :

## Awards and records

* Elgin Baylor, All-NBA First Team
* Elgin Baylor, NBA All-Star Game
* Jerry West, NBA All-Star Game
* Rod Hundley, NBA All-Star Game