# 1955–56 Minneapolis Lakers season

The 1955–56 NBA season was the Lakers' eighth season playing in the NBA.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Western Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-Fort Wayne Pistons | 37 | 35 | .514 | - | 19-7 | 10-17 | 8-11 | 19-17 |
| x-Minneapolis Lakers | 33 | 39 | .458 | 4 | 14-12 | 6-21 | 13-6 | 19-17 |
| x-St. Louis Hawks | 33 | 39 | .458 | 4 | 15-11 | 11-17 | 7-11 | 18-18 |
| Rochester Royals | 31 | 41 | .431 | 6 | 15-14 | 6-21 | 10-6 | 16-20 |
    x – clinched playoff spot

### Record vs. opponents

1955-56 NBA Records :
| Team | BOS | FWP | MIN | NYK | PHI | ROC | STL | SYR |
| Boston | — | 4–5 | 7–2 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 8–4 |
| Fort Wayne | 5–4 | — | 5–7 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–5 |
| Minneapolis | 2–7 | 7–5 | — | 5–4 | 3–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 4–5 |
| New York | 7–5 | 4–5 | 4–5 | — | 6–6 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 4–8 |
| Philadelphia | 7–5 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 6–6 | — | 6–3 | 6–3 | 9–3 |
| Rochester | 4–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 3–6 | 3–6 | — | 6–6 | 5–4 |
| St. Louis | 4–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–4 | 3–6 | 6–6 | — | 3–6 |
| Syracuse | 4–8 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 4–5 | 6–3 | — |

### Game log

| # | Date | Opponent | Score | High points | Record |
| 1 | November 5 | @ St. Louis | 89–101 | Clyde Lovellette (27) | 0–1 |
| 2 | November 6 | @ Fort Wayne | 96–95 | Clyde Lovellette (31) | 1–1 |
| 3 | November 9 | @ Philadelphia | 106–117 | Clyde Lovellette (21) | 1–2 |
| 4 | November 10 | @ New York | 105–112 | Clyde Lovellette (22) | 1–3 |
| 5 | November 11 | @ Boston | 75–119 | Dick Schnittker (12) | 1–4 |
| 6 | November 12 | N Philadelphia | 100–89 | Vern Mikkelsen (19) | 1–5 |
| 7 | November 17 | @ Syracuse | 91–105 | Kalafat, Mikkelsen (15) | 1–6 |
| 8 | November 19 | @ Rochester | 91–90 | Clyde Lovellette (26) | 2–6 |
| 9 | November 20 | Rochester | 104–96 | Clyde Lovellette (21) | 2–7 |
| 10 | November 24 | St. Louis | 99–107 | Lovellette, Mikkelsen (19) | 3–7 |
| 11 | November 26 | @ St. Louis | 95–104 | Clyde Lovellette (25) | 3–8 |
| 12 | November 27 | Philadelphia | 94–99 | Clyde Lovellette (25) | 4–8 |
| 13 | November 30 | N St. Louis | 99–97 | Clyde Lovellette (20) | 4–9 |
| 14 | December 1 | N New York | 90–97 | Clyde Lovellette (21) | 5–9 |
| 15 | December 3 | @ Syracuse | 103–114 | Clyde Lovellette (25) | 5–10 |
| 16 | December 4 | Syracuse | 102–96 | Clyde Lovellette (26) | 5–11 |
| 17 | December 6 | N Philadelphia | 116–103 | Clyde Lovellette (27) | 5–12 |
| 18 | December 7 | @ Rochester | 79–92 | Kalafat, Schnittker (17) | 5–13 |
| 19 | December 10 | @ Boston | 102–118 | Clyde Lovellette (21) | 5–14 |
| 20 | December 13 | @ New York | 91–98 | Clyde Lovellette (31) | 5–15 |
| 21 | December 14 | N Fort Wayne | 98–85 | Clyde Lovellette (22) | 6–15 |
| 22 | December 15 | @ Syracuse | 135–133 (3OT) | Clyde Lovellette (30) | 7–15 |
| 23 | December 17 | Rochester | 92–94 | Clyde Lovellette (21) | 8–15 |
| 24 | December 18 | @ Fort Wayne | 86–96 | Slater Martin (19) | 8–16 |
| 25 | December 20 | N Boston | 104–111 | Vern Mikkelsen (22) | 8–17 |
| 26 | December 25 | Boston | 115–112 | Clyde Lovellette (35) | 8–18 |
| 27 | December 28 | St. Louis | 111–90 | Clyde Lovellette (26) | 8–19 |
| 28 | December 29 | N St. Louis | 71–74 | Clyde Lovellette (17) | 9–19 |
| 29 | January 1 | Syracuse | 85–80 | Clyde Lovellette (23) | 9–20 |
| 30 | January 2 | N Fort Wayne | 95–89 | Slater Martin (26) | 10–20 |
| 31 | January 4 | St. Louis | 76–94 | Clyde Lovellette (28) | 11–20 |
| 32 | January 7 | @ Rochester | 98–103 | Clyde Lovellette (32) | 11–21 |
| 33 | January 8 | Syracuse | 91–99 | Clyde Lovellette (26) | 12–21 |
| 34 | January 10 | N Syracuse | 79–90 | Garmaker, Lovellette, Mikkelsen (16) | 13–21 |
| 35 | January 11 | N Boston | 114–110 | Clyde Lovellette (24) | 14–21 |
| 36 | January 14 | Fort Wayne | 94–117 | Clyde Lovellette (22) | 15–21 |
| 37 | January 15 | @ Fort Wayne | 99–104 | Slater Martin (24) | 15–22 |
| 38 | January 17 | N St. Louis | 86–97 | Clyde Lovellette (22) | 16–22 |
| 39 | January 18 | N Philadelphia | 94–105 | Clyde Lovellette (31) | 17–22 |
| 40 | January 19 | @ Syracuse | 100–122 | Clyde Lovellette (17) | 17–23 |
| 41 | January 20 | N New York | 122–109 | Clyde Lovellette (27) | 17–24 |
| 42 | January 21 | @ New York | 109–89 | George Mikan (20) | 18–24 |
| 43 | January 22 | New York | 100–95 | Whitey Skoog (19) | 18–25 |
| 44 | January 25 | New York | 95–104 | Clyde Lovellette (21) | 19–25 |
| 45 | January 28 | Philadelphia | 108–85 | Dick Garmaker (17) | 19–26 |
| 46 | January 29 | St. Louis | 114–107 | Dick Schnittker (22) | 19–27 |
| 47 | January 31 | N Rochester | 86–92 | Clyde Lovellette (20) | 20–27 |
| 48 | February 1 | Boston | 106–107 | Lovellette, Martin (21) | 21–27 |
| 49 | February 2 | N Boston | 101–102 | Clyde Lovellette (21) | 21–28 |
| 50 | February 5 | Rochester | 121–109 | Vern Mikkelsen (27) | 21–29 |
| 51 | February 8 | Fort Wayne | 82–106 | Whitey Skoog (25) | 22–29 |
| 52 | February 11 | Philadelphia | 117–102 | Clyde Lovellette (32) | 22–30 |
| 53 | February 12 | @ Fort Wayne | 78–82 | Clyde Lovellette (16) | 22–31 |
| 54 | February 14 | N Rochester | 79–110 | Clyde Lovellette (22) | 23–31 |
| 55 | February 15 | N New York | 102–113 | Clyde Lovellette (20) | 24–31 |
| 56 | February 17 | @ Philadelphia | 111–134 | Clyde Lovellette (24) | 24–32 |
| 57 | February 18 | @ Rochester | 119–99 | Whitey Skoog (23) | 25–32 |
| 58 | February 19 | Rochester | 93–100 | Clyde Lovellette (19) | 26–32 |
| 59 | February 22 | Boston | 93–90 | Whitey Skoog (20) | 26–33 |
| 60 | February 26 | Fort Wayne | 95–90 | George Mikan (17) | 26–34 |
| 61 | February 29 | N Syracuse | 94–98 | Clyde Lovellette (30) | 27–34 |
| 62 | March 1 | @ Philadelphia | 102–100 | Clyde Lovellette (24) | 28–34 |
| 63 | March 2 | @ Boston | 113–119 | Lovellette, Skoog (23) | 28–35 |
| 64 | March 3 | @ Rochester | 90–94 | Clyde Lovellette (22) | 28–36 |
| 65 | March 4 | St. Louis | 84–113 | Clyde Lovellette (24) | 29–36 |
| 66 | March 7 | Fort Wayne | 95–98 | Clyde Lovellette (25) | 30–36 |
| 67 | March 8 | @ Fort Wayne | 82–100 | Slater Martin (18) | 30–37 |
| 68 | March 9 | @ St. Louis | 102–103 | Dick Schnittker (24) | 30–38 |
| 69 | March 10 | @ St. Louis | 97–105 | Clyde Lovellette (20) | 30–39 |
| 70 | March 11 | Rochester | 98–126 | Clyde Lovellette (24) | 31–39 |
| 71 | March 13 | N New York | 89–102 | Clyde Lovellette (19) | 32–39 |
| 72 | March 14 | Fort Wayne | 96–100 | Ed Kalafat (21) | 33–39 |

## Playoffs

1956 playoff game log :
Division Tiebreaker (finishes as West's #2 seed)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsLocationRecord
1
March 16
@ St. Louis
W 103–97
Slater Martin (28)
Kiel Auditorium
1–0 :
Division semifinals: 1–2 (home: 1–1; road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsLocationSeries
1
March 17
@ St. Louis
L 115–116
Mikkelsen, Martin (19)
Kiel Auditorium
0–1
2
March 19
St. Louis
W 133–75
Slater Martin (19)
Minneapolis Auditorium
1–1
3
March 21
St. Louis
L 115–116
Clyde Lovellette (31)
Minneapolis Auditorium
1–2 :
1956 schedule :

## Awards and records

* Slater Martin, All-NBA Second Team
* Clyde Lovellette, All-NBA Second Team
* Slater Martin, NBA All-Star Game
* Clyde Lovellette, NBA All-Star Game
* Vern Mikkelsen, NBA All-Star Game