# 1959–60 St. Louis Hawks season

The 1959–1960 Saint Louis Hawks season was the 14th season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Hawks claimed their 4th straight division title. They won the division by 16 games with a 46–29 record. Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan, and Clyde Lovellette all averaged more than 20 points per game. In the Western Finals, the Hawks faced the Minneapolis Lakers and needed a win in Game 6 to stay alive. Game 6 was played in Minneapolis and the Hawks dominated the Lakers, as they won the match by 21 points to force a 7th game. In St. Louis the Hawks won 97–86 to earn a trip to the NBA Finals. The Hawks challenged the Boston Celtics for the 3rd time in 4 years. The Hawks and Celtics alternated wins as the series went to a 7th game. In Game 7 the Celtics would claim the title as Bill Russell scored 18 points in the 2nd Quarter.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Western Divisionvte | Wins | Losses | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Division |
| x-St. Louis Hawks | 46 | 29 | .613 | – | 28–5 | 12–20 | 6–4 | 27–12 |
| x-Detroit Pistons | 30 | 45 | .400 | 16 | 17–14 | 6–21 | 7–10 | 20–19 |
| x-Minneapolis Lakers | 25 | 50 | .333 | 21 | 9–15 | 9–21 | 7–14 | 17–22 |
| Cincinnati Royals | 19 | 56 | .253 | 27 | 9–22 | 2–20 | 8–14 | 14–25 |

### Record vs. opponents

1959-60 NBA Records :
| Team | BOS | CIN | DET | MIN | NYK | PHI | STL | SYR |
| Boston | — | 8–1 | 9–0 | 8–1 | 12–1 | 8–5 | 6–3 | 8–5 |
| Cincinnati | 1–8 | — | 5–8 | 5–8 | 2–7 | 0–9 | 4–9 | 2–7 |
| Detroit | 0–9 | 8–5 | — | 7–6 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 5–8 | 4–5 |
| Minneapolis | 1–8 | 8–5 | 6–7 | — | 4–5 | 2–7 | 3–10 | 1–8 |
| New York | 1–12 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 5–4 | — | 4–9 | 3–6 | 2–11 |
| Philadelphia | 5–8 | 9–0 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 9–4 | — | 4–5 | 8–5 |
| St. Louis | 3–6 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 10–3 | 6–3 | 5–4 | — | 5–4 |
| Syracuse | 5–8 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 8–1 | 11–2 | 5–8 | 4–5 | — |

### Game log
## Playoffs

1960 playoff game log :
Division Finals: 4–3 (home: 2–2; road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 16
Minneapolis
W 112–99
Cliff Hagan (29)
Bob Pettit (19)
Kiel Auditorium 8,377
1–0
2
March 17
Minneapolis
L 113–120
Clyde Lovellette (30)
Bob Pettit (15)
Kiel Auditorium 8,614
1–1
3
March 19
@ Minneapolis
W 93–89
Bob Pettit (35)
Minneapolis Armory
2–1
4
March 20
@ Minneapolis
L 101–103
Cliff Hagan (28)
Clyde Lovellette (15)
Minneapolis Armory 6,852
2–2
5
March 22
Minneapolis
L 110–117 (OT)
Bob Pettit (25)
Bob Pettit (19)
Kiel Auditorium 10,043
2–3
6
March 24
@ Minneapolis
W 117–96
Bob Pettit (30)
Bob Pettit (18)
Minneapolis Armory
3–3
7
March 26
Minneapolis
W 97–86
Bob Pettit (28)
Bob Pettit (20)
Kiel Auditorium 6,195
4–3 :
NBA Finals: 3–4 (home: 2–1; road: 1–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 27
@ Boston
L 122–140
Cliff Hagan (25)
Bob Pettit (17)
Johnny McCarthy (6)
Boston Garden 10,002
0–1
2
March 29
@ Boston
W 113–103
Bob Pettit (35)
Bob Pettit (22)
Bob Pettit (7)
Boston Garden 13,909
1–1
3
April 2
Boston
L 86–102
Bob Pettit (23)
Bob Pettit (18)
Green, Lovellette (6)
Kiel Auditorium 10,612
1–2
4
April 3
Boston
W 106–96
Bob Pettit (32)
Bob Pettit (11)
Johnny McCarthy (8)
Kiel Auditorium 10,612
2–2
5
April 5
@ Boston
L 102–127
Cliff Hagan (28)
Cliff Hagan (12)
Si Green (8)
Boston Garden 13,909
2–3
6
April 7
Boston
W 105–102
Cliff Hagan (36)
Clyde Lovellette (15)
Johnny McCarthy (9)
Kiel Auditorium 10,612
3–3
7
April 9
@ Boston
L 103–122
Bob Pettit (22)
Bob Pettit (14)
Si Green (5)
Boston Garden 13,909
3–4 :
1960 schedule :

## Awards and honors

* Bob Pettit, All-NBA First Team