# 1956–57 Minneapolis Lakers season

The 1956–57 NBA season was the Lakers' ninth season in the NBA.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Western Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-St. Louis Hawks | 34 | 38 | .472 | - | 17-9 | 10-20 | 7-9 | 22-14 |
| x-Minneapolis Lakers | 34 | 38 | .472 | - | 15-9 | 5-22 | 14-7 | 18-18 |
| x-Fort Wayne Pistons | 34 | 38 | .472 | - | 23-5 | 5-23 | 6-10 | 17-19 |
| Rochester Royals | 31 | 41 | .431 | 3 | 19-10 | 7-17 | 5-14 | 15-21 |
    x – clinched playoff spot

### Record vs. opponents

1956-57 NBA Records :
| Team | BOS | FWP | MIN | NYK | PHI | ROC | STL | SYR |
| Boston | — | 6–3 | 5–4 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 6–3 | 7–2 | 5–7 |
| Fort Wayne | 3–6 | — | 7–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–4 |
| Minneapolis | 4–5 | 5–7 | — | 3–6 | 5–4 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 4–5 |
| New York | 5–7 | 4–5 | 6–3 | — | 4–8 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 6–6 |
| Philadelphia | 4–8 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 8–4 | — | 4–5 | 7–2 | 5–7 |
| Rochester | 3–6 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 4–5 | 5–4 | — | 6–6 | 4–5 |
| St. Louis | 2–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 3–6 | 2–7 | 6–6 | — | 5–4 |
| Syracuse | 7–5 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | — |

### Game log

| # | Date | Opponent | Score | High points | Record |
| 1 | October 27 | @ St. Louis | 75–97 | Clyde Lovellette (16) | 0–1 |
| 2 | October 28 | @ Fort Wayne | 88–94 | Clyde Lovellette (19) | 0–2 |
| 3 | November 1 | N Rochester | 88–97 | Whitey Skoog (20) | 1–2 |
| 4 | November 3 | @ Rochester | 95–85 | Clyde Lovellette (20) | 2–2 |
| 5 | November 4 | Rochester | 87–88 | Clyde Lovellette (23) | 3–2 |
| 6 | November 10 | @ Boston | 110–117 | Clyde Lovellette (26) | 3–3 |
| 7 | November 11 | N Rochester | 94–82 | Clyde Lovellette (18) | 3–4 |
| 8 | November 14 | N Boston | 113–97 | Ed Kalafat (20) | 4–4 |
| 9 | November 15 | @ Syracuse | 103–96 | Clyde Lovellette (28) | 5–4 |
| 10 | November 16 | @ Philadelphia | 97–123 | Clyde Lovellette (25) | 5–5 |
| 11 | November 18 | Fort Wayne | 111–107 | Chuck Mencel (26) | 5–6 |
| 12 | November 22 | Syracuse | 78–111 | Clyde Lovellette (22) | 6–6 |
| 13 | November 24 | @ St. Louis | 104–102 (OT) | Dick Garmaker (25) | 7–6 |
| 14 | November 25 | St. Louis | 95–94 | Dick Garmaker (24) | 7–7 |
| 15 | November 27 | N Philadelphia | 98–113 | Clyde Lovellette (26) | 8–7 |
| 16 | November 28 | N Boston | 93–105 | Clyde Lovellette (22) | 8–8 |
| 17 | December 1 | @ Rochester | 83–95 | Clyde Lovellette (24) | 8–9 |
| 18 | December 2 | Philadelphia | 96–106 | Chuck Mencel (21) | 9–9 |
| 19 | December 4 | @ New York | 88–101 | Clyde Lovellette (21) | 9–10 |
| 20 | December 6 | N St. Louis | 96–103 | Dick Garmaker (30) | 10–10 |
| 21 | December 7 | @ Boston | 114–121 | Clyde Lovellette (24) | 10–11 |
| 22 | December 9 | New York | 100–91 | Ed Kalafat (18) | 10–12 |
| 23 | December 11 | @ Philadelphia | 111–114 | Clyde Lovellette (28) | 10–13 |
| 24 | December 12 | N New York | 103–121 | Clyde Lovellette (29) | 11–13 |
| 25 | December 16 | Rochester | 97–101 | Clyde Lovellette (26) | 12–13 |
| 26 | December 20 | N Rochester | 103–105 | Clyde Lovellette (33) | 13–13 |
| 27 | December 22 | @ Rochester | 101–115 | Clyde Lovellette (17) | 13–14 |
| 28 | December 23 | @ Syracuse | 97–107 | Clyde Lovellette (23) | 13–15 |
| 29 | December 25 | N Fort Wayne | 100–89 | Clyde Lovellette (23) | 14–15 |
| 30 | December 27 | @ Fort Wayne | 93–120 | Clyde Lovellette (19) | 14–16 |
| 31 | December 29 | St. Louis | 95–92 | Clyde Lovellette (22) | 14–17 |
| 32 | December 30 | @ St. Louis | 93–100 | Clyde Lovellette (19) | 14–18 |
| 33 | January 3 | @ Fort Wayne | 102–104 | Clyde Lovellette (24) | 14–19 |
| 34 | January 6 | New York | 111–101 | Clyde Lovellette (29) | 14–20 |
| 35 | January 8 | N Fort Wayne | 86–87 | Clyde Lovellette (23) | 14–21 |
| 36 | January 9 | N Syracuse | 86–93 | Bobby Leonard (19) | 15–21 |
| 37 | January 10 | @ Syracuse | 118–110 | Clyde Lovellette (29) | 16–21 |
| 38 | January 12 | N Fort Wayne | 105–87 | Clyde Lovellette (24) | 17–21 |
| 39 | January 13 | Boston | 87–104 | Vern Mikkelsen (23) | 18–21 |
| 40 | January 17 | N New York | 94–93 | Vern Mikkelsen (26) | 18–22 |
| 41 | January 20 | Rochester | 107–114 | Vern Mikkelsen (27) | 19–22 |
| 42 | January 23 | N Rochester | 99–107 | Garmaker, Leonard (21) | 20–22 |
| 43 | January 25 | @ Boston | 106–115 | Dick Garmaker (24) | 20–23 |
| 44 | January 26 | @ New York | 107–122 | Clyde Lovellette (30) | 20–24 |
| 45 | January 27 | @ Syracuse | 93–94 | Clyde Lovellette (20) | 20–25 |
| 46 | January 28 | N Syracuse | 112–96 | Dick Garmaker (28) | 20–26 |
| 47 | January 29 | N Boston | 91–103 | Clyde Lovellette (29) | 20–27 |
| 48 | January 31 | Fort Wayne | 111–107 | Clyde Lovellette (26) | 20–28 |
| 49 | February 2 | St. Louis | 106–97 | Vern Mikkelsen (21) | 20–29 |
| 50 | February 3 | @ St. Louis | 85–102 | Clyde Lovellette (20) | 20–30 |
| 51 | February 6 | Philadelphia | 100–101 | Chuck Mencel (28) | 21–30 |
| 52 | February 9 | Fort Wayne | 92–99 | Bobby Leonard (17) | 22–30 |
| 53 | February 10 | @ Fort Wayne | 100–113 | Dick Garmaker (23) | 22–31 |
| 54 | February 12 | N St. Louis | 105–110 | Dick Garmaker (22) | 23–31 |
| 55 | February 13 | Boston | 114–115 | Walter Dukes (22) | 24–31 |
| 56 | February 14 | N New York | 97–99 | Clyde Lovellette (22) | 25–31 |
| 57 | February 15 | N Philadelphia | 104–105 | Jim Paxson (22) | 25–32 |
| 58 | February 16 | @ New York | 112–120 | Clyde Lovellette (21) | 25–33 |
| 59 | February 17 | St. Louis | 118–115 (OT) | Dick Garmaker (24) | 25–34 |
| 60 | February 20 | Rochester | 103–111 | Vern Mikkelsen (24) | 26–34 |
| 61 | February 23 | Syracuse | 103–101 | Clyde Lovellette (26) | 26–35 |
| 62 | February 24 | Fort Wayne | 115–123 | Dick Garmaker (29) | 27–35 |
| 63 | February 25 | N St. Louis | 110–94 | Dick Garmaker (27) | 27–36 |
| 64 | February 26 | @ Syracuse | 108–120 | Dick Garmaker (22) | 27–37 |
| 65 | February 28 | @ Philadelphia | 112–129 | Clyde Lovellette (18) | 27–38 |
| 66 | March 1 | N Rochester | 117–125 | Dick Garmaker (30) | 28–38 |
| 67 | March 3 | New York | 108–119 | Dick Garmaker (29) | 29–38 |
| 68 | March 7 | Boston | 104–109 | Vern Mikkelsen (24) | 30–38 |
| 69 | March 8 | @ Fort Wayne | 101–97 | Dick Garmaker (20) | 31–38 |
| 70 | March 10 | St. Louis | 104–117 | Clyde Lovellette (32) | 32–38 |
| 71 | March 12 | N Philadelphia | 94–100 | Clyde Lovellette (25) | 33–38 |
| 72 | March 13 | Philadelphia | 97–114 | Vern Mikkelsen (35) | 34–38 |

## Playoffs

1957 playoff game log :
Division Tiebreaker (finishes as West's #2 seed)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsLocationRecord
1
March 16
@ St. Louis
L 111–114 (OT)
Clyde Lovellette (30)
Lovellette, Dukes (12)
Kiel Auditorium
0–1 :
Division semifinals: 2–0 (home: 1–0; road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsLocationSeries
1
March 17
Fort Wayne
W 131–127
Clyde Lovellette (30)
Minneapolis Auditorium
1–0
2
March 19
@ Fort Wayne
W 110–108
Slick Leonard (19)
War Memorial Coliseum
2–0 :
Division finals: 0–3 (home: 0–1; road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 21
@ St. Louis
L 109–118
Vern Mikkelsen (24)
Clyde Lovellette (11)
Slick Leonard (9)
Kiel Auditorium 6,028
0–1
2
March 24
@ St. Louis
L 104–106
Clyde Lovellette (33)
Walter Dukes (20)
Kiel Auditorium 9,451
0–2
3
March 26
St. Louis
L 135–143 (2OT)
Slick Leonard (42)
Minneapolis Auditorium
0–3 :
1957 schedule :

## Awards and records

* Dick Garmaker, All-NBA Second Team
* Dick Garmaker, NBA All-Star Game
* Vern Mikkelsen, NBA All-Star Game
* Slater Martin, NBA All-Star Game