1957 NBA Finals
Celtics win first title in double-overtime Game 7.
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Boston won the best-of-seven series in seven games, claiming the first championship in franchise history. That decisive Game 7 remains the only NBA Finals game to require double overtime. This was the second major pro sports championship meeting between Boston and St. Louis.
Quick Facts
- Series winner
- Boston Celtics
- Series loser
- St. Louis Hawks
- Games played
- 7
- Head coach (celtics)
- Red Auerbach
Facts from the source article.
Box scores
Tom Heinsohn made a game-tying lay-up with 6 seconds left in regulation to force the first overtime. Bob Cousy then hit a game-tying shot with 15 seconds remaining in the first overtime to force a second overtime. For the Hawks, Bob Pettit converted game-tying free throws with 7 seconds left in regulation to send the game to the first overtime, and Jack Coleman made a game-tying basket with 9 seconds left in the first overtime to extend play.
Pettit also hit a game-winner with 45 seconds left in an earlier contest, while Cliff Hagan made a buzzer-beater believed to be the first such shot to win a playoff game in NBA history. Pettit missed a game-tying shot at the buzzer that would have forced a third overtime. Celtics center Bill Russell set a rookie record with 32 rebounds in Game 7 and averaged an NBA Finals rookie record of 22.9 rebounds per game for the series.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: 1957 NBA Finals (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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