1961 NBA Finals

1961 basketball championship series

1961 NBA Finals

Team	Coach	Wins
Boston Celtics	Red Auerbach	4
St. Louis Hawks	Paul Seymour	1

Dates

April 2–11

Hall of Famers

Celtics:
Bob Cousy (1971)
Bill Russell (1975)
Bill Sharman (1976)
Frank Ramsey (1982)
Sam Jones (1984)
Tom Heinsohn (1986 as player, 2015 as coach)
K. C. Jones (1989)
Satch Sanders (2011)
Hawks:
Bob Pettit (1971)
Cliff Hagan (1978)
Clyde Lovellette (1988)
Lenny Wilkens (1989)
Coaches:
Red Auerbach (1969)

Eastern Finals

Celtics defeated Nationals, 4–1

Western Finals

Hawks defeated Lakers, 4–3

← 1960

NBA Finals

1962 →

The 1961 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1961 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1960–61 season. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion St. Louis Hawks and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics. This was the fourth and final World Championship Series meeting between the two teams. It was also Celtics' fifth straight trip to the championship series, and they won the series against the Hawks, 4–1.

As of the 2022-23 season^[update], this remains the Hawks franchise's^{[note 1]} last appearance in the NBA Finals, the second-longest drought behind the Kings franchise who last played in the NBA Finals in 1951.

Game	Date	Home team	Result	Road team
Game 1	April 2	Boston Celtics	129–95 (1–0)	St. Louis Hawks
Game 2	April 5	Boston Celtics	116–108 (2–0)	St. Louis Hawks
Game 3	April 8	St. Louis Hawks	124–120 (1–2)	Boston Celtics
Game 4	April 9	St. Louis Hawks	104–119 (1–3)	Boston Celtics
Game 5	April 11	Boston Celtics	121–112 (4–1)	St. Louis Hawks

v t e Boston Celtics 1960–61 NBA champions
6 Russell 14 Cousy 15 Heinsohn 16 Sanders 17 Conley 18 Loscutoff 20 Guarilia 21 Sharman 23 Ramsey 24 S. Jones 25 K. Jones
Head coach: Auerbach
Regular season Playoffs

v t e Boston Celtics
Founded in 1946 Based in Boston, Massachusetts
Franchise	History All-time roster Draft history Accomplishments and records Head coaches Seasons Current season
Arenas	Boston Arena Boston Garden Hartford Civic Center TD Garden
Personnel	Owner(s) Boston Basketball Partners President Rich Gotham General manager Brad Stevens Head coach Joe Mazzulla
G League affiliate	Maine Celtics
Retired numbers	00 1 2 3 5 6 10 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 24 25 31 32 33 34 35 LOSCY MIC
NBA championships	1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1968 1969 1974 1976 1981 1984 1986 2008
Rivalries	Detroit Pistons Miami Heat Los Angeles Lakers New York Knicks Philadelphia 76ers
Culture and lore	Broadcasters Radio network Celtic Pride Celtics/Lakers: Best of Enemies Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs Mike Gorman Johnny Most "Havlicek stole the ball" 1961 Boston Celtics boycott The Auerbach Center North Station The Sports Museum of New England Reebok Pro Summer League Newhart Uncut Gems Extended Family
Category Commons

v t e Atlanta Hawks
Founded in 1946 Formerly the Buffalo Bisons (1946) and the Tri-Cities Blackhawks (1946–1951); played in Milwaukee (1951–1955) and St. Louis (1955–1968) Based in Atlanta, Georgia
Franchise	All-time roster Draft history Head coaches Seasons Current season
Arenas	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium Wharton Field House Milwaukee Arena Kiel Auditorium St. Louis Arena Alexander Memorial Coliseum Omni Coliseum Lakefront Arena Georgia Dome State Farm Arena
Personnel	Owner(s) Tony Ressler Jami Gertz Grant Hill Sara Blakely Jesse Itzler Steven Price Rick Schnall General manager Landry Fields Head coach Quin Snyder
G League affiliate	College Park Skyhawks
Retired numbers	9 21 23 44 55 59
NBA championships	1958
Culture and lore	The Human Highlight Film Pistol Pete Phantom Buzzer Game Life as We Know It
Category

v t e 1960–61 NBA season by team
1960 NBA draft All-Star Game Playoffs Finals Transactions
Eastern	Boston New York Philadelphia Syracuse
Western	Cincinnati Detroit Los Angeles St. Louis

1961 NBA Finals

Series summary

Team rosters

Boston Celtics

St. Louis Hawks

See also

Notes

References

External links