1959 NBA Finals

1959 basketball championship series August 2023 NBA 1959 Minneapolis Lakers John Kundla 0 Boston Celtics Red Auerbach 4 April 4–9 Celtics:Bob Cousy (1971)Bill Russell (1975)Bill Sharman (1976, player/2004, coach)Tom Heinsohn (1986, player/2015, coach)Frank Ramsey (1982)Sam Jones (1984)K. C. Jones (1989)Lakers:Vern Mikkelsen (1995)Elgin Baylor (1977)Coaches:Red Auerbach (1969)John Kundla (1995) Celtics defeated Nationals, 4–3 Lakers defeated Hawks, 4–2 The 1959 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1958–59 National Basketball Association season, and was the conclusion of the 1959 NBA playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers and the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics. It was Boston's third trip to the NBA Finals and Minneapolis's sixth. This was the first Finals meeting in the history of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry, marking the start of the storied rivalry between the two franchises. The Celtics swept the Lakers 4–0, the first ever NBA Finals sweep. This was the start of the streak of the Celtics' eight consecutive championships, from 1959 to 1966. To date, this is the most recent time that an NBA team from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area appeared in an NBA Finals, as well as the second time in three years (1957) a team with a losing record made the NBA Finals. This would be the most recent occurrence of a team with a losing record making the NBA Finals until 1981. Series summary Game Date Home team Result Road team Game 1 April 4 Boston Celtics 118–115 (1–0) Minneapolis Lakers Game 2 April 5 Boston Celtics 128–108 (2–0) Minneapolis Lakers Game 3 April 7 Minneapolis Lakers 110–123 (0–3) Boston Celtics Game 4 April 9 Minneapolis Lakers 113–118 (0–4) Boston Celtics Celtics win series 4–0 Team rosters Boston Celtics Boston Celtics 1958–59 17 Gene Conley PF 6 8 225 Washington State 1930–11–10 14 Bob Cousy PG 6 1 175 Holy Cross 1928-08-09 15 Tom Heinsohn PF 6 7 218 Holy Cross 1934–08–26 25, 27 K.C. Jones PG 6 1 200 San Francisco 1932–05–25 24 Sam Jones basketball, born 1933 SG 6 4 198 NC Central 1933-06-24 18 Jim Loscutoff SF 6 5 220 Oregon 1930–02–04 23 Frank Ramsey basketball SG 6 3 190 Kentucky 1931–07–13 6 Bill Russell C 6 10 215 San Francisco 1934–2–12 21 Bill Sharman SG 6 1 175 USC 1926–05–25 16 Bennie Swain PF 6 8 220 Texas Southern 1933–12–16 20 Lou Tsioropoulos SF 6 5 190 Kentucky 1930–08–31 Red Auerbach https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1959.html Minneapolis Lakers Minneapolis Lakers 1958–59 22 Elgin Baylor SF 6 5 225 Seattle 1934–09–16 12, 23 Boo Ellis PF 6 5 185 Niagara 1936-12-11 50 Ed Fleming SG 6 3 189 Niagara 1933–07–25 14 Larry Foust C 6 9 215 La Salle 1928–06–24 16 Dick Garmaker SG 6 3 200 Minnesota 1932-10-29 30 Steve Hamilton sportsman, born 1934 SF 6 6 190 Morehead State 1934–11–30 33 Hot Rod Hundley PG 6 4 185 West Virginia 1934–10–26 32 Jim Krebs C 6 8 230 SMU 1935–09–08 21 Bobby Leonard PG 6 3 185 Indiana 1932–09–17 19 Vern Mikkelsen PF 6 7 230 Hamline 1928–10–21 John Kundla https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MNL/1959.html Boxscores #eee April 4 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 115 Boston Celtics 118 29–29 24–36 31–19 31–34 Elgin Baylor 34 Larry Foust 19 Frank Ramsey 29 Bill Russell 28 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 8,195 Boston leads series, 1–0 April 5 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 108 Boston Celtics 128 17–32 31–40 37–28 23–28 Vern Mikkelsen 24 Steve Hamilton 13 Bill Sharman 28 Bill Russell 30 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts 11,082 Boston leads series, 2–0 #eee April 7 Boxscore Boston Celtics 123 Minneapolis Lakers 110 35–27 34–26 32–32 22–25 Tom Heinsohn 26 Bill Russell 30 Larry Foust 26 Larry Foust 22 St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota 11,272 Boston leads series, 3–0 April 9 Boxscore Boston Celtics 118 Minneapolis Lakers 113 34–34 30–28 24–25 30–26 Bill Sharman 29 Bill Russell 30 Elgin Baylor 30 Elgin Baylor 14 Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota 8,124 Boston wins series, 4–0 Vern Mikkelsen played his last NBA game as the Celtics completed the sweep. External links NBA History NBA Finals on Basketball Reference Finals Category:NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:April 1959 sports events in the United States Category:Basketball competitions in Minneapolis Category:Basketball competitions in Boston Category:1950s in Boston Category:1950s in Minneapolis NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:Events at the Boston Garden