1959 NBA Playoffs
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The 1959 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1958-59 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals. It was the Celtics' second NBA championship.
This was the first NBA Finals matchup between the Lakers and Celtics; as of 2015, they have met in the Finals 12 times. Boston won the first eight NBA Finals series of the rivalry, spanning 3 decades – the 1950s, 1960s and 1980s – before the Lakers finally defeated Boston for the title in 1985 and again in 1987, with Boston topping the Lakers again in 2008.
This was the only Celtics/Lakers NBA Finals series that took place while the Lakers were based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They remained in Minneapolis one more year before moving to their current home of Los Angeles, California.
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||
| 1 | St. Louis | 2 | |||||||||||
| Western Division | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Minneapolis | 4 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Detroit | 1 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Minneapolis | 2 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Minneapolis | 0 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Boston | 4 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Boston | 4 | |||||||||||
| Eastern Division | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Syracuse | 3 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Syracuse | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2 | New York | 0 | |||||||||||
Western Division
Champion: Minneapolis Lakers
Division Semifinals
(1) St. Louis Hawks have division semifinals bye.
(2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) Detroit Pistons: Lakers win series 2-1
- Game 1 @ Minneapolis (March 14): Minneapolis 92, Detroit 89
- Game 2 @ Detroit (March 15): Detroit 117, Minneapolis 103
- Game 3 @ Minneapolis (March 18): Minneapolis 129, Detroit 102
Last Playoff Meeting: 1957 NBA Western Division Semifinals (Minneapolis won 2-0)
Division Finals
(1) St. Louis Hawks vs. (2) Minneapolis Lakers: Lakers win series 4-2
- Game 1 @ St. Louis (March 21): St. Louis 124, Minneapolis 90
- Game 2 @ Minneapolis (March 22): Minneapolis 106, St. Louis 98
- Game 3 @ St. Louis (March 24): St. Louis 127, Minneapolis 97
- Game 4 @ Minneapolis (March 26): Minneapolis 108, St. Louis 98
- Game 5 @ St. Louis (March 28): Minneapolis 98, St. Louis 97 (OT)
- Game 6 @ Minneapolis (March 29): Minneapolis 106, St. Louis 104
Last Playoff Meeting: 1957 NBA Western Division Finals (St. Louis won 3-0)
Eastern Division
Champion: Boston Celtics
Division Semifinals
(1) Boston Celtics have division semifinals bye.
(2) New York Knicks vs. (3) Syracuse Nationals: Nationals win series 2-0
- Game 1 @ New York (March 13): Syracuse 129, New York 123
- Game 2 @ Syracuse (March 15): Syracuse 131, New York 115
Last Playoff Meeting: 1952 NBA Eastern Division Finals (New York won 3-1)
Division Finals
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Syracuse Nationals: Celtics win series 4-3
- Game 1 @ Boston (March 18): Boston 131, Syracuse 109
- Game 2 @ Syracuse (March 21): Syracuse 120, Boston 118
- Game 3 @ Boston (March 22): Boston 133, Syracuse 111
- Game 4 @ Syracuse (March 25): Syracuse 119, Boston 107
- Game 5 @ Boston (March 28): Boston 129, Syracuse 108
- Game 6 @ Syracuse (March 29): Syracuse 133, Boston 121
- Game 7 @ Boston (April 1): Boston 130, Syracuse 125
Last Playoff Meeting: 1957 NBA Eastern Division Finals (Boston won 3-0)
NBA Finals
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (2) Minneapolis Lakers: Celtics win series 4-0
- Game 1 @ Boston (April 4): Boston 118, Minneapolis 115
- Game 2 @ Boston (April 5): Boston 128, Minneapolis 108
- Game 3 @ Minneapolis (April 7): Boston 123, Minneapolis 110
- Game 4 @ Minneapolis (April 9): Boston 118, Minneapolis 113
Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the Celtics and Lakers.