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1958–59 Minneapolis Lakers season

The 1958–59 Minneapolis Lakers season was the 11th season for the franchise in the NBA.[1]

The Lakers would make it to the NBA Finals, only to be swept by the Boston Celtics in four games in their penultimate season in Minnesota.

Preseason

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
6 40 Alvin Inniss Center  United States St. Francis (NY)

Roster

1958–59 Minneapolis Lakers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
SF 22 Elgin Baylor 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1934–09–16 Seattle
PF 12, 23 Boo Ellis 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1936-12-11 Niagra
SG 50 Ed Fleming 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 189 lb (86 kg) 1933–07–25 Niagra
C 14 Larry Foust 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1928–06–24 La Salle
SG 16 Dick Garmaker 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1932-10-29 Minnesota
SF 30 Steve Hamilton 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1934–11–30 Morehead State
PG 33 Hot Rod Hundley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1934–10–26 West Virginia
C 32 Jim Krebs 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1935–09–08 SMU
PG 21 Bobby Leonard 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1932–09–17 Indiana
PF 19 Vern Mikkelsen 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1928–10–21 Hamline
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-St. Louis Hawks 49 23 .681 – 28–3 14–15 7–5 27–9
x-Minneapolis Lakers 33 39 .458 16 15–7 9–17 9–15 18–18
x-Detroit Pistons 28 44 .389 21 13–17 8–20 7–7 17–19
Cincinnati Royals 19 53 .264 30 9–19 2–25 8–9 10–26
x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1958-59 NBA Records
Team BOS CIN DET MIN NYK PHI STL SYR
Boston — 8–1 8–1 9–0 7–5 9–3 4–5 7–5
Cincinnati 1–8 — 3–9 6–6 3–6 2–7 1–11 3–6
Detroit 1–8 9–3 — 4–8 3–6 5–4 4–8 2–7
Minneapolis 0–9 6–6 8–4 — 4–5 6–3 4–8 5–4
New York 5–7 6–3 6–3 5–4 — 5–7 4–5 9–3
Philadelphia 3–9 7–2 4–5 3–6 7–5 — 4–5 4–8
St. Louis 5–4 11–1 8–4 8–4 5–4 5–4 — 7–2
Syracuse 5–7 6–3 7–2 4–5 3–9 8–4 2–7 —

Game log

# Date Opponent Score High points Record
1 October 22 Cincinnati 79–99 Elgin Baylor (25) 1–0
2 October 25 @ Cincinnati 94–110 Dick Garmaker (23) 1–1
3 October 26 Detroit 100–108 Vern Mikkelsen (22) 2–1
4 October 29 St. Louis 112–100 Baylor, Garmaker, Leonard (13) 2–2
5 November 1 @ St. Louis 108–101 Elgin Baylor (29) 3–2
6 November 6 Philadelphia 101–103 Elgin Baylor (26) 4–2
7 November 8 New York 108–100 Jim Krebs (18) 4–3
8 November 9 @ Syracuse 97–101 Elgin Baylor (34) 4–4
9 November 11 @ Boston 113–116 (OT) Elgin Baylor (36) 4–5
10 November 13 N Detroit 110–119 Elgin Baylor (28) 4–6
11 November 15 @ Philadelphia 101–106 Elgin Baylor (26) 4–7
12 November 16 @ New York 90–98 Elgin Baylor (18) 4–8
13 November 20 Syracuse 102–121 Elgin Baylor (37) 5–8
14 November 22 @ St. Louis 109–114 Elgin Baylor (30) 5–9
15 November 23 Detroit 124–109 Elgin Baylor (30) 5–10
16 November 24 N Boston 104–123 Baylor, Leonard (22) 5–11
17 November 25 @ Detroit 98–90 Elgin Baylor (19) 6–11
18 November 28 Cincinnati 93–114 Elgin Baylor (26) 7–11
19 November 29 @ Syracuse 108–105 Elgin Baylor (35) 8–11
20 November 30 @ Cincinnati 84–77 Elgin Baylor (21) 9–11
21 December 6 N Cincinnati 128–132 (3OT) Elgin Baylor (30) 9–12
22 December 9 @ New York 97–110 Elgin Baylor (23) 9–13
23 December 11 Syracuse 101–99 (OT) Elgin Baylor (31) 9–14
24 December 14 New York 100–99 Elgin Baylor (21) 9–15
25 December 18 Detroit 104–113 Elgin Baylor (26) 10–15
26 December 20 Philadelphia 88–99 Elgin Baylor (33) 11–15
27 December 25 N Detroit 97–98 (OT) Larry Foust (21) 11–16
28 December 26 N Boston 99–107 Vern Mikkelsen (20) 11–17
29 December 27 Boston 112–94 Vern Mikkelsen (16) 11–18
30 December 28 @ Cincinnati 116–120 Bobby Leonard (20) 11–19
31 December 29 N Philadelphia 95–93 Elgin Baylor (21) 11–20
32 December 30 N Syracuse 113–118 Dick Garmaker (27) 12–20
33 January 1 @ Syracuse 106–105 Elgin Baylor (22) 13–20
34 January 2 New York 97–107 Dick Garmaker (27) 14–20
35 January 4 @ Philadelphia 111–95 Elgin Baylor (28) 15–20
36 January 5 @ Boston 106–118 Elgin Baylor (30) 15–21
37 January 6 N St. Louis 112–95 Vern Mikkelsen (17) 15–22
38 January 7 N St. Louis 89–78 Elgin Baylor (21) 15–23
39 January 8 N St. Louis 93–95 Dick Garmaker (22) 16–23
40 January 11 N Boston 106–109 (OT) Dick Garmaker (20) 16–24
41 January 12 N Boston 108–117 Elgin Baylor (30) 16–25
42 January 13 @ St. Louis 95–110 Boo Ellis (18) 16–26
43 January 15 @ Syracuse 105–111 Elgin Baylor (19) 16–27
44 January 16 N Cincinnati 91–95 Larry Foust (23) 16–28
45 January 18 Philadelphia 98–119 Elgin Baylor (30) 17–28
46 January 25 @ Philadelphia 111–125 Elgin Baylor (41) 17–29
47 January 28 Syracuse 109–112 Elgin Baylor (38) 18–29
48 January 29 N Syracuse 117–91 Vern Mikkelsen (16) 18–30
49 January 30 N Detroit 88–86 Elgin Baylor (23) 19–30
50 January 31 N St. Louis 120–96 Elgin Baylor (16) 19–31
51 February 7 Philadelphia 97–109 Vern Mikkelsen (27) 20–31
52 February 8 @ Detroit 115–103 Elgin Baylor (27) 21–31
53 February 9 New York 122–128 Elgin Baylor (31) 22–31
54 February 10 N Cincinnati 118–100 Vern Mikkelsen (43) 23–31
55 February 11 N Cincinnati 106–105 Larry Foust (36) 24–31
56 February 12 N Cincinnati 114–119 Baylor, Fleming (28) 24–34
57 February 14 @ St. Louis 96–139 Elgin Baylor (26) 24–33
58 February 15 St. Louis 98–109 Elgin Baylor (26) 25–33
59 February 17 @ Detroit 97–90 Larry Foust (22) 26–33
60 February 18 Detroit 95–105 Elgin Baylor (29) 27–33
61 February 20 N New York 106–116 Baylor, Garmaker (20) 28–33
62 February 22 @ St. Louis 106–120 Dick Garmaker (27) 28–34
63 February 25 N Cincinnati 116–96 Elgin Baylor (55) 29–34
64 February 27 @ Boston 139–173 Elgin Baylor (28) 29–35
65 February 28 @ New York 107–112 Elgin Baylor (34) 29–36
66 March 1 N Philadelphia 98–100 Elgin Baylor (23) 30–36
67 March 3 N Boston 112–119 Elgin Baylor (24) 30–37
68 March 4 @ Cincinnati 122–128 Elgin Baylor (33) 30–38
69 March 5 N New York 115–135 Elgin Baylor (32) 31–38
70 March 6 @ Detroit 99–98 Larry Foust (23) 32–38
71 March 8 St. Louis 104–120 Elgin Baylor (36) 33–38
72 March 11 Detroit 123–118 Elgin Baylor (39) 33–39

Playoffs

1959 playoff game log
Division semifinals: 2–1 (home: 2–0; road: 0–1)
Game Date Team Score High points Location Series
1 March 14 Detroit W 92–89 Larry Foust (17) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–0
2 March 15 @ Detroit L 103–117 Elgin Baylor (26) Detroit Olympia 1–1
3 March 18 Detroit W 129–102 Elgin Baylor (30) Minneapolis Auditorium 2–1
Division finals: 4–2 (home: 3–0; road: 1–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds Location
Attendance		 Series
1 March 21 @ St. Louis L 90–124 Elgin Baylor (21) — Kiel Auditorium 0–1
2 March 22 St. Louis W 106–98 Elgin Baylor (33) Elgin Baylor (15) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–1
3 March 24 @ St. Louis L 97–127 Baylor, Fleming (15) Elgin Baylor (8) Kiel Auditorium
9,324 		1–2
4 March 26 St. Louis W 108–98 Elgin Baylor (32) — Minneapolis Auditorium 2–2
5 March 28 @ St. Louis W 98–97 (OT) Elgin Baylor (36) — Kiel Auditorium 3–2
6 March 29 St. Louis W 106–104 Elgin Baylor (33) Boo Ellis (15) Minneapolis Auditorium
10,179 		4–2
NBA Finals: 0–4 (home: 0–2; road: 0–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds Location
Attendance		 Series
1 April 4 @ Boston L 115–118 Elgin Baylor (34) Larry Foust (19) Boston Garden
8,195 		0–1
2 April 5 @ Boston L 108–128 Vern Mikkelsen (24) Steve Hamilton (13) Boston Garden
11,082 		0–2
3 April 7 Boston L 110–123 Larry Foust (26) Larry Foust (22) St. Paul Auditorium
11,272 		0–3
4 April 9 Boston L 113–118 Elgin Baylor (30) Elgin Baylor (14) Minneapolis Auditorium
8,124 		0–4
1959 schedule

Awards and records

References

  1. ^ 1958-59 Minneapolis Lakers