NBA Finals: Top 7 Upsets In NBA Finals History

6 of 8

Bob Pettit, with ball, drives past an injured Bill Russell in Game 6 of the 1958 NBA Finals. Pettit scored 50 points in the clincher as the Hawks became the only team to ever beat Russell’s Celtics in the Finals. (Screen capture via youtube) /

3. St. Louis Hawks over Boston Celtics, 1958

The Celtics had beaten the Hawks in a seven-game battle the previous season and it was no surprise when the two emerged for a rematch after both teams won their respective divisions by eight games each.

Boston had the league’s MVP in second-year center Bill Russell. St. Louis had the best power forward of the era in Bob Pettit.

The Hawks went into Boston Garden and stole Game 1, 104-102. Cliff Hagan had 33 points for St. Louis and Pettit added 30, offsetting the 27 points by Bob Cousy and the 25 scored by Bill Sharman.

The Celtics came back with a 136-112 thumping of the Hawks in Game 2. Boston had balance—Cousy finished with 25 points, Sharman and Russell each scored 22 and Frank Ramsey tossed in 20—while Hagen led St. Louis with 37 points.

At Kiel Auditorium in Game 3, the series shifted dramatically with the score tied 49-49 late in the first half.

Russell went up to block a shot by Pettit, but came down awkwardly. His severely sprained ankle kept him out for most of the remainder of the series and St. Louis took advantage, beginning with a 111-108 win in Game 3. Pettit led the Hawks with 32 points, while Ramsey had 29 and Sharman added 21 for Boston.

Cousy scored 24 points in Game 4 as the Celtics evened the series without their MVP, 109-98. Sharman added 21 points. Hagan paced St. Louis with 27 points, while Pettit was held to just 12.

Back at Boston Garden for Game 5, Pettit went for 33 points, Slater Martin erupted for 25 and Hagan added 21 as the Hawks pulled out a 102-100 win, nearly blowing a double-digit lead down the stretch.

Ramsey had 30 for the Celtics, but the backcourt combo of Sharman and Cousy were a combined 11-for-36 for 23 points.

In Game 6 back at Kiel Auditorium, Pettit made sure the series wouldn’t go back east. Pettit scored with 22 seconds to play to put St. Louis up 108-105 and then tipped in a Martin miss to clinch a 110-109 victory and the Hawks’ first—and only—title.

Pettit erupted for 50 points in the clincher. Sharman had 26 for the Celtics and Tom Heinsohn added 23, while Russell—playing with a cast on his ankle—tried gamely, but had no answer for a healthy Pettit, who averaged 29.3 points and 17 rebounds per game in the Finals.

Boston wouldn’t lose another playoff series for nine years.