Summary
Two superstar guards, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West, entered the NBA this season. Robertson joined the Cincinnati Royals, West the Los Angeles Lakers, who had suddenly moved to the West Coast from Minneapolis.
Robertson had a spectacular rookie year, finishing third in scoring with a 30.5 average and supplanting Bob Cousy as the league's assists leader. West began his career more quietly, averaging 17.6 points a game.
But the Boston Celtics and St. Louis Hawks were again far ahead of the competition during the regular season. Boston won the Eastern Division by 11 games and the Hawks finished 15 games ahead of the Lakers in the West.
The Syracuse Nationals, who were below .500 for the season, pulled a shocking upset in the playoffs, beating Wilt Chamberlain's Philadelphia Warriors in three straight games to advance into the division finals. But the Celtics disposed of the Nats in five games.
St. Louis had a much tougher time. They were down, 3 games to 2, against the Lakers in the division finals, but they salvaged a 1-point win in overtime to even the series and then took a 2-point victory to win the series.
So, for the fourth time in five years, it was Boston and St. Louis for the championship. The Celtics won handily in five games, becoming the first NBA team to win three titles in a row.
Chamberlain again set scoring and rebounding records, as the league had three players average more than 30 points a game for the first time. Wilt the Stilt also set a record with a .509 field goal percentage.
Elgin Baylor broke his own single-game record by scoring 71 points against the New York Knicks on Nov. 15, 1960. Baylor also had 25 rebounds in that game.
