1958-59 – Full dominance of Celtics begins
A new star appeared in the league when Elgin Baylor put on his Minneapolis
jersey. He helped the Lakers go up from 19-53 to a 33-39 record and advance to
the Playoffs, averaging 24.9 points and 15.0 rebounds per game. He made the
All-NBA Team as a rookie. This had previously been accomplished only by Bob
Pettit and Alex Groza.
Boston had won the East Division by 12 games, while St. Louis won the West by
16 games. Everyone expected a Boston-St.Louis matchup in the NBA Finals. Boston
had a hard to get to the beating Syracuse with Dolph Schayes, Red Kerr, and
newly aquired George Yardley. Finals time with Syracuse, which had acquired to
add to a front line that already boasted Dolph Schayes and Red Kerr. St. Louis,
after winning 2-1 over Minneapolis, lost three games and didn't make the Finals.
Nobody gave the Lakers much chance against the Celtics, they managed to survive
three very close games. Although they could not win any of them and gave the
Lakers a lot to be proud of in 4-0 sweep. Nobody knew it at the time that it
would be an eight year run of straight championships for the Celtics.
The star of that season proved to be Baylor. Although he wasn't as tall as
his rivals, he used his strength and ability to show that he should be reckoned
with. It was Baylor was talked about that he could hang in the air. In one of
his games, he scored 55 points, which began a new high-scoring era.
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