How the 1956 Minneapolis Lakers lost unbelievably in the playoffs

Colleague Joel Rippel (who says he was reminded of this by the estimable Patrick Reusse), sent us scurrying to Basketballreference.com to dig out what proved to be a true and amazing stat. You might have noticed that on some of the writeups of Orlando's 114-71 shellacking of the Hawks, it was noted that the game was only the second-worst playoff defeat in Hawks franchise history. The first came in 1956 against your Minneapolis Lakers.

We'll get to that final margin in a minute, but first the truly remarkable part: it was a three-game series ... and the Lakers lost the series! The teams played a "tiebreaker" game to determine which got home court advantage (the Lakers won meaning the Hawks had home court for Game 1 and the Lakers got it for Games 2 and 3.

Then, in Game 1 of the actual playoff series, the Hawks (then in St. Louis) pulled out a 116-115 victory. But when the series shifted to Minneapolis, the Lakers unleashed a 133-75 clobbering -- a margin of 58 points. With a day off before the crucial third game, however, the Hawks apparently regrouped enough to steal the series with yet another 116-115 victory.

So if you're adding that up: Minneapolis held a 56-point advantage in a three-game series ... and lost. Feel free to discuss where this odd series fits into your overall view of Minnesota playoff history in all sports.

(Note: File photo of Vern Mikkelsen from 1958. It was as close as we could find in the archives. Vern had 40 total points in the three-game series vs. the Hawks in 1956).