1955 NBA playoffs

Postseason tournament August 2023 NBA playoffs 1955 1954–55 March 15 – April 10, 1955 6 Syracuse Nationals 1 Fort Wayne Pistons Minneapolis Lakers Boston Celtics 1954 1956 The 1955 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1954–55 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Syracuse Nationals defeating the Western Conference champion Fort Wayne Pistons 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. This was the only title for the Nationals under that moniker; the franchise won its next title in 1967 as the Philadelphia 76ers. For the Pistons, this was their first trip to the NBA Finals in franchise history; they returned the next year, but didn't win their first title until 1989 as the Detroit Pistons. After experimenting with a round robin playoff format in 1954, the NBA moved to a system in which the top team in each conference earned a first-round bye, giving them the right to start out in the division finals. It remained in place until 1967, when it changed to an eight-team format in which all teams played the first round. Bracket Division Semifinals Division Finals NBA Finals Eastern Division Western Division E3 Boston 2 E2 New York 1 W3 Rochester 1 W2 Minneapolis 2 E1 Syracuse* 3 E3 Boston 1 W1 Fort Wayne* 3 W2 Minneapolis 1 E1 Syracuse* 4 W1 Fort Wayne* 3* Division winner Bold Series winner Italic Team with home-court advantage in NBA Finals Division Semifinals Eastern Division Semifinals (2) New York Knicks vs. (3) Boston Celtics #eee March 15 Boxscore New York Knicks 101 Boston Celtics 122 22–24 19–29 30–34 30–35 Jim Baechtold 17 Bob Cousy 30 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Boston leads series, 1–0 March 16 Boxscore Boston Celtics 95 New York Knicks 102 33–21 26–27 18–28 18–26 Bob Cousy 26 Nat Clifton 25 Madison Square Garden III, Manhattan, New York Series tied, 1–1 #eee March 19 Boxscore Boston Celtics 116 New York Knicks 109 30–16 25–45 32–20 29–28 Bob Cousy 26 Bob Cousy 10 Nat Clifton 21 Nat Clifton 6 Madison Square Garden III, Manhattan, New York Boston wins series, 2–1 This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Knicks winning three of the first four meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=BOS&opp_id=NYK&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus New York Knicks (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021New York leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1951 Boston Celtics 0 New York Knicks 2 1951 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1952 Boston Celtics 1 New York Knicks 2 1952 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1953 Boston Celtics 1 New York Knicks 3 1953 Eastern Division Finals #fff 1954 Boston Celtics 2 New York Knicks 0 1954 Eastern Division Round Robin Semifinals Western Division Semifinals (2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) Rochester Royals #eee March 16 Boxscore Rochester Royals 78 Minneapolis Lakers 82 18–13 17–25 21–19 22–25 Bobby Wanzer 30 Clyde Lovellette 26 St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota 4,841 Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 March 18 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 92 Rochester Royals 94 27–24 23–25 20–22 22–23 Clyde Lovellette 19 Arnie Risen 19 Edgerton Park Arena, Rochester, New York Series tied, 1–1 #eee March 19 Boxscore Rochester Royals 110 Minneapolis Lakers 119 29–28 30–32 18–35 33–24 Arnie Risen 24 Jim Pollard 26 St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota 4,219 Minneapolis wins series, 2–1 Bob Davies’s final NBA game. This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning four of the first five meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=LAL&opp_id=SAC&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus Sacramento Kings (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021Minneapolis leads 4–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1949 Minneapolis Lakers 2 Rochester Royals 0 1949 Western Division Finals #fff 1951 Minneapolis Lakers 1 Rochester Royals 3 1951 Western Division Finals #fff 1952 Minneapolis Lakers 3 Rochester Royals 1 1952 Western Division Finals #fff 1954 Minneapolis Lakers 1 Rochester Royals 0 1954 Western Division Round Robin Semifinals #fff 1954 Minneapolis Lakers 2 Rochester Royals 1 1954 Western Division Finals Division Finals Eastern Division Finals (1) Syracuse Nationals vs. (3) Boston Celtics #eee March 22 Boxscore Boston Celtics 100 Syracuse Nationals 110 22–25 21–21 27–37 30–27 Bill Sharman 20 Bob Cousy 10 Red Kerr 27 Paul Seymour 8 Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York Syracuse leads series, 1–0 March 24 Boxscore Boston Celtics 110 Syracuse Nationals 116 24–28 30–41 34–23 22–24 Bill Sharman 32 Don Barksdale 10 Bob Cousy 15 Dolph Schayes 22 Dolph Schayes 18 Paul Seymour 12 Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York Syracuse leads series, 2–0 #eee March 26 Boxscore Syracuse Nationals 97 Boston Celtics 100 OT 24–23 22–29 21–21 22–16 8–11 Red Kerr 20 Dolph Schayes 14 George King 10 Bob Cousy 23 Bob Brannum 15 Bob Cousy 8 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Syracuse leads series, 2–1 March 27 Boxscore Syracuse Nationals 110 Boston Celtics 94 18–18 31–24 26–21 35–31 Dolph Schayes 28 Earl Lloyd 18 King, Seymour 8 each Bill Sharman 29 Bob Brannum 14 Bob Cousy 9 Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Syracuse wins series, 3–1 This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Nationals winning two of the first three meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=BOS&opp_id=PHI&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021Syracuse leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series#fff 1953 Boston Celtics 2 Syracuse Nationals 0 1953 Eastern Division Semifinals #fff 1954 Boston Celtics 0 Syracuse Nationals 2 1954 Eastern Division Round Robin Semifinals #fff 1954 Boston Celtics 0 Syracuse Nationals 2 1954 Eastern Division Finals Western Division Finals (1) Fort Wayne Pistons vs. (2) Minneapolis Lakers #eee March 20 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 79 Fort Wayne Pistons 96 14–19 18–30 21–27 26–20 Clyde Lovellette 18 Larry Foust 15 North Side Gymnasium, Elkhart, Indiana Lou Eisenstein, Arnie Heft Fort Wayne leads series, 1–0 March 22 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 97 Fort Wayne Pistons 98 OT 22–27 28–24 21–25 26–21 0–1 Whitey Skoog 24 Mel Hutchins 20 Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana Fort Wayne leads series, 2–0 #eee March 23 Boxscore Fort Wayne Pistons 91 Minneapolis Lakers 99 OT 22–12 19–20 25–30 18–22 7–15 George Yardley 25 Whitey Skoog 24 Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota Fort Wayne leads series, 2–1 March 27 Boxscore Fort Wayne Pistons 105 Minneapolis Lakers 96 25–31 20–15 27–20 33–30 Rosenthal, Hutchins 21 each Clyde Lovellette 25 Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota Fort Wayne wins series, 3–1 Jim Pollard’s final NBA game. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first three meetings. +Previous playoff serieshttps://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=DET&opp_id=LAL&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Detroit Pistons versus Los Angeles Lakers (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021Minneapolis leads 3–0 in all-time playoff series#fff 1950 Fort Wayne Pistons 0 Minneapolis Lakers 2 1950 Central Division Finals #fff 1953 Fort Wayne Pistons 2 Minneapolis Lakers 3 1953 Western Division Finals #fff 1954 Fort Wayne Pistons 0 Minneapolis Lakers 2 1954 Western Division Round Robin Semifinals NBA Finals: (E1) Syracuse Nationals vs. (W1) Fort Wayne Pistons 1955 NBA Finals #eee March 31 Boxscore Fort Wayne Pistons 82 Syracuse Nationals 86 19–26 25–22 20–18 18–20 Larry Foust 26 Red Rocha 19 Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York 7,500 Syracuse leads series, 1–0 April 2 Boxscore Fort Wayne Pistons 84 Syracuse Nationals 87 13–30 25–29 27–14 19–24 George Yardley 21 Dolph Schayes 24 Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York 5,845 Syracuse leads series, 2–0 #eee April 3 Boxscore Syracuse Nationals 89 Fort Wayne Pistons 96 22–23 21–20 14–26 32–27 Rocha, Schayes 21 each Mel Hutchins 23 Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana 3,200 Syracuse leads series, 2–1 April 5 Boxscore Syracuse Nationals 102 Fort Wayne Pistons 109 24–27 24–26 22–29 32–27 Dolph Schayes 28 Frankie Brian 18 Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana 2,611 Series tied, 2–2 #eee April 7 Boxscore Syracuse Nationals 71 Fort Wayne Pistons 74 18–22 13–16 14–20 26–16 Bill Kenville 15 George Yardley 16 Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana 4,110 Fort Wayne leads series, 3–2 April 9 Boxscore Fort Wayne Pistons 104 Syracuse Nationals 109 27–19 28–34 19–25 30–31 George Yardley 31 Dolph Schayes 28 Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York 4,997 Series tied, 3–3 #eee April 10 Boxscore Fort Wayne Pistons 91 Syracuse Nationals 92 31–21 22–26 21–27 17–18 Larry Foust 24 Andy Phillip 10 King, Kenville 15 each Paul Seymour 8 Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York 6,697 Syracuse wins series, 4–3 George King hit a free throw with 12 seconds left, then stole the ball from Andy Phillip with 3 seconds left to seal it. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=DET&opp_id=PHI&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Detroit Pistons versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021 References External links Basketball-Reference.com's 1955 NBA Playoffs page Category:NBA playoffs Playoffs