1955 NBA Finals

1955 basketball championship series August 2023 NBA 1955 Fort Wayne Pistons Charles Eckman 3 Syracuse Nationals Al Cervi 4 March 31–April 10 Nationals:Dolph Schayes (1973)Earl Lloyd (2003)Pistons:George Yardley (1996)Andy Phillip (1961)Bob Houbregs (1987)Coaches:Al Cervi (1985, player)Officials:Mendy Rudolph (2007) Nationals defeated Celtics, 3–1 Pistons defeated Lakers, 3–1 The 1955 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1954–55 NBA season. The best-of-seven series was won by the Syracuse Nationals, who defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons in the final game when Syracuse's George King made a free throw with 12 seconds left to put the Nationals up 92–91. King then stole the ball from Fort Wayne's Andy Phillip with three seconds remaining to clinch the victory for Syracuse."City Hails Nats' World Title Triumph", Syracuse Herald Journal, April 11, 1955, pp. 1, 45. The arena was booked prior to the team making the finals and was thus not available, and the Fort Wayne home games were played in Indianapolis."Nats Win First Title of Shot-Clock Era", NBA.com It has been alleged that some Fort Wayne players conspired with gamblers to throw the series to Syracuse.The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball. By Charley Rosen. p. 154. 2001 Seven Stories Press. 1-58322-268-5 The suspicious nature of the seventh game in particular has raised concerns about the legitimacy of the series. Fort Wayne led Syracuse 41–24 early in the second quarter, then allowed the Nationals to rally to win the game."Syracuse Five Defeats Pistons in N.B.A. Play-Off Final, 92-91", The New York Times, April 11, 1955, p. 31. Andy Phillip, who turned the ball over with three seconds left in the game, was believed by at least one of his teammates, George Yardley, to have thrown the game. "There were always unwholesome implications about that ball game", Yardley told the author Charley Rosen.Rosen, p. 154. However, Phillip may not have acted alone. Other Pistons players were strongly believed to have thrown games during the 1954 and 1955 NBA seasons.Rosen, pp. 108-154. In fact, Yardley himself turned the ball over to Syracuse with a palming violation with 18 seconds remaining in Game 7.Syracuse Herald Journal, April 11, 1955, p. 45. The foul that gave Syracuse its winning free throw, meanwhile, was committed by Frankie Brian. The NBA did not return to the 2–3–2 format until 1985. As of the , this is the only NBA Finals to date in which the home team has won all seven games. As of , 1955 remains the only year in which the Stanley Cup Final, NBA Finals, and World Series all went the full seven games.https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-stanley-cup-final-game-7-history-307799358 History of Game 7 in Stanley Cup Final NHL.com June 24, 2024 December 16, 2025https://www.mlb.com/news/history-of-world-series-game-7-c39984458 A brief history: Here's every World Series Game 7 MLB.com November 2, 2025 December 16, 2025https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45551784/nba-finals-history-game-7-matchups-stats-1951 DeAndrea Joe Thompson Dan NBA Finals history: Game 7 matchups and stats since 1951 ESPN June 22, 2025 December 16, 2025 Series summary Game Date Home team Result Road team Game 1 March 31 Syracuse Nationals 87–82 (1–0) Fort Wayne Pistons Game 2 April 2 Syracuse Nationals 87–84 (2–0) Fort Wayne Pistons Game 3 April 3 Fort Wayne Pistons* 96–89 (1–2) Syracuse Nationals Game 4 April 5 Fort Wayne Pistons* 109–102 (2–2) Syracuse Nationals Game 5 April 7 Fort Wayne Pistons* 74–71 (3–2) Syracuse Nationals Game 6 April 9 Syracuse Nationals 109–104 (3–3) Fort Wayne Pistons Game 7 April 10 Syracuse Nationals 92–91 (4–3) Fort Wayne Pistons Nationals win series 4–3 – Games played in Indianapolis Team rosters Syracuse Nationals Syracuse Nationals 1954–55 12 Dick Farley SG 6 4 190 Indiana basketball 1932-04-13 7 Billy Gabor SG 5 11 170 Syracuse 1922-05-13 15 Bill Kenville SG 6 2 187 St. Bonaventure 1930-12-01 10 Red Kerr C 6 9 230 Illinois 1932-07-17 3 George King PG 6 0 175 University of Charleston basketball, born 1928 1928-08-16 11 Earl Lloyd SF 6 5 200 West Virginia State 1928-04-03 8 Wally Osterkorn SF 6 5 215 Illinois 1928-07-06 16 Red Rocha C 6 9 185 Oregon State 1923-09-18 4 Dolph Schayes PF 6 8 220 NYU 1928-05-19 5 Paul Seymour SG 6 1 180 Toledo basketball 1928-01-30 6 Connie Simmons C 6 8 222 Flushing HS (NY) 1925-03-15 14 Jim Tucker PF 6 7 185 Duquesne University basketball 1932-12-11 Al Cervi https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SYR/1955.html Fort Wayne Pistons Ft. Wayne Pistons 1954–55 7 Frankie Brian SG 6 1 180 May 1, 1923 LSU 16 Larry Foust C 6 9 215 June 24, 1928 La Salle 8 Bob Houbregs C 6 8 225 March 12, 1932 Washington 9 Mel Hutchins PF 6 6 200 November 22, 1928 BYU 17 Monk Meineke PF 6 7 208 October 30, 1930 Dayton 14 Andy Phillip PG 6 2 195 March 7, 1922 Illinois 15 Dick Rosenthal SF 6 5 205 January 20, 1930 Notre Dame 5 Paul Walther SG 6 2 160 March 23, 1927 Tennessee 12 George Yardley SF 6 5 190 November 3, 1928 Stanford 10 Max Zaslofsky SG 6 2 170 December 7, 1925 St. John's Charles Eckman https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/FTW/1955.html Box scores 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. Notes and sources 2 See also 1955 NBA playoffs External links NBA History NBA Finals on Basketball Reference Finals Category:NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:Basketball competitions in Indiana Category:Basketball competitions in Syracuse, New York NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:Sports competitions in Fort Wayne, Indiana