1947 BAA Finals

1947 basketball championship series August 2023 BAA 1947 Chicago Stags Harold Olsen 1 Philadelphia Warriors Eddie Gottlieb 4 April 16–22 Warriors:Joe Fulks (1978)Coaches: Harold Olsen (1959) Eddie Gottlieb (1972) Warriors defeated Knickerbockers, 2–0(Runners-up bracket) Stags defeated Capitols, 4–2(Western and Eastern champions) The 1947 BAA Finals was the championship round of playoffs following the inaugural Basketball Association of America (BAA)'s 1946–47 season. The Philadelphia Warriors of the Eastern Division faced the Chicago Stags of the Western Division for the inaugural championship, with Philadelphia having home court advantage. Hall of Fame inductee Joe Fulks played for the Warriors in the series. Greater details on the first ever championship series (also known as the BAA Finals; now as the NBA Finals) that was held in the history of the BAA/NBA would be explored in Charley Rosen's book called "The First Tip-Off: The Incredible Story of the Birth of the NBA", with an entire (short) chapter dedicated to the intricate details involved with the BAA Finals (including the explanation for why the Warriors held home court advantage despite the Stags having the better regular season record and why Philadelphia would have held home court advantage for potential Games 6 & 7 there) and behind the scenes business (alongside later interviews with players and personnel that were involved with the two remaining teams that season and potential suspicions of tampering referees throughout both the playoffs and championship series) that occurred during the 1947 BAA Finals.Rosen Charley The First Tip-Off: The Incredible Story of the Birth of the NBA 2008 McGraw Hill 9780071487856, pp. 225–230 Background Philadelphia was not the Eastern Division champion but advanced to the championship round by winning a four-team playoff among the Eastern and Western Division runners-up. Meanwhile, the Eastern and Western Division champions, Washington Capitols and Chicago Stags, played one long series to determine the other finalist, a best-of-seven series that Chicago won 4–2. In the runners-up bracket, Philadelphia and New York from the East had first eliminated St. Louis and Cleveland from the West, then faced each other, all in best-of-three series. The format was repeated in 1948, and generated another champion from the runners-up bracket. The five games of the final series were played in seven days, with no days off between consecutive games in the same city (twice). Division champions Washington and Chicago had played the six games of their semifinal series from April 2 to 13, although they too took no days off between consecutive games in the same city (twice). In total, the entire playoff tournament lasted a total of 20 days. This would be the Stags only appearance in the Finals; the franchise would fold three years later. It would be another 44 years before a Chicago club played for a pro basketball championship, when the Chicago Bulls won the 1991 NBA Finals. Team rosters Philadelphia Warriors Philadelphia Warriors 1946–47 12 Howie Dallmar F 6 4 200 Stanford 1922-05-24 6 Jerry Fleishman G 6 2 190 NYU 1922-02-14 10 Joe Fulks F 6 5 190 Murray State 1921-10-26 14 Matt Guokas Matt Guokas Sr. F 6 3 195 St. Joseph's 1915-11-11 18 Art Hillhouse C 6 7 220 LIU Brooklyn 1916-06-12 9 Ralph Kaplowitz G/F 6 2 170 NYU 1919-05-18 5 Angelo Musi G 5 9 145 Temple 1918-07-25 15 Petey Rosenberg G 5 10 165 St. Joseph's 1918-04-07 7 Jerry Rullo G 5 10 165 Temple 1923-06-23 8 George Senesky G 6 2 179 St. Joseph's 1922-04-04 Eddie Gottlieb https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHW/1947.html Chicago Stags Chicago Stags 1946–47 16 Chet Carlisle F/C 6 5 195 California 1916-11-02 15 Don Carlson G/F 6 0 170 Minnesota 1919-03-22 3 Bill Davis basketball F 6 3 215 Notre Dame 1921-10-03 17 Chuck Gilmur F/C 6 4 225 Washington 1922-08-13 22 Chick Halbert C 6 9 225 West Texas A&M 1919-02-27 26 Tony Jaros F/G 6 3 185 Minnesota 1920-02-22 12 Wilbert Kautz Wibs Kautz G/F 6 0 180 Loyola Chicago 1915-09-07 8 Doyle Parrack F/G 6 0 165 Oklahoma State 1921-12-06 6 Mickey Rottner G 5 10 180 Loyola Chicago 1919-03-23 5 Jim Seminoff G/F 6 2 190 USC 1922-09-01 10 Max Zaslofsky G 6 2 170 St. John's 1925-12-07 Harold Olsen Philip Brownstein https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHS/1947.html Series summary Game Date Home team Result Road team Game 1 April 16 Philadelphia Warriors 84–71 (1–0) Chicago Stags Game 2 April 17 Philadelphia Warriors 85–74 (2–0) Chicago Stags Game 3 April 19 Chicago Stags 72–75 (0–3) Philadelphia Warriors Game 4 April 20 Chicago Stags 74–73 (1–3) Philadelphia Warriors Game 5 April 22 Philadelphia Warriors 83–80 (4–1) Chicago Stags Warriors win series 4–1 Game 1 #e3e3e3 April 16 Box score Chicago Stags 71 Philadelphia Warriors 84 12–20 12–10 22–22 25–32 Halbert 19 Rottner 2 Fulks 37 Dallmar 4 Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 7,918 Philadelphia leads series, 1–0 Around 7,900 people attended Game 1. The Warriors led at halftime 34–20. Joe Fulks then scored 29 points in the second half, including 21 in the fourth quarter. Angelo Musi, a guard out of Temple University, scored 19 points himself for Philadelphia as well. The Stags took an astounding 129 shots, but only knocked down 26 of them, a 20.2 shooting percentage which made it easy for the Warriors to win, 84–71. Game 2 #e3e3e3 April 17 Box score Chicago Stags 74 Philadelphia Warriors 85 17–14 21–27 21–22 15–22 Carlisle 19 Gilmur, Halbert, Kautz, Seminoff 1 each Dallmar 18 Kaplowitz 2 Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 7,604 Philadelphia leads series, 2–0 Fulks was not the scorer he was in Game 1, but he did not have to be, because five other Warrior players scored in double figures, including 18 points from forward Howie Dallmar and 16 from guard Jerry Fleishman. Chicago did take a brief 69–68 lead until Philadelphia center Art Hillhouse came alive in the fourth quarter. He scored 7 out of the last 10 points for the Warriors, in route to a second Philadelphia win, 85–74. Game 3 #e3e3e3 April 19 Box score Philadelphia Warriors 75 Chicago Stags 72 18–17 13–14 16–15 28–26 Fulks 26 Carlson, Zaslofsky 15 each Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois 2,209 Philadelphia leads series, 3–0 Game 4 #e3e3e3 April 20 Box score Philadelphia Warriors 73 Chicago Stags 74 17–19 17–23 18–23 21–9 Senesky 24 Fleishman 4 Zaslofsky 20 Carlson, Halbert, Seminoff 1 each Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois 1,934 Philadelphia leads series, 3–1 The Stags staved off elimination and avoided a sweep with a one-point victory. Game 5 #e3e3e3 April 22 Box score Chicago Stags 80 Philadelphia Warriors 83 13–27 25–13 30–23 12–20 Jaros 21 Jaros 3 Fulks 34 Dallmar 4 Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 8,221 Philadelphia wins series, 4–1 With less than a minute remaining, Howie Dallmar snapped an 80–80 tie by nailing a jump shot to seal the very first championship for the Warriors. Following the event's conclusion, Warriors players were rewarded $2,000 in prize money, which would almost be a half-season's salary in pay for some of their players.Sachare Alex The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia: Second Edition 1994 Villard Books (Random House, Inc.) 0-679-43293-0 , p. 40 References "1946–47 BAA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-02-28.   Select "Next Season" from the heading for 1947–48, and so on. Select "Finals" from League Playoffs for the daily schedule of the final series, and so on. External links 1947 Finals at NBA.com 1947 BAA Playoffs at Basketball-Reference.com Finals 1947 BAA Finals BAA Finals Category:1947 in sports in Illinois Category:1947 in sports in Pennsylvania BAA Finals, 1947 BAA Finals, 1947 Category:Basketball competitions in Philadelphia Category:Basketball competitions in Chicago Category:April 1947 sports events in the United States Category:Events at Chicago Stadium