The First NBA Playoffs
It was actually called the Basketball Association of America (BAA) when it began in 1946-7 with 11 teams under Commissioner Maurice Podoloff. The 60-game season ended with these standings.
| Eastern Division | W | L | Pct. | GB |
Western Division | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Washington Capitols | 49 | 11 | .817 | - |
Chicago Stags | 39 | 22 | .639 | - |
| Philadelphia Warriors | 35 | 25 | .583 | 14 |
St. Louis Bombers | 38 | 23 | .623 | 1 |
| New York Knicks | 33 | 27 | .550 | 16 |
Cleveland Rebels | 30 | 30 | .500 | 8.5 |
| Providence Steamrollers | 28 | 32 | .467 | 21 |
Detroit Falcons | 20 | 40 | .333 | 18.5 |
| Toronto Huskies | 22 | 38 | .367 | 27 |
Pittsburgh Ironmen | 15 |
45 | .250 |
23.5 |
| Boston Celtics | 22 | 38 | .367 | 27 |
The All-League first team consisted of: Max Zaslofsky, Chicago; Bones McKinney, Washington; Joe Fulks, Philadelphia; Stan Miasek, Detroit; and Bob Feerick, Washington.
The playoffs consisted of six teams and did not resemble the system of recent decades. The two Division champions (Washington and Chicago) played a best-of-seven series with the winner advancing to the finals. Washington, coached by Red Auerbach, had by far the best record in the regular season, with 10 more wins than the Stags including a 29-1 mark at home. However, Chicago upset the Capitols in six games. Notice the weird progression of sites.
Chicago
4, Washington
2
April 1 @Washington: Chicago
81, Washington
65
April 3 @Washington: Chicago
69, Washington
53
April 8 @Chicago: Chicago
67, Washington
55
April 10 @Washington: Washington
75, Chicago
69
April 12 @Chicago: Washington
67 Chicago
55
April 13 @Chicago: Chicago
66 Washington
61
In the meantime, the next two teams in each division played a best-of-three series, with Philadelphia defeating St. Louis and the Knicks eliminating Cleveland. (You would think #2 in the East would play #3 in the West and vice-versa but that was not the case. The #2 teams played and the #3's squared off.) Then the winners of those series played another best-of-three for the right to face the Washington-Chicago winner.
Philadelphia
2, St.
Louis 1
April 2 @Philadelphia: Philadelphia
73, St.
Louis 68
April 5 @St. Louis: St.
Louis 73, Philadelphia
51
April 6 @St. Louis: Philadelphia
75, St.
Louis 59
(I assume St.
Louis got two home games because they had the better regular
season record.)
New
York
2, Cleveland
1
April 2 @Cleveland: Cleveland
77, New
York
51
April 5 @New York: New
York
86, Cleveland
74
April 9 @New York: New
York
93, Cleveland
71
Philadelphia
2, New
York
0
April 12 @Philadelphia: Philadelphia
82, New
York
70
April 14 @New York: Philadelphia
72, New
York
53
The finals were best-of-seven. However, the Eddie Gottlieb-coached Warriors, which had only the fourth best record in the regular season, made short work of the Stags. For some reason, the Warriors got the first two games at home.
Finals:
Philadelphia 4, Chicago 1
April 16 @Philadelphia: Philadelphia
84, Chicago
71
April 17 @Philadephia: Philadelphia
85, Chicago
74
April 19 @Chicago: Philadelphia
75, Chicago
72
April 20 @Chicago: Chicago
74, Philadelphia
73
April 22 @Philadelphia: Philadelphia
83, Chicago
80
The initial season of the new league was a limited success. Only two of the franchises live on today in the same city, the Celtics and the Knicks. The Knicks played in Madison Square Garden, but it was the forerunner of today's structure. The Celtics' home was Boston Garden. Another notable arena was Chicago Stadium. The Warriors have morphed into the Golden State Warriors of today. Washington, Toronto, Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit have NBA franchises again today. However, Providence, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh do not.
The Finals games in Philadelphia were sellouts (approximately 8,000 in the Philadelphia Arena). Members of the victorious Warriors received $2,000 per man in prize money – almost half a season's pay for most.
The league suffered a large turnover from its first to its second year. The BAA opened the 1947-8 season with only eight franchises. Cleveland (despite making the playoffs), Toronto, Detroit, and Pittsburgh were gone. The Baltimore Bullets were added.