1947 BAA Finals

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.

1947 BAA Finals
TeamCoachWins
Philadelphia Warriors Eddie Gottlieb 4
Chicago Stags Harold Olsen 1
DatesApril 16–22
Hall of FamersWarriors:
Joe Fulks (1978)
Coaches:
Harold Olsen (1959)
Eddie Gottlieb (1972)
Eastern FinalsWarriors defeated Knicks, 2–0
(Runners-up bracket)
Western FinalsStags defeated Capitols, 4–2
(Western and Eastern champions)

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 Cleveland Rebels, 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.[1]

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.[1]

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.

Series summary
GameDateHome teamResultRoad team
Game 1April 16Philadelphia Warriors84–71 (1–0)Chicago Stags
Game 2April 17Philadelphia Warriors85–74 (2–0)Chicago Stags
Game 3April 19Chicago Stags72–75 (0–3)Philadelphia Warriors
Game 4April 20Chicago Stags74–73 (1–3)Philadelphia Warriors
Game 5April 22Philadelphia Warriors83–80 (4–1)Chicago Stags

Warriors win series 4–1

Game 1
April 16
Chicago Stags 71, Philadelphia Warriors 84
Scoring by quarter: 12–20, 12–10, 22–22, 25–32
Pts: Halbert 19
Asts: Rottner 2		 Pts: Fulks 37
Asts: Dallmar 4
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
April 17
Chicago Stags 74, Philadelphia Warriors 85
Scoring by quarter: 17–14, 21–27, 21–22, 15–22
Pts: Carlisle 19
Asts: Gilmur, Halbert, Kautz, Seminoff 1 each		 Pts: Dallmar 18
Asts: Kaplowitz 2
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
April 19
Philadelphia Warriors 75, Chicago Stags 72
Scoring by quarter: 18–17, 13–14, 16–15, 28–26
Pts: Fulks 26 Pts: Carlson, Zaslofsky 15 each
Philadelphia leads series, 3–0

Game 4
April 20
Philadelphia Warriors 73, Chicago Stags 74
Scoring by quarter: 17–19, 17–23, 18–23, 21–9
Pts: Senesky 24
Asts: Fleishman 4		 Pts: Zaslofsky 20
Asts: Carlson, Halbert, Seminoff 1 each
Philadelphia leads series, 3–1

Game 5
April 22
Chicago Stags 80, Philadelphia Warriors 83
Scoring by quarter: 13–27, 25–13, 30–23, 12–20
Pts: Jaros 21
Asts: Jaros 3		 Pts: Fulks 34
Asts: Dallmar 4
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.

Team rosters

Philadelphia Warriors

Chicago Stags

References
  1. "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.
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