| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 23–April 21, 1948 |
| Season | 1947–48 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Baltimore Bullets (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Philadelphia Warriors |
| Semifinalists | |
The 1948 BAA playoffs was the postseason tournament following the Basketball Association of America 1947–48 season. Following its third, 1948–49 season, the BAA and National Basketball League merged to create the National Basketball Association or NBA. The tournament concluded with the Baltimore Bullets defeating the Philadelphia Warriors 4 games to 2 in the BAA Finals.
The two Division champions and two teams involved in a 3-way tiebreaker began tournament play on Tuesday, March 23, and the Finals concluded on Wednesday, April 21. Baltimore and Philadelphia played 12 and 13 games in the span of 30 days; their six final games in 12 days.
There were no byes. Western and Eastern champions St. Louis and Philadelphia immediately played a long semifinal series with St. Louis having home-court advantage. Philadelphia won the seventh game in St. Louis, 85–46, two days before Baltimore concluded its sequence of tie-breaker (not shown) and two short series with other runners-up.
| First Round | BAA Semifinals | BAA Finals | |||||||||||
| W1 | St. Louis* | 3 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Philadelphia* | 4 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Philadelphia* | 2 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Baltimore | 2 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Baltimore | 4 | |||||||||||
| E2 | New York | 1 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Baltimore | 2 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Chicago | 0 | |||||||||||
| E3 | Boston | 1 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Chicago | 2 | |||||||||||
March 23
|
| Washington Capitols 70, Chicago Stags 74 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–10, 20–22, 21–20, 13–22 | ||
| Pts: Feerick, Scolari 16 each | Pts: Max Zaslofsky 24 | |
| Washington fails to qualify | ||
March 25
|
| Baltimore Bullets 75, Chicago Stags 72 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 10–17, 21–15, 17–21, 27–19 | ||
| Pts: Kleggie Hermsen 14 | Pts: Max Zaslofsky 21 | |
| Baltimore finishes as the West's #2 seed, Chicago as the West's #3 seed | ||
March 27
|
| New York Knicks 81, Baltimore Bullets 85 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–19, 22–26, 19–21, 19–19 | ||
| Pts: Bud Palmer 21 | Pts: Connie Simmons 34 | |
| Baltimore leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 28
|
| Baltimore Bullets 69, New York Knicks 79 | ||
| Scoring by half: 30–33, 39–46 | ||
| Pts: Connie Simmons 23 | Pts: Bud Palmer 18 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 1
|
| New York Knicks 77, Baltimore Bullets 84 | ||
| Scoring by half: 46–41, 31–43 | ||
| Pts: Sid Tanenbaum 18 | Pts: Connie Simmons 22 | |
| Baltimore wins series, 2–1 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.
March 28
|
| Chicago Stags 79, Boston Celtics 72 | ||
| Scoring by half: 29–32, 50–40 | ||
| Pts: Max Zaslofsky 18 | Pts: Sadowski, Riebe 22 each | |
| Chicago leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 31
|
| Chicago Stags 77, Boston Celtics 81 | ||
| Scoring by half: 33–40, 44–41 | ||
| Pts: Max Zaslofsky 22 | Pts: Saul Mariaschin 17 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 2
|
| Chicago Stags 81, Boston Celtics 74 | ||
| Scoring by half: 37–40, 44–34 | ||
| Pts: Max Zaslofsky 31 | Pts: Ed Sadowski 26 | |
| Chicago wins series, 2–1 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.
March 23
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 58, St. Louis Bombers 60 | ||
| Scoring by half: 29–31, 29–29 | ||
| Pts: Joe Fulks 18 Asts: Howie Dallmar 3 |
Pts: Belus Smawley 21 Asts: John Logan 2 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 25
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 65, St. Louis Bombers 64 | ||
| Scoring by half: 31–37, 34–29 | ||
| Pts: George Senesky 20 Asts: Howie Dallmar 2 |
Pts: Belus Smawley 13 Asts: Bob Doll 3 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 27
|
| St. Louis Bombers 56, Philadelphia Warriors 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–17, 11–18, 13–25, 15–24 | ||
| Pts: Rocha, Maughan 16 each Asts: Don Putman 2 |
Pts: Joe Fulks 30 Asts: Howie Dallmar 5 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 2–1 | ||
March 30
|
| St. Louis Bombers 56, Philadelphia Warriors 51 | ||
| Scoring by half: 29–28, 27–23 | ||
| Pts: Red Rocha 19 Asts: Red Rocha 2 |
Pts: Joe Fulks 21 Asts: Howie Dallmar 2 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
April 1
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 62, St. Louis Bombers 69 | ||
| Scoring by half: 34–36, 28–33 | ||
| Pts: Joe Fulks 17 Asts: Howie Dallmar 2 |
Pts: Red Rocha 22 Asts: John Logan 4 | |
| St. Louis leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 3
|
| St. Louis Bombers 61, Philadelphia Warriors 84 | ||
| Scoring by half: 30–47, 31–37 | ||
| Pts: Rocha, Logan 11 each Asts: four players 1 each |
Pts: Joe Fulks 23 Asts: Howie Dallmar 5 | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
April 6
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 85, St. Louis Bombers 46 | ||
| Scoring by half: 38–21, 47–25 | ||
| Pts: Joe Fulks 15 Asts: Chink Crossin 4 |
Pts: John Logan 18 Asts: Logan, Smawley 1 each | |
| Philadelphia wins series, 4–3 | ||
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Warriors winning the first meeting.
| Philadelphia leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
April 7
|
| Baltimore Bullets 73, Chicago Stags 67 | ||
| Scoring by half: 41–27, 32–40 | ||
| Pts: Paul Hoffman 19 | Pts: Zaslofsky, Miasek 15 each | |
| Baltimore leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 8
|
| Chicago Stags 72, Baltimore Bullets 89 | ||
| Scoring by half: 41–38, 31–51 | ||
| Pts: Stan Miasek 27 | Pts: Chick Reiser 18 | |
| Baltimore wins series, 2–0 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.
|
Main article: 1948 BAA Finals |
April 10
|
| Baltimore Bullets 60, Philadelphia Warriors 71 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 12–17, 7–17, 21–21, 20–16 | ||
| Pts: Connie Simmons 15 Asts: Jeannette, Schulz 2 each |
Pts: Chick Halbert 19 Asts: Howie Dallmar 3 | |
| Philadelphia leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 13
|
| Baltimore Bullets 66, Philadelphia Warriors 63 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 13–19, 7–22, 20–7, 26–15 | ||
| Pts: Connie Simmons 25 Asts: Kleggie Hermsen 3 |
Pts: Joe Fulks 27 Asts: Dallmar, Musi 2 each | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 15
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 70, Baltimore Bullets 72 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 12–11, 18–20, 17–18, 23–23 | ||
| Pts: Joe Fulks 21 Asts: Kaplowitz, Dallmar 2 each |
Pts: Connie Simmons 14 Asts: Kleggie Hermsen 3 | |
| Baltimore leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 17
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 75, Baltimore Bullets 78 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 13–20, 15–20, 17–12, 30–26 | ||
| Pts: Joe Fulks 29 Asts: Howie Dallmar 3 |
Pts: Paul Hoffman 27 Asts: Hermsen, Jeannette 2 each | |
| Baltimore leads series, 3–1 | ||
April 20
|
| Baltimore Bullets 82, Philadelphia Warriors 91 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–20, 14–18, 26–23, 23–30 | ||
| Pts: Connie Simmons 16 Asts: Chick Reiser 2 |
Pts: Joe Fulks 19 Asts: Howie Dallmar 4 | |
| Baltimore leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 21
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 73, Baltimore Bullets 88 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–13, 13–24, 17–26, 25–25 | ||
| Pts: Joe Fulks 28 Asts: Howie Dallmar 2 |
Pts: Chick Reiser 16 Asts: Connie Simmons 6 | |
| Baltimore wins series, 4–2 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.