1955 NBA playoffs

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1955 NBA playoffs
DatesMarch 15–April 10, 1955
Season1954–55
Teams6
ChampionsSyracuse Nationals (1st title)
Runners-upFort Wayne Pistons (1st finals appearance)
Semifinalists
← 1954 1956 →

The 1955 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1954-55 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Syracuse Nationals defeating the Western Conference champion Fort Wayne Pistons 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.

This was the only title for the Nationals under that moniker; the franchise won its next title in 1967 as the Philadelphia 76ers.

For the Pistons, this was their first trip to the NBA Finals in franchise history; they returned the next year, but didn't win their first title until 1989 as the Detroit Pistons.

After experimenting with a round robin playoff format in 1954, the NBA moved to a system in which the top team in each conference earned a first-round bye, giving them the right to start out in the division finals. It remained in place until 1967, when it changed to an eight-team format in which all teams played the first round.

Bracket[]

  Division Semifinals Division Finals NBA Finals
                           
E3 Boston 2     E1 Syracuse* 3
E2 New York 1     E3 Boston 2  
Eastern Division
  E1 Syracuse* 4
  W1 Fort Wayne* 3
W3 Rochester 1     W1 Fort Wayne* 3
W2 Minneapolis 2     W2 Minneapolis 1
Western Division

* Division winner
Bold Series winner
Italic Team with home-court advantage in NBA Finals

This bracket:
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Division Semifinals[]

Eastern Division Semifinals[]

(2) New York Knicks vs. (3) Boston Celtics[]

March 15
New York Knicks 101, Boston Celtics 122
Scoring by quarter: 22–24, 19–29, 30–34, 30–35
Pts: Jim Baechtold 17 Pts: Bob Cousy 30
Boston leads series, 1–0
March 16
Boston Celtics 95, New York Knicks 102
Scoring by quarter: 33–21, 26–27, 18–28, 18–26
Pts: Bob Cousy 26 Pts: Nat Clifton 25
Series tied, 1–1
March 19
Boston Celtics 116, New York Knicks 109
Scoring by quarter: 30–16, 25–45, 32–20, 29–28
Pts: Bob Cousy 26
Asts: Bob Cousy 10		 Pts: Nat Clifton 21
Asts: Nat Clifton 6
Boston wins series, 2–1


This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Knicks winning three of the first four meetings.

Western Division Semifinals[]

(2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) Rochester Royals[]

March 16
Rochester Royals 78, Minneapolis Lakers 82
Scoring by quarter: 18–13, 17–25, 21–19, 22–25
Pts: Bobby Wanzer 30 Pts: Clyde Lovellette 26
Minneapolis leads series, 1–0
St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 4,841
March 18
Minneapolis Lakers 92, Rochester Royals 94
Scoring by quarter: 27–24, 23–25, 20–22, 22–23
Pts: Clyde Lovellette 19 Pts: Arnie Risen 19
Series tied, 1–1
March 19
Rochester Royals 110, Minneapolis Lakers 119
Scoring by quarter: 29–28, 30–32, 18–35, 33–24
Pts: Arnie Risen 24 Pts: Jim Pollard 26
Minneapolis wins series, 2–1
St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 4,219


This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning four of the first five meetings.

Division Finals[]

Eastern Division Finals[]

(1) Syracuse Nationals vs. (3) Boston Celtics[]

March 22
Boston Celtics 100, Syracuse Nationals 110
Scoring by quarter: 22–25, 21–21, 27–37, 30–27
Pts: Bill Sharman 20
Asts: Bob Cousy 10		 Pts: Red Kerr 27
Asts: Paul Seymour 8
Syracuse leads series, 1–0
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York
March 24
Boston Celtics 110, Syracuse Nationals 116
Scoring by quarter: 24–28, 30–41, 34–23, 22–24
Pts: Bill Sharman 32
Rebs: Don Barksdale 10
Asts: Bob Cousy 15		 Pts: Dolph Schayes 22
Rebs: Dolph Schayes 18
Asts: Paul Seymour 12
Syracuse leads series, 2–0
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York
March 26
Syracuse Nationals 97, Boston Celtics 100 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 24–23, 22–29, 21–21, 22–16, Overtime: 8–11
Pts: Red Kerr 20
Rebs: Dolph Schayes 14
Asts: George King 10		 Pts: Bob Cousy 23
Rebs: Bob Brannum 15
Asts: Bob Cousy 8
Syracuse leads series, 2–1
March 27
Syracuse Nationals 110, Boston Celtics 94
Scoring by quarter: 18–18, 31–24, 26–21, 35–31
Pts: Dolph Schayes 28
Rebs: Earl Lloyd 18
Asts: King, Seymour 8 each		 Pts: Bill Sharman 29
Rebs: Bob Brannum 14
Asts: Bob Cousy 9
Syracuse wins series, 3–1


This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Nationals winning two of the first three meetings.

Western Division Finals[]

(1) Fort Wayne Pistons vs. (2) Minneapolis Lakers[]

March 20
Minneapolis Lakers 79, Fort Wayne Pistons 96
Scoring by quarter: 14–19, 18–30, 21–27, 26–20
Pts: Clyde Lovellette 18 Pts: Larry Foust 15
Fort Wayne leads series, 1–0
North Side Gymnasium, Elkhart, Indiana
Referees: Lou Eisenstein, Arnie Heft
March 22
Minneapolis Lakers 97, Fort Wayne Pistons 98 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 22–27, 28–24, 21–25, 26–21, Overtime: 0–1
Pts: Whitey Skoog 24 Pts: Mel Hutchins 20
Fort Wayne leads series, 2–0
Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
March 23
Fort Wayne Pistons 91, Minneapolis Lakers 99 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 22–12, 19–20, 25–30, 18–22, Overtime: 7–15
Pts: George Yardley 25 Pts: Whitey Skoog 24
Fort Wayne leads series, 2–1
March 27
Fort Wayne Pistons 105, Minneapolis Lakers 96
Scoring by quarter: 25–31, 20–15, 27–20, 33–30
Pts: Rosenthal, Hutchins 21 each Pts: Clyde Lovellette 25
Fort Wayne wins series, 3–1


This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first three meetings.

NBA Finals: (E1) Syracuse Nationals vs. (W1) Fort Wayne Pistons[]

Main article: 1955 NBA Finals
March 31
Fort Wayne Pistons 82, Syracuse Nationals 86
Scoring by quarter: 19–26, 25–22, 20–18, 18–20
Pts: Larry Foust 26 Pts: Red Rocha 19
Syracuse leads series, 1–0
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York
Attendance: 7,500
April 2
Fort Wayne Pistons 84, Syracuse Nationals 87
Scoring by quarter: 13–30, 25–29, 27–14, 19–24
Pts: George Yardley 21 Pts: Dolph Schayes 24
Syracuse leads series, 2–0
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York
Attendance: 5,845
April 3
Syracuse Nationals 89, Fort Wayne Pistons 96
Scoring by quarter: 22–23, 21–20, 14–26, 32–27
Pts: Rocha, Schayes 21 each Pts: Mel Hutchins 23
Syracuse leads series, 2–1
Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Attendance: 3,200
April 5
Syracuse Nationals 102, Fort Wayne Pistons 109
Scoring by quarter: 24–27, 24–26, 22–29, 32–27
Pts: Dolph Schayes 28 Pts: Frankie Brian 18
Series tied, 2–2
Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Attendance: 2,611
April 7
Syracuse Nationals 71, Fort Wayne Pistons 74
Scoring by quarter: 18–22, 13–16, 14–20, 26–16
Pts: Bill Kenville 15 Pts: George Yardley 16
Fort Wayne leads series, 3–2
Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Attendance: 4,110
April 9
Fort Wayne Pistons 104, Syracuse Nationals 109
Scoring by quarter: 27–19, 28–34, 19–25, 30–31
Pts: George Yardley 31 Pts: Dolph Schayes 28
Series tied, 3–3
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York
Attendance: 4,997
April 10
Fort Wayne Pistons 91, Syracuse Nationals 92
Scoring by quarter: 31–21, 22–26, 21–27, 17–18
Pts: Larry Foust 24
Asts: Andy Phillip 10		 Pts: King, Kenville 15 each
Asts: Paul Seymour 8
Syracuse wins series, 4–3
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York
Attendance: 6,697
  • George King hit a free throw with 12 seconds left, then stole the ball from Andy Phillip with 3 seconds left to seal it.


This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus New York Knicks (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  2. ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus Sacramento Kings (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  3. ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  4. ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Detroit Pistons versus Los Angeles Lakers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  5. ^ "Team Rivalry Finder — Detroit Pistons versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.

External links[]

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