The 1947 BAA Finals was the championship round of playoffs following the inaugural

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...

(BAA)'s 1946–47 season. The

Philadelphia Warriors The history of the Golden State Warriors began in Philadelphia in 1946. In 1962, the franchise was relocated to San Francisco, California and became known as the San Francisco Warriors until 1971, when its name was changed to the current Golden St ...

of the Eastern Division faced the

Chicago Stags The Chicago Stags were a National Basketball Association team based in Chicago from 1946 to 1950. History 1946–47 season In the BAA's inaugural year, the Chicago Stags were placed in the Western Division, and after 60 games were tied with the ...

of the Western Division for the inaugural championship, with Philadelphia having home court advantage.

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

inductee

Joe Fulks Joseph Franklin "Jumping Joe" Fulks (October 26, 1921 – March 21, 1976) was an American professional basketball player, sometimes called "the first of the high-scoring forwards". He was posthumously enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball ...

played for the Warriors in the series.

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 The Washington Capitols were a former Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the National Basketball Association) team based in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbach ...

and

Cleveland Rebels The Cleveland Rebels were a basketball team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), a forerunner of the modern National Basketball Association (NBA), based in Cleveland. Franchise history The Rebels were an inaugural franchise in the BAA ...

, 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 New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

from the East had first eliminated

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and Chicago 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 The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

won the

1991 NBA Finals The 1991 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1990–91 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. It was also the first NBA Finals broadcast by NBC after 17 years with CBS. The Eastern ...

Series summary

''Warriors win series 4–1''

Game 1

Around 7,900 people attended Game 1. The Warriors led at halftime 34–20.

then scored 29 points in the second half, including 21 in the fourth quarter.

Angelo Musi Angelo Musi, Jr. (July 25, 1918 – October 19, 2009) was an American professional basketball player. A 5'9" guard from Temple University, Musi played three seasons (1946–1949) in the Basketball Association of America as a member of the Philade ...

, a guard out of

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

, 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

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 Howard Dallmar (May 24, 1922 – December 19, 1991) was an American professional basketball player and coach. A forward from San Francisco, California, Dallmar played collegiately at Stanford University. He led Stanford to the 1942 NCAA Champio ...

and 16 from guard

Jerry Fleishman Jerome Martin Fleishman (February 14, 1922 – June 20, 2007) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'2" shooting guard from New York University, Fleishman played five seasons (1946–1950; 1952–1953) in the Basketball Associat ...

. Chicago did take a brief 69-68 lead until Philadelphia center

Art Hillhouse Arthur Sherwood Hillhouse (June 12, 1916 – October 27, 1980) was an American professional basketball player.

came alive in the fourth quarter. He scored 7 out of the last 10 points for the Warriors, en route to a second Philadelphia win, 85–74.

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

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

External links

1947 Finals
at NBA.com

at Basketball-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:BAA

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

Philadelphia Warriors games Chicago Stags games 1947 in sports in Illinois 1947 in sports in Pennsylvania BAA Finals, 1947 BAA Finals, 1947 Sports competitions in Philadelphia Sports competitions in Chicago April 1947 sports events in the United States