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.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 15–April 10, 1955 |
| Season | 1954–55 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Syracuse Nationals (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| Semifinalists |
|
← 1954
1956 →
| |
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.
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||
| E1 | Syracuse* | 3 | |||||||||||
| E3 | Boston | 2 | E3 | Boston | 1 | ||||||||
| E2 | New York | 1 | E1 | Syracuse* | 4 | ||||||||
| W1 | Fort Wayne* | 3 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Fort Wayne* | 3 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Rochester | 1 | W2 | Minneapolis | 1 | ||||||||
| W2 | Minneapolis | 2 | |||||||||||
March 15 |
| New York Knicks 101, Boston Celtics 122 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–24, 19–29, 30–34, 30–35 | ||
| Pts: Jim Baechtold17 | Pts: Bob Cousy30 | |
| 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 Cousy26 | Pts: Nat Clifton25 | |
| 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 Cousy26 Asts: Bob Cousy10 |
Pts: Nat Clifton21 Asts: Nat Clifton6 | |
| 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.
| New York leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
March 16 |
| Rochester Royals 78, Minneapolis Lakers 82 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–13, 17–25, 21–19, 22–25 | ||
| Pts: Bobby Wanzer30 | Pts: Clyde Lovellette26 | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 | ||
St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota |
March 18 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 92, Rochester Royals 94 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–24, 23–25, 20–22, 22–23 | ||
| Pts: Clyde Lovellette19 | Pts: Arnie Risen19 | |
| 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 Risen24 | Pts: Jim Pollard26 | |
| Minneapolis wins series, 2–1 | ||
St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota |
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning four of the first five meetings.
| Minneapolis leads 4–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
March 22 |
| Boston Celtics 100, Syracuse Nationals 110 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–25, 21–21, 27–37, 30–27 | ||
| Pts: Bill Sharman20 Asts: Bob Cousy10 |
Pts: Red Kerr27 Asts: Paul Seymour8 | |
| Syracuse leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 24 |
| Boston Celtics 110, Syracuse Nationals 116 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–28, 30–41, 34–23, 22–24 | ||
| Pts: Bill Sharman32 Rebs: Don Barksdale10 Asts: Bob Cousy15 |
Pts: Dolph Schayes22 Rebs: Dolph Schayes18 Asts: Paul Seymour12 | |
| Syracuse leads series, 2–0 | ||
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 Kerr20 Rebs: Dolph Schayes14 Asts: George King10 |
Pts: Bob Cousy23 Rebs: Bob Brannum15 Asts: Bob Cousy8 | |
| Syracuse leads series, 2–1 | ||
March 27 |
| Syracuse Nationals 110, Boston Celtics94 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–18, 31–24, 26–21, 35–31 | ||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes28 Rebs: Earl Lloyd18 Asts: King, Seymour 8 each |
Pts: Bill Sharman29 Rebs: Bob Brannum14 Asts: Bob Cousy9 | |
| 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.
| Syracuse leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||
March 20 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 79, Fort Wayne Pistons 96 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–19, 18–30, 21–27, 26–20 | ||
| Pts: Clyde Lovellette18 | Pts: Larry Foust15 | |
| Fort Wayne leads series, 1–0 | ||
North Side Gymnasium, Elkhart, Indiana |
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 Skoog24 | Pts: Mel Hutchins20 | |
| Fort Wayne leads series, 2–0 | ||
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 Yardley25 | Pts: Whitey Skoog24 | |
| Fort Wayne leads series, 2–1 | ||
March 27 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 105, Minneapolis Lakers96 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–31, 20–15, 27–20, 33–30 | ||
| Pts: Rosenthal, Hutchins 21 each | Pts: Clyde Lovellette25 | |
| Fort Wayne wins series, 3–1 | ||
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first three meetings.
| Minneapolis leads 3–0 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||
March 31 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 82, Syracuse Nationals 86 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–26, 25–22, 20–18, 18–20 | ||
| Pts: Larry Foust26 | Pts: Red Rocha19 | |
| Syracuse leads series, 1–0 | ||
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York |
April 2 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 84, Syracuse Nationals 87 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 13–30, 25–29, 27–14, 19–24 | ||
| Pts: George Yardley21 | Pts: Dolph Schayes24 | |
| Syracuse leads series, 2–0 | ||
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York |
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 Hutchins23 | |
| Syracuse leads series, 2–1 | ||
Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana |
April 5 |
| Syracuse Nationals 102, Fort Wayne Pistons 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–27, 24–26, 22–29, 32–27 | ||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes28 | Pts: Frankie Brian18 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana |
April 7 |
| Syracuse Nationals 71, Fort Wayne Pistons 74 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–22, 13–16, 14–20, 26–16 | ||
| Pts: Bill Kenville15 | Pts: George Yardley16 | |
| Fort Wayne leads series, 3–2 | ||
Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana |
April 9 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 104, Syracuse Nationals 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–19, 28–34, 19–25, 30–31 | ||
| Pts: George Yardley31 | Pts: Dolph Schayes28 | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York |
April 10 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 91, Syracuse Nationals 92 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–21, 22–26, 21–27, 17–18 | ||
| Pts: Larry Foust24 Asts: Andy Phillip10 |
Pts: King, Kenville 15 each Asts: Paul Seymour8 | |
| Syracuse wins series, 4–3 | ||
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York |
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[5]