| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 22–April 13, 1949 |
| Season | 1948–49 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Minneapolis Lakers (1st title) |
| Runner-up | Washington Capitols |
| Semifinalists |
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← 1948
1950 →
| |
The 1949 BAA playoffs was the postseason tournament following the Basketball Association of America 1948–49 season, its third and last. Later that year the BAA and National Basketball League merged to create the National Basketball Association or NBA. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Division champion Washington Capitols 4 games to 2 in the BAA Finals.
The eight qualified teams began tournament play on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 22 and 23, and the Finals concluded on Wednesday, April 13. Minneapolis and Washington played 10 and 11 games in a span of 22 days; their six final games in ten days. Prior to their final series, however, Minneapolis had been idle for five days, Washington for only one day.[1]
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | BAA Finals | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Washington* | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Philadelphia | 0 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Washington* | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Division | ||||||||||||||
| E2 | New York | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | New York | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Baltimore | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Washington* | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Minneapolis | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Rochester* | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | St. Louis | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Rochester* | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Western Division | ||||||||||||||
| W2 | Minneapolis | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Minneapolis | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Chicago | 0 | ||||||||||||
March 23 |
| Washington Capitols 92, Philadelphia Warriors70 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 15–17, 25–17, 24–13, 28–23 | ||
| Pts: Kleggie Hermsen20 Asts: Sonny Hertzberg3 |
Pts: Jake Bornheimer13 Asts: Howie Dallmar3 | |
| Washington leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 24 |
| Philadelphia Warriors 78, Washington Capitols 80 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–22, 13–17, 16–20, 29–21 | ||
| Pts: Chink Crossin22 Asts: Jerry Fleishman3 |
Pts: Bones McKinney19 Asts: Jack Nichols5 | |
| Washington wins series, 2–0 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.
March 23 |
| New York Knicks 81, Baltimore Bullets 82 | ||
| Scoring by half: 39–36, 42–46 | ||
| Pts: Carl Braun21 | Pts: Jake Pelkington21 | |
| Baltimore leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 24 |
| Baltimore Bullets 74, New York Knicks 84 | ||
| Scoring by half: 35–39, 39–45 | ||
| Pts: Jake Pelkington14 | Pts: Carl Braun20 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 26 |
| Baltimore Bullets 99, New York Knicks 103 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–25, 25–26, 16–17, 22–21, Overtime: 10–14 | ||
| Pts: Connie Simmons22 | Pts: Harry Gallatin21 | |
| New York wins series, 2–1 | ||
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bullets winning the first meeting.
| Baltimore leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||
March 22 |
| St. Louis Bombers 64, Rochester Royals 93 | ||
| Scoring by half: 27–50, 37–43 | ||
| Pts: Bill Roberts16 | Pts: Bob Davies23 | |
| Rochester leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 23 |
| Rochester Royals 66, St. Louis Bombers64 | ||
| Scoring by half: 29–26, 37–38 | ||
| Pts: Bobby Wanzer17 | Pts: Red Rocha27 | |
| Rochester wins series, 2–0 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.
March 23 |
| Chicago Stags 77, Minneapolis Lakers 84 | ||
| Scoring by half: 35–33, 42–51 | ||
| Pts: Max Zaslofsky22 | Pts: George Mikan37 | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 24 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 101, Chicago Stags85 | ||
| Scoring by half: 56–42, 45–43 | ||
| Pts: George Mikan38 | Pts: Max Zaslofsky22 | |
| Minneapolis wins series, 2–0 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.
March 29 |
| New York Knicks 71, Washington Capitols 77 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–21, 18–17, 17–18, 19–21 | ||
| Pts: Harry Gallatin17 | Pts: Johnny Norlander16 | |
| Washington leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 31 |
| Washington Capitols 84, New York Knicks 86 (OT) | ||
| Pts: Jack Nichols25 | Pts: Carl Braun30 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 2 |
| New York Knicks 76, Washington Capitols 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 15–24, 23–24, 17–12, 21–24 | ||
| Pts: Braun, Gallatin 15 each | Pts: Sonny Hertzberg24 | |
| Washington wins series, 2–1 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.
March 27 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 80, Rochester Royals79 | ||
| Scoring by half: 46–34, 34–45 | ||
| Pts: George Mikan32 | Pts: Arnie Risen17 | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 29 |
| Rochester Royals 55, Minneapolis Lakers 67 | ||
| Scoring by half: 32–34, 23–34 | ||
| Pts: Arnie Risen21 | Pts: George Mikan31 | |
| Minneapolis wins series, 2–0 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[2]
April 4 |
| Washington Capitols 84, Minneapolis Lakers 88 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 13–23, 27–25, 21–19, 23–21 | ||
| Pts: Fred Scolari20 | Pts: George Mikan42 | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 | ||
Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
April 6 |
| Washington Capitols 62, Minneapolis Lakers 76 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 13–20, 19–27, 13–11, 17–18 | ||
| Pts: Sonny Hertzberg13 | Pts: Don Carlson16 | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 2–0 | ||
Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
April 8 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 94, Washington Capitols74 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–14, 17–15, 28–24, 23–21 | ||
| Pts: George Mikan35 | Pts: Nichols, Zunic 12 each | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 3–0 | ||
Uline Arena, Washington, D.C. |
April 9 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 71, Washington Capitols 83 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–22, 12–23, 16–20, 20–18 | ||
| Pts: George Mikan27 | Pts: Jack Nichols27 | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 3–1 | ||
Uline Arena, Washington, D.C. |
April 11 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 65, Washington Capitols 74 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 12–22, 18–19, 22–15, 13–18 | ||
| Pts: George Mikan22 | Pts: Hermsen, Nichols 13 each | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 3–2 | ||
Uline Arena, Washington, D.C. |
April 13 |
| Washington Capitols 56, Minneapolis Lakers 77 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 12–19, 12–21, 17–22, 15–15 | ||
| Pts: Kleggie Hermsen12 | Pts: George Mikan29 | |
| Minneapolis wins series, 4–2 | ||
St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota |
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.
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1948–49 BAA season by team
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| Eastern |
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| Western |
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