| 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 | |
The1955 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of theNational Basketball Association's1954-55 season. The tournament concluded with theEastern Conference championSyracuse Nationals defeating theWestern Conference championFort Wayne Pistons 4 games to 3 in theNBA Finals.
This was the only title for the Nationals under that moniker; the franchise won its next title in1967 as thePhiladelphia 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 until1989 as the Detroit Pistons.
After experimenting with around robin playoff format in1954, 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 Celtics122 | ||
| 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 Knicks102 | ||
| 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 Celtics116,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.
| New York leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
March 16 |
| Rochester Royals 78,Minneapolis Lakers82 | ||
| Scoring by quarter:18–13, 17–25,21–19, 22–25 | ||
| Pts:Bobby Wanzer 30 | Pts:Clyde Lovellette 26 | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 18 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 92,Rochester Royals94 | ||
| 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 Lakers119 | ||
| Scoring by quarter:29–28, 30–32, 18–35,33–24 | ||
| Pts:Arnie Risen 24 | Pts:Jim Pollard 26 | |
| Minneapolis wins series, 2–1 | ||
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 Nationals110 | ||
| 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 | ||
March 24 |
| Boston Celtics 110,Syracuse Nationals116 | ||
| 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 | ||
March 26 |
| Syracuse Nationals 97,Boston Celtics100 (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 Nationals110,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.
| Syracuse leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
March 20 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 79,Fort Wayne Pistons96 | ||
| 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 | ||
March 22 |
| Minneapolis Lakers 97,Fort Wayne Pistons98 (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 | ||
March 23 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 91,Minneapolis Lakers99 (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 Pistons105,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.
| Minneapolis leads 3–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
March 31 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 82,Syracuse Nationals86 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–26,25–22,20–18, 18–20 | ||
| Pts:Larry Foust 26 | Pts:Red Rocha 19 | |
| Syracuse leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 2 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 84,Syracuse Nationals87 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 13–30, 25–29,27–14, 19–24 | ||
| Pts:George Yardley 21 | Pts:Dolph Schayes 24 | |
| Syracuse leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 3 |
| Syracuse Nationals 89,Fort Wayne Pistons96 | ||
| 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 | ||
April 5 |
| Syracuse Nationals 102,Fort Wayne Pistons109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–27, 24–26, 22–29,32–27 | ||
| Pts:Dolph Schayes 28 | Pts:Frankie Brian 18 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
April 7 |
| Syracuse Nationals 71,Fort Wayne Pistons74 | ||
| 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 | ||
April 9 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 104,Syracuse Nationals109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter:27–19, 28–34, 19–25, 30–31 | ||
| Pts:George Yardley 31 | Pts:Dolph Schayes 28 | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
April 10 |
| Fort Wayne Pistons 91,Syracuse Nationals92 | ||
| 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 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[5]