| 1955–56 Philadelphia Warriors season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
NBA champions | |||
Division champions | |||
| Head coach | George Senesky | ||
| Arena | Philadelphia Civic Center | ||
| Results | |||
| Record | 45–27 (.625) | ||
| Place | Division: 1st (Eastern) | ||
| Playoff finish | NBA champions | ||
Stats atBasketball Reference | |||
| Local media | |||
| Television | WPTZ/WCAU/WFIL | ||
| Radio | WIBG (Bill Campbell) | ||
| |||
The1955–56 Philadelphia Warriors seasonGeorge Senesky took over forEddie Gottlieb as coach, the Warriors had a strong start by winning 12 of their first 16 games.[1]Paul Arizin andNeil Johnston were among the league's scoring leaders as the Warriors won the Eastern Division with a 45–27 record. The addition of rookieTom Gola made the difference. In his first season Gola averaged 9.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.[1] In the Eastern Division Finals the Warriors beat theSyracuse Nationals in 5 games. In the NBA Finals, the Warriors won their 2nd Championship by beating theFort Wayne Pistons 4 games to 1. The Warriors' 1956 championship marked the firstNBA Finals championship won by a team that was established in theNational Basketball Association itself (or in this case, theBasketball Association of America precursor) since the Warriors'1947 BAA Finals championship during the league's inaugural season after the BAA/NBA's prior champions up until this point were won by theAmerican Basketball League's original rendition of theBaltimore Bullets (who have since gone defunct) and theNational Basketball League'sMinneapolis Lakers,Rochester Royals, andSyracuse Nationals.[2]HoopsHype would later rank this championship squad as tied with the1956–57 Boston Celtics from a season later team as the team with the second-easiest path to theNBA Finals ever in 2024 due to them being one of three total championship teams who had playoff opponents that averaged around an average overall record or less during their championship run.[3]
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Head coach Legend
|
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x-Philadelphia Warriors | 45 | 27 | .625 | - | 21-7 | 11-17 | 13-3 | 22-14 |
| x-Boston Celtics | 39 | 33 | .542 | 6 | 20-7 | 12-15 | 7-11 | 18-18 |
| x-Syracuse Nationals | 35 | 37 | .486 | 10 | 23-8 | 9–19 | 3-10 | 15-21 |
| New York Knicks | 35 | 37 | .486 | 10 | 13-15 | 16-13 | 6-9 | 17-19 |
| 1955–56 Game log | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Date | Opponent | Score | High points | Record | |||||
| 1 | November 5 | @Boston | W 98–87 | Joe Graboski (18) | 1–0 | |||||
| 2 | November 9 | Minneapolis | L 106–117 | Neil Johnston (29) | 1–1 | |||||
| 3 | November 10 | vs.Rochester | W 89–84 | Paul Arizin (33) | 2–1 | |||||
| 4 | November 12 | vs.Minneapolis | W 100–89 | Paul Arizin (34) | 3–1 | |||||
| 5 | November 17 | Boston | W 106–92 | Joe Graboski (21) | 4–1 | |||||
| 6 | November 19 | Syracuse | W 102–94 | Neil Johnston (37) | 5–1 | |||||
| 7 | November 23 | vs.Syracuse | W 104–101 | Arizin,George (23) | 6–1 | |||||
| 8 | November 24 | New York | W 118–97 | Neil Johnston (32) | 7–1 | |||||
| 9 | November 26 | Fort Wayne | W 87–82 | Paul Arizin (22) | 8–1 | |||||
| 10 | November 27 | @Minneapolis | L 94–99 | Paul Arizin (24) | 8–2 | |||||
| 11 | November 29 | @St. Louis | L 95–108 | Jack George (15) | 8–3 | |||||
| 12 | December 1 | St. Louis | W 115–98 | Neil Johnston (31) | 9–3 | |||||
| 13 | December 3 | @New York | W 109–102 | Paul Arizin (32) | 10–3 | |||||
| 14 | December 4 | @Rochester | L 84–107 | Neil Johnston (21) | 10–4 | |||||
| 15 | December 6 | vs.Minneapolis | W 116–103 | Neil Johnston (32) | 11–4 | |||||
| 16 | December 9 | Syracuse | W 101–92 | Jack George (30) | 12–4 | |||||
| 17 | December 11 | @ Fort Wayne | 91–96 | Paul Arizin (21) | 12–5 | |||||
| 18 | December 13 | vs. Boston | 109–108 | Neil Johnston (29) | 13–5 | |||||
| 19 | December 15 | Fort Wayne | 73–80 | Neil Johnston (22) | 14–5 | |||||
| 20 | December 18 | @ Syracuse | 79–99 | Neil Johnston (17) | 14–6 | |||||
| 21 | December 21 | @ Rochester | 96–92 | Neil Johnston (21) | 15–6 | |||||
| 22 | December 26 | New York | 108–97 | Paul Arizin (22) | 15–7 | |||||
| 23 | December 27 | @ New York | 79–80 | Paul Arizin (29) | 15–8 | |||||
| 24 | December 29 | Syracuse | 83–112 | Paul Arizin (20) | 16–8 | |||||
| 25 | January 1 | @ Boston | 113–121 | Paul Arizin (37) | 16–9 | |||||
| 26 | January 2 | vs. Rochester | 100–130 | Paul Arizin (23) | 17–9 | |||||
| 27 | January 3 | Fort Wayne | 82–102 | Tom Gola (20) | 18–9 | |||||
| 28 | January 4 | @ Syracuse | 88–87 | Neil Johnston (26) | 19–9 | |||||
| 29 | January 5 | vs. Fort Wayne | 81–92 | Joe Graboski (31) | 19–10 | |||||
| 30 | January 7 | New York | 97–104 | Neil Johnston (24) | 20–10 | |||||
| 31 | January 8 | @ New York | 95–83 | Neil Johnston (28) | 21–10 | |||||
| 32 | January 10 | St. Louis | 107–109 (OT) | Neil Johnston (35) | 22–10 | |||||
| 33 | January 11 | @ Rochester | 97–94 | Paul Arizin (32) | 23–10 | |||||
| 34 | January 12 | Rochester | 94–123 | Neil Johnston (23) | 24–10 | |||||
| 35 | January 14 | Boston | 104–103 | Paul Arizin (27) | 24–11 | |||||
| 36 | January 15 | @ St. Louis | 108–96 | Paul Arizin (35) | 25–11 | |||||
| 37 | January 18 | vs. Minneapolis | 94–105 | Neil Johnston (28) | 25–12 | |||||
| 38 | January 21 | Fort Wayne | 92–91 | Joe Graboski (28) | 25–13 | |||||
| 39 | January 22 | @ Boston | 129–115 | Paul Arizin (39) | 26–13 | |||||
| 40 | January 23 | vs. Boston | 120–104 | Neil Johnston (29) | 27–13 | |||||
| 41 | January 25 | Syracuse | 100–112 | Paul Arizin (26) | 28–13 | |||||
| 42 | January 26 | @ Syracuse | 89–100 | Paul Arizin (23) | 28–14 | |||||
| 43 | January 28 | @ Minneapolis | 108–85 | Paul Arizin (33) | 29–14 | |||||
| 44 | January 29 | @ Fort Wayne | 85–99 | Paul Arizin (20) | 29–15 | |||||
| 45 | January 31 | @ New York | 95–105 | Paul Arizin (38) | 29–16 | |||||
| 46 | February 1 | New York | 105–104 (2OT) | Joe Graboski (29) | 29–17 | |||||
| 47 | February 2 | vs. New York | 88–87 | Paul Arizin (31) | 30–17 | |||||
| 48 | February 3 | Rochester | 105–96 | Paul Arizin (31) | 30–18 | |||||
| 49 | February 5 | @ St. Louis | 93–105 | Paul Arizin (22) | 30–19 | |||||
| 50 | February 7 | vs. Syracuse | 95–128 | Neil Johnston (41) | 31–19 | |||||
| 51 | February 9 | St. Louis | 97–108 | Paul Arizin (34) | 32–19 | |||||
| 52 | February 11 | @ Minneapolis | 117–102 | Paul Arizin (34) | 33–19 | |||||
| 53 | February 12 | @ St. Louis | 87–79 | Neil Johnston (22) | 34–19 | |||||
| 54 | February 13 | vs. Fort Wayne | 105–94 | Paul Arizin (26) | 35–19 | |||||
| 55 | February 15 | vs. Fort Wayne | 101–78 | Paul Arizin (25) | 36–19 | |||||
| 56 | February 17 | Minneapolis | 111–134 | Arizin, Johnston (29) | 37–19 | |||||
| 57 | February 18 | vs. Boston | 115–101 | Neil Johnston (38) | 38–19 | |||||
| 58 | February 19 | @ Boston | 118–120 | Paul Arizin (39) | 38–20 | |||||
| 59 | February 22 | New York | 117–108 | Neil Johnston (29) | 38–21 | |||||
| 60 | February 24 | Boston | W 129–135 | Joe Graboski (35) | 39–21 | |||||
| 61 | February 26 | @Syracuse | W 87–85 | Paul Arizin (26) | 40–21 | |||||
| 62 | February 29 | Rochester | W 86–81 | Neil Johnston (21) | 41–21 | |||||
| 63 | March 1 | Minneapolis | L 100–102 | Joe Graboski (28) | 41–22 | |||||
| 64 | March 3 | Syracuse | W 102–96 | Paul Arizin (31) | 42–22 | |||||
| 65 | March 4 | @Boston | 114–128 | Paul Arizin (39) | 42–23 | |||||
| 66 | March 6 | vs. St. Louis | 102–97 | Paul Arizin (31) | 42–24 | |||||
| 67 | March 7 | vs. New York | 108–87 | Neil Johnston (34) | 43–24 | |||||
| 68 | March 8 | Boston | 120–142 | Arizin, Johnston (29) | 44–24 | |||||
| 69 | March 10 | @Rochester | L 96–111 | Paul Arizin (21) | 44–25 | |||||
| 70 | March 11 | @Syracuse | L 88–99 | Paul Arizin (20) | 44–26 | |||||
| 71 | March 13 | St. Louis | W 116–113 | Jack George (33) | 45–26 | |||||
| 72 | March 14 | @New York | L 108–115 | Neil Johnston (27) | 45–27 | |||||
