1950 NBA Playoffs

The 1950 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the inaugural National Basketball Association 1949–50 season. The tournament concluded with the Central Division champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Division champion Syracuse Nationals 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.

Twelve teams qualified for the playoffs. Including tiebreaker games that preceded two of the six first-round series, they began play on Monday to Wednesday, March 20 to 22, and the best-of-seven Finals concluded in game six on Sunday, April 23. The champions played the greatest number of games, 13 in a span of 34 days, on a schedule including both back-to-back games and as many as six days off.^[1]

Bracket

The NBA was created in 1949 by merger of two competing professional basketball leagues, the BAA and NBL. For its first season only, the NBA teams were arranged in three divisions: Eastern, comprising the five surviving BAA Eastern Division teams plus Syracuse from the NBL; Central, comprising the five surviving BAA Western Division teams; and Western, comprising the NBL teams except Syracuse.^[1][2] Within each division the top four teams were matched in two rounds of short series to generate a champion, after which the three division champions contended for the NBA title. With three contenders the third round of the tournament comprised a bye for one and a best-of-three match between the other two.^[1]

Eastern Division

Central Division

Western Division

League Finals

The three Division Champions were seeded 1-3 based on their respective regular season records, with the top seed earning a bye into the NBA Finals.

Central Division tiebreakers

Rochester Royals vs. Minneapolis Lakers: Lakers win series 1-0

• Game 1 @ Rochester (March 21): Minneapolis 78, Rochester 76

Fort Wayne Pistons vs. Chicago Stags: Pistons win series 1-0

• Game 1 @ Fort Wayne (March 20): Fort Wayne 86, Chicago 69

Minneapolis gets #1 seed, Rochester gets #2 seed, Fort Wayne gets #3 seed, Chicago gets #4 seed.

Division Semifinals

Western Division

• (1) Indianapolis Olympians vs. (4) Sheboygan Red Skins: Olympians win series 2-1
• Game 1 @ Indianapolis (March 21): Indianapolis 86, Sheboygan 85
• Game 2 @ Sheboygan (March 23): Sheboygan 95, Indianapolis 85
• Game 3 @ Indianapolis (March 25): Indianapolis 91, Sheboygan 84

This was the first playoff meeting^{[lower-alpha 1]} between the Olympians and Red Skins.

• (2) Anderson Packers vs. (3) Tri-Cities Blackhawks: Packers win series 2-1
• Game 1 @ Anderson (March 21): Anderson 89, Tri-Cities 77
• Game 2 @ Tri-Cities (March 23): Tri-Cities 76, Anderson 75
• Game 3 @ Anderson (March 24): Anderson 94, Tri-Cities 71

This was the first playoff meeting^{[lower-alpha 1]} between the Packers and Blackhawks.

Eastern Division

• (1) Syracuse Nationals vs. (4) Philadelphia Warriors: Nationals win series 2-0
• Game 1 @ Syracuse (March 22): Syracuse 93, Philadelphia 76
• Game 2 @ Philadelphia (March 23): Syracuse 59, Philadelphia 53

This was the first playoff meeting^{[lower-alpha 1]} between the Nationals and Warriors.

• (2) New York Knicks vs. (3) Washington Capitols: Knicks win series 2-0
• Game 1 @ Washington (March 21): New York 90, Washington 87
• Game 2 @ New York (March 22): New York 103, Washington 83

Last playoff meeting:^{[lower-alpha 1]} 1949 Eastern Division Finals (Washington won 2-1)

Central Division

• (1) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (4) Chicago Stags: Lakers win series 2-0
• Game 1 @ Minneapolis (March 22): Minneapolis 85, Chicago 75
• Game 2 @ Chicago (March 25): Minneapolis 75, Chicago 67

Last playoff meeting:^{[lower-alpha 1]} 1949 Western Division Semifinals (Minneapolis won 2-0)

• (2) Rochester Royals vs. (3) Fort Wayne Pistons: Pistons win series 2-0
• Game 1 @ Rochester (March 23): Fort Wayne 90, Rochester 84
• Game 2 @ Fort Wayne (March 24): Fort Wayne 79, Rochester 78 (OT)

This was the first playoff meeting^{[lower-alpha 1]} between the Royals and Pistons.

Division Finals

• Western Division: (1) Indianapolis Olympians vs. (2) Anderson Packers: Packers win series 2-1
• Game 1 @ Indianapolis (March 28): Indianapolis 77, Anderson 74
• Game 2 @ Anderson (March 30): Anderson 84, Indianapolis 67
• Game 3 @ Indianapolis (April 1): Anderson 67, Indianapolis 65

This was the first playoff meeting^{[lower-alpha 1]} between the Olympians and Packers.

• Eastern Division: (1) Syracuse Nationals vs. (2) New York Knicks: Nationals win series 2-1
• Game 1 @ Syracuse (March 26): Syracuse 91, New York 83 (OT)
• Game 2 @ New York (March 30): New York 80, Syracuse 76
• Game 3 @ Syracuse (April 2): Syracuse 91, New York 80

This was the first playoff meeting^{[lower-alpha 1]} between the Nationals and Knicks.

• Central Division: (1) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) Fort Wayne Pistons: Lakers win series 2-0
• Game 1 @ Minneapolis (March 27): Minneapolis 93, Fort Wayne 79
• Game 2 @ Fort Wayne (March 28): Minneapolis 89, Fort Wayne 82

This was the first playoff meeting^{[lower-alpha 1]} between the Lakers and Pistons.

NBA Semifinals

(1) Syracuse Nationals have Division semifinals byes.

• (1) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (2) Anderson Packers: Lakers win series 2-0
• Game 1 @ Minneapolis (April 5): Minneapolis 75, Anderson 50
• Game 2 @ Anderson (April 6): Minneapolis 90, Anderson 71

This was the first playoff meeting^{[lower-alpha 1]} between the Lakers and Packers.

NBA Finals

• (1) Syracuse Nationals vs. (1) Minneapolis Lakers: Lakers win series 4-2
• Game 1 @ Syracuse (April 8): Minneapolis 68, Syracuse 66 (Bob Harrison hits the game-winning shot from 40 feet at the buzzer)
• Game 2 @ Syracuse (April 9): Syracuse 91, Minneapolis 85
• Game 3 @ Minneapolis (April 14): Minneapolis 91, Syracuse 77
• Game 4 @ Minneapolis (April 16): Minneapolis 77, Syracuse 69
• Game 5 @ Syracuse (April 20): Syracuse 83, Minneapolis 76
• Game 6 @ Minneapolis (April 23): Minneapolis 110, Syracuse 95

This was the first playoff meeting^{[lower-alpha 1]} between the Nationals and Lakers.

Notes

References

External links

• 1950 Playoff Results at NBA.com
• 1950 NBA Playoffs at Basketball-Reference