1948–49 New York Knicks season

The 1948–49 New York Knicks season was the third season for the team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which later became the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Knicks had a 32–28 record in 1948–49 and finished second in the Eastern Division, six games behind the Washington Capitols. New York qualified for the playoffs, and defeated the Baltimore Bullets 2–1 in a best-of-three series to earn a place in the Eastern Division finals. In the division championship series, the Knicks lost to the Capitols, two games to one.^[4] Before the 1949–50 season, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League to form the NBA.^[5]

1948–49 New York Knicks season
Head coach	Joe Lapchick[1]
General manager	Ned Irish
Arena	Madison Square Garden[1]
Results
Record	32–28 (.533)
Place	Division: 2nd Conference: 2nd
Playoff finish	East Division finals (lost to Capitols 1–2)
Local media
Television	WOR-TV[2] WPIX[2]
Radio	WMGM[3]
< 1947–48 1949–50 >

Draft

Main article: 1948 BAA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	4	Dolph Schayes	F/C	United States	NYU
–	–	Gene Berce	G/F	United States	Marquette
–	–	Leland Byrd	–	United States	West Virginia
–	–	Harry Gallatin	F/C	United States	Northeast Missouri
–	–	Keith Grimes	–	United States	East Central
–	–	Mel McGaha	G	United States	Arkansas
–	–	Ed Peterson	C	United States	Cornell
–	–	Tex Ritter	G	United States	Eastern Kentucky
–	–	Dick Shrider	G	United States	Ohio
–	–	John Stanich	–	United States	UCLA

Source:^[6]

Roster

1948–49 New York Knicks roster

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Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From G/F 4 Braun, Carl 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1927-09-25 Colgate G/F 14 Byrnes, Tommy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1923-02-19 Seton Hall F 18 Colone, Joe 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1924-01-23 Bloomsburg F/C 11 Gallatin, Harry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1918-11-22 Truman State F 14 James, Gene 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1925-02-15 Marshall C 19 Knorek, Lee 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1921-07-15 Detroit Mercy F 12 Kuka, Ray 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1922-02-17 Notre Dame G 7 Lumpp, Ray 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 1923-07-11 NYU G 8 McGaha, Mel 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1926-09-26 Arkansas F 5 Noel, Paul 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1924-08-17 Kentucky F/C 16 Palmer, Bud 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1921-09-14 Princeton G/F 10 Ritter, Tex 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1924-02-26 Eastern Kentucky C 3 Rothenberg, Irv 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1921-12-31 LIU Brooklyn G 7 Shrider, Dick 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1923-02-07 Ohio G 6 Tanenbaum, Sid 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1925-10-08 NYU G/F 17 van Breda Kolff, Butch 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1922-10-28 NYU

Head coach Joe Lapchick Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Season standings

#	Eastern Division v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	x-Washington Capitols	38	22	.633	–
2	x-New York Knicks	32	28	.533	6
3	x-Baltimore Bullets	29	31	.483	9
4	x-Philadelphia Warriors	28	32	.467	10
5	Boston Celtics	25	35	.417	13
6	Providence Steamrollers	12	48	.200	26

Record vs. opponents

1948–49 BAA Records
Team	BAL	BOS	CHI	FWP	IND	MIN	NYK	PHI	PRO	ROC	STL	WAS
Baltimore	—	4–2	1–4	4–1	5–0	1–4	2–4	4–2	2–4	1–4	2–3	3–3
Boston	2–4	—	0–5	4–1	3–2	2–3	3–3	3–3	3–3	1–4	3–2	1–5
Chicago	4–1	5–0	—	4–2	5–1	2–4	3–2	2–3	5–0	2–4	3–3	3–2
Fort Wayne	1–4	1–4	2–4	—	3–3	2–4	1–4	5–0	4–1	0–6	1–4	2–3
Indianapolis	0–5	2–3	1–5	3–3	—	0–6	1–4	1–4	4–1	1–5	3–3	2–3
Minneapolis	4–1	3–2	4–2	4–2	6–0	—	4–1	4–1	5–0	4–2	4–2	2–3
New York	4–2	3–3	2–3	4–1	4–1	1–4	—	2–4	5–1	1–4	3–2	2–3
Philadelphia	2–4	3–3	3–2	0–5	4–1	1–4	4–2	—	6–0	0–5	3–2	2–4
Providence	4–2	3–3	0–5	1–4	1–4	0–5	1–5	0–6	—	2–3	0–5	0–6
Rochester	4–1	4–1	4–2	6–0	5–1	2–4	4–1	5–0	3–2	—	6–0	2–3
St. Louis	3–2	2–3	3–3	4–1	3–3	2–4	2–3	2–3	5–0	0–6	—	2–3
Washington	3–3	5–1	2–3	3–2	3–2	3–2	3–2	4–2	6–0	3–2	3–2	—

Game log

#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	November 3	@ Fort Wayne	80–76	Irv Rothenberg (19)	1–0
2	November 5	@ Indianapolis	87–71	Butch van Breda Kolff (17)	2–0
3	November 9	@ St. Louis	56–60	Carl Braun (18)	2–1
4	November 11	Minneapolis	68–77	Bud Palmer (21)	2–2
5	November 13	Baltimore	91–87	Butch van Breda Kolff (17)	3–2
6	November 16	@ Rochester	63–75	Bud Palmer (14)	3–3
7	November 17	Washington	62–73	Carl Braun (11)	3–4
8	November 18	@ Baltimore	67–55	Carl Braun (15)	4–4
9	November 20	Philadelphia	91–86	Bud Palmer (28)	5–4
10	November 27	Fort Wayne	80–70	Bud Palmer (16)	6–4
11	November 30	@ Providence	88–61	Bud Palmer (16)	7–4
12	December 1	Rochester	72–73	Carl Braun (22)	7–5
13	December 4	Indianapolis	66–63	Carl Braun (26)	8–5
14	December 8	Providence	83–74 (OT)	Irv Rothenberg (17)	9–5
15	December 9	@ Providence	74–63	Tommy Byrnes (19)	10–5
16	December 11	Baltimore	72–71	Carl Braun (22)	11–5
17	December 12	@ Fort Wayne	89–78	Carl Braun (21)	12–5
18	December 13	@ Indianapolis	80–74	Carl Braun (14)	13–5
19	December 17	@ Philadelphia	78–87	Carl Braun (19)	13–6
20	December 18	St. Louis	88–79	Carl Braun (26)	14–6
21	December 19	@ Boston	75–77	Bud Palmer (24)	14–7
22	December 22	Minneapolis	97–79	Paul Noel (21)	15–7
23	December 25	Chicago	64–70	Bud Palmer (16)	15–8
24	December 29	Rochester	77–74	Sid Tanenbaum (17)	16–8
25	January 1	Philadelphia	88–80	Butch van Breda Kolff (16)	17–8
26	January 2	@ Chicago	79–81	Braun, Knorek (15)	17–9
27	January 4	@ Indianapolis	58–63	Sid Tanenbaum (18)	17–10
28	January 7	@ Boston	69–67	Harry Gallatin (21)	18–10
29	January 8	Baltimore	81–83	Harry Gallatin (16)	18–11
30	January 12	Boston	81–64	Bud Palmer (18)	19–11
31	January 15	@ Washington	73–75	Irv Rothenberg (16)	19–12
32	January 17	St. Louis	71–79	Sid Tanenbaum (16)	19–13
33	January 20	@ Baltimore	68–82	Braun, Palmer (11)	19–14
34	January 22	@ Rochester	98–103 (2OT)	Palmer, Ritter (18)	19–15
35	January 23	Washington	93–97	Braun, Palmer (23)	19–16
36	January 26	Providence	89–77	Bud Palmer (19)	20–16
37	January 27	@ Philadelphia	96–102	Carl Braun (28)	20–17
38	January 29	Philadelphia	73–78	Carl Braun (14)	20–18
39	February 5	@ Washington	83–73	Lumpp, Palmer (19)	21–18
40	February 6	Chicago	75–87	Ray Lumpp (23)	21–19
41	February 9	@ St. Louis	95–83	Carl Braun (22)	22–19
42	February 10	@ Minneapolis	75–95	Bud Palmer (14)	22–20
43	February 12	Fort Wayne	85–58	Ray Lumpp (23)	23–20
44	February 13	@ Fort Wayne	73–82	Bud Palmer (15)	23–21
45	February 15	vs St. Louis	79–75 (OT)	Butch van Breda Kolff (22)	24–21
46	February 17	@ Philadelphia	82–86	Ray Lumpp (22)	24–22
47	February 19	Boston	77–87	Ray Lumpp (20)	24–23
48	February 22	Minneapolis	74–101	Joe Colone (21)	24–24
49	February 24	@ Providence	84–89	Bud Palmer (22)	24–25
50	February 26	Indianapolis	81–76	Bud Palmer (20)	25–25
51	March 2	Chicago	81–79	Ray Lumpp (21)	26–25
52	March 3	Providence	86–65	Ray Lumpp (20)	27–25
53	March 5	Boston	66–61	Carl Braun (14)	28–25
54	March 9	Washington	90–74	Bud Palmer (19)	29–25
55	March 10	@ Baltimore	99–94	Carl Braun (26)	30–25
56	March 12	@ Chicago	85–80	Carl Braun (24)	31–25
57	March 13	@ Minneapolis	90–100	Carl Braun (20)	31–26
58	March 16	Rochester	89–94	Harry Gallatin (17)	31–27
59	March 18	@ Boston	56–70	Gene James (11)	31–28
60	March 19	@ Washington	82–70	Ray Lumpp (23)	32–28

Playoffs

1949 playoff game log
Division semifinals: 2–1 (home: 2–0; road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points Location Series 1 March 23 @ Baltimore L 81–82 Carl Braun (21) Baltimore Coliseum 0–1 2 March 24 Baltimore W 84–74 Carl Braun (20) Madison Square Garden III 1–1 3 March 26 Baltimore W 103–99 (OT) Harry Gallatin (21) Madison Square Garden III 2–1
Division finals: 1–2 (home: 1–0; road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points Location Series 1 March 29 @ Washington L 71–77 Harry Gallatin (17) National Guard Armory 0–1 2 March 31 Washington W 86–84 (OT) Carl Braun (30) Madison Square Garden III 1–1 3 April 2 @ Washington L 76–84 Braun, Gallatin (15) National Guard Armory 1–2
1949 schedule

References

1. "1948–49 New York Knicks Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
2. The Fourth Estate (PDF). New York Knicks. 2003. p. 331. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
3. Jaker, Bill; Sulek, Frank; Kanze, Peter (2008). The Airwaves of New York: Illustrated Histories of 156 AM Stations in the Metropolitan Area, 1921–1996. McFarland & Company. p. 194. ISBN 978-0-7864-3872-3. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
4. "1948–49 BAA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
5. "This Day In History Aug 3, 1949: NBA is born". History. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
6. "1948 BAA Draft". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved December 10, 2017.

External links

• 1948–49 New York Knickerbockers Statistics