1949 BAA Finals

The 1949 BAA Finals was the championship round following the Basketball Association of America (BAA)'s 1948–49 season, its third and last. Later that year, the BAA and National Basketball League merged to create the National Basketball Association (NBA).

1949 BAA Finals

Team Coach Wins Minneapolis Lakers John Kundla 4 Washington Capitols Red Auerbach 2
Dates	April 4–13
Hall of Famers	Lakers: George Mikan (1959) Jim Pollard (1978) Coaches: Red Auerbach (1969) John Kundla (1995)
Eastern finals	Capitols defeated Knicks, 2–1
Western finals	Lakers defeated Royals, 2–0
← 1948 BAA Finals 1950 →

6'10" George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers proved dominant. They routed the Washington Capitols in six games. This was the first of several successive NBA titles for the Lakers. It was the beginning of the George Mikan and the Lakers Dynasty. As for the Capitols, they would never reach the Finals again, but their coach in Red Auerbach would do so several times over the next two decades, and this represented his only loss in a Final until 1958 (Auerbach would win nine of his eleven appearances in a Final); this would be the first of six overall finals that featured Auerbach against the Lakers, for which he beat them five times, including in 1959 when he beat Kundla in his last game as head coach of the Lakers.

The six games of the final series were played in ten days – Monday, April 4, to Wednesday, April 13 – with one day off except after game three, the first of three played in Washington (Minneapolis led 3–0). Prior to its start, however, Minneapolis had been idle for five days, having qualified on the preceding Tuesday; Washington idle for only one day, having qualified on Saturday. The entire playoff tournament extended 23 days.^[1]

Series summary

Game	Date	Home team	Result	Road team
Game 1	April 4	Minneapolis Lakers	88–84 (1–0)	Washington Capitols
Game 2	April 6	Minneapolis Lakers	76–62 (2–0)	Washington Capitols
Game 3	April 8	Washington Capitols	74–94 (0–3)	Minneapolis Lakers
Game 4	April 9	Washington Capitols	83–71 (1–3)	Minneapolis Lakers
Game 5	April 11	Washington Capitols	74–65 (2–3)	Minneapolis Lakers
Game 6	April 13	Minneapolis Lakers	77–56 (4–2)	Washington Capitols

Lakers win series 4–2

Team rosters

Minneapolis Lakers

1948–49 Minneapolis Lakers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From F/C 11 Mike Bloom 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1915-01-14 Temple G/F 15 Don Carlson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1919-03-22 Minnesota G/F 19 Jack Dwan 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1921-05-03 Loyola Chicago C 18 Ray Ellefson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1922-11-18 West Texas A&M G/F 18 Arnie Ferrin 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1925-07-29 Utah G 22 Donnie Forman 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1926-01-17 NYU F 14 Earl Gardner 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1923-09-18 DePauw G/F 13 Tony Jaros 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1920-02-22 Minnesota G/F 16 Johnny Jorgensen 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1921-12-28 DePaul G 20 Whitey Kachan 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1925-09-15 DePaul C 99 George Mikan 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1924-06-18 DePaul SF 17 Jim Pollard 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1922-07-09 Stanford G/F 24 Herm Schaefer 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1918-12-20 Indiana G/F 12 Don Smith 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1920-07-27 Minnesota F 19 Jack Tingle 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1924-12-30 Kentucky

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

Washington Capitols

1948–49 Washington Capitols roster

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Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From G/F 10 Bob Feerick 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1920-01-02 Santa Clara F/C 11 Kleggie Hermsen 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1923-03-12 Minnesota G 29 Sonny Hertzberg 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-07-29 CCNY G 23 Leo Katkaveck 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1923-04-17 NC State SF 17 Bones McKinney 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1919-01-01 North Carolina PF 15 Jack Nichols 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) 1926-04-09 Washington F 16 Johnny Norlander 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1921-03-05 Hamline G/F 13 Dick O'Keefe 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1923-09-29 Santa Clara G/F 22 Dick Schulz 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 1917-01-03 Wisconsin PG 20 Fred Scolari 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1922-03-01 San Francisco F/C 15 Jack Toomay 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1922-08-09 Pacific G/F 18 Matt Zunic 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1919-12-19 George Washington

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

Box scores

April 4

Boxscore

Washington Capitols 84, Minneapolis Lakers 88
Scoring by quarter: 13–23, 27–25, 21–19, 23–21
Pts: Fred Scolari 20		Pts: George Mikan 42
Minneapolis leads series, 1–0

Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota Attendance: 8,210

April 6

Boxscore

Washington Capitols 62, Minneapolis Lakers 76
Scoring by quarter: 13–20, 19–27, 13–11, 17–18
Pts: Sonny Hertzberg 13		Pts: Don Carlson 16
Minneapolis leads series, 2–0

Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota Attendance: 10,212 Referees: Pat Kennedy, Phil Fox

April 8

Boxscore

Minneapolis Lakers 94, Washington Capitols 74
Scoring by quarter: 26–14, 17–15, 28–24, 23–21
Pts: George Mikan 35		Pts: Nichols, Zunic 12 each
Minneapolis leads series, 3–0

Uline Arena, Washington, D.C. Attendance: 4,919

April 9

Boxscore

Minneapolis Lakers 71, Washington Capitols 83
Scoring by quarter: 23–22, 12–23, 16–20, 20–18
Pts: George Mikan 27		Pts: Jack Nichols 27
Minneapolis leads series, 3–1

Uline Arena, Washington, D.C. Attendance: 4,471

April 11

Boxscore

Minneapolis Lakers 65, Washington Capitols 74
Scoring by quarter: 12–22, 18–19, 22–15, 13–18
Pts: George Mikan 22		Pts: Hermsen, Nichols 13 each
Minneapolis leads series, 3–2

Uline Arena, Washington, D.C. Attendance: 3,840

April 13

Boxscore

Washington Capitols 56, Minneapolis Lakers 77
Scoring by quarter: 12–19, 12–21, 17–22, 15–15
Pts: Kleggie Hermsen 12		Pts: George Mikan 29
Minneapolis wins series, 4–2

St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota Attendance: 10,482