# 1955 NBA Finals

The 1955 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1954–55 NBA season. The best-of-seven series was won by the Syracuse Nationals, who defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons in the final game when Syracuse's George King made a free throw with 12 seconds left to put the Nationals up 92–91. King then stole the ball from Fort Wayne's Andy Phillip with three seconds remaining to clinch the victory for Syracuse. Because of the arena not believing Fort Wayne would make the NBA Finals, the arena was booked and not available, and the Fort Wayne home games were played in Indianapolis.
It has been alleged that some Fort Wayne players conspired with gamblers to throw the series to Syracuse. The suspicious nature of the seventh game in particular has raised concerns about the legitimacy of the series. Fort Wayne led Syracuse 41–24 early in the second quarter, then allowed the Nationals to rally to win the game. Andy Phillip, who turned the ball over with three seconds left in the game, was believed by at least one of his teammates, George Yardley, to have thrown the game. "There were always unwholesome implications about that ball game", Yardley told the author Charley Rosen. However, Phillip may not have acted alone. Other Pistons players were strongly believed to have thrown games during the 1954 and 1955 NBA seasons. In fact, Yardley himself turned the ball over to Syracuse with a palming violation with 18 seconds remaining in Game 7. The foul that gave Syracuse its winning free throw, meanwhile, was committed by Frankie Brian. The NBA did not return to the 2–3–2 format until 1985. As of the 2022–23 season, this is the only NBA Finals to date in which the home team has won all seven games.

## Series summary

| Game | Date | Home team | Result | Road team |
| Game 1 | March 31 | Syracuse Nationals | 87–82 (1–0) | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| Game 2 | April 2 | Syracuse Nationals | 87–84 (2–0) | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| Game 3 | April 3 | Fort Wayne Pistons* | 96–89 (1–2) | Syracuse Nationals |
| Game 4 | April 5 | Fort Wayne Pistons* | 109–102 (2–2) | Syracuse Nationals |
| Game 5 | April 7 | Fort Wayne Pistons* | 74–71 (3–2) | Syracuse Nationals |
| Game 6 | April 9 | Syracuse Nationals | 109–104 (3–3) | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| Game 7 | April 10 | Syracuse Nationals | 92–91 (4–3) | Fort Wayne Pistons |
Nationals win series 4–3
* – Games played in Indianapolis

## Box scores

* March 31
* Boxscore
Fort Wayne Pistons 82, Syracuse Nationals 86 :
| Scoring by quarter: 19–26, 25–22, 20–18, 18–20 |||
| Pts: Larry Foust 26 | Pts: Red Rocha 19 |
| Syracuse leads series, 1–0 |||
* Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York Attendance: 7,500
* April 2
* Boxscore
Fort Wayne Pistons 84, Syracuse Nationals 87 :
| Scoring by quarter: 13–30, 25–29, 27–14, 19–24 |||
| Pts: George Yardley 21 | Pts: Dolph Schayes 24 |
| Syracuse leads series, 2–0 |||
* Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York Attendance: 5,845
* April 3
* Boxscore
Syracuse Nationals 89, Fort Wayne Pistons 96 :
| 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 |||
* Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana Attendance: 3,200
* April 5
* Boxscore
Syracuse Nationals 102, Fort Wayne Pistons 109 :
| Scoring by quarter: 24–27, 24–26, 22–29, 32–27 |||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes 28 | Pts: Frankie Brian 18 |
| Series tied, 2–2 |||
* Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana Attendance: 2,611
* April 7
* Boxscore
Syracuse Nationals 71, Fort Wayne Pistons 74 :
| 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 |||
* Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana Attendance: 4,110
* April 9
* Boxscore
Fort Wayne Pistons 104, Syracuse Nationals 109 :
| Scoring by quarter: 27–19, 28–34, 19–25, 30–31 |||
| Pts: George Yardley 31 | Pts: Dolph Schayes 28 |
| Series tied, 3–3 |||
* Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York Attendance: 4,997
* April 10
* Boxscore
Fort Wayne Pistons 91, Syracuse Nationals 92 :
| 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 |||
* Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York Attendance: 6,697
* George King hit a free throw with 12 seconds left, then stole the ball from Andy Phillip with 3 seconds left to seal it.

## Notes and sources

* ↑ "City Hails Nats' World Title Triumph", Syracuse Herald Journal, April 11, 1955, pp. 1, 45.
* ↑ "Nats Win First Title of Shot-Clock Era", NBA.com
* ↑ The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball. By Charley Rosen. p. 154. 2001 Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1-58322-268-5
* ↑ "Syracuse Five Defeats Pistons in N.B.A. Play-Off Final, 92-91", The New York Times, April 11, 1955, p. 31.
* ↑ Rosen, p. 154.
* ↑ Rosen, pp. 108-154.
* 1 2 Syracuse Herald Journal, April 11, 1955, p. 45.