# 1949 BAA playoffs

The 1949 BAA playoffs was the postseason tournament following the Basketball Association of America 1948–49 season, its third and last. Later that year the BAA and National Basketball League merged to create the National Basketball Association or NBA. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Division champion Washington Capitols 4 games to 2 in the BAA Finals.
The eight qualified teams began tournament play on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 22 and 23, and the Finals concluded on Wednesday, April 13. Minneapolis and Washington played 10 and 11 games in a span of 22 days; their six final games in ten days. Prior to their final series, however, Minneapolis had been idle for five days, Washington for only one day.

## Playoff seeds
### Eastern Division

* Washington Capitols
* New York Knicks
* Baltimore Bullets
* Philadelphia Warriors

### Western Division

* Rochester Royals
* Minneapolis Lakers
* Chicago Stags
* St. Louis Bombers

## Playoff bracket

| Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Division Finals | Division Finals | BAA Finals | BAA Finals | BAA Finals |
| E1 | Washington* | 2 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Philadelphia | 0 | | | | | | |
| E4 | Philadelphia | 0 | E1 | Washington* | 2 | | | |
| Eastern Division | Eastern Division | Eastern Division | E1 | Washington* | 2 | | | |
| Eastern Division | Eastern Division | Eastern Division | E2 | New York | 1 | | | |
| E2 | New York | 2 | E2 | New York | 1 | | | |
| E3 | Baltimore | 1 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Baltimore | 1 | | | | E1 | Washington* | 2 |
| | | | | | | W2 | Minneapolis | 4 |
| W1 | Rochester* | 2 | | | | | | | W2 | Minneapolis | 4 |
| W4 | St. Louis | 0 | | | | | | |
| W4 | St. Louis | 0 | W1 | Rochester* | 0 | | | |
| Western Division | Western Division | Western Division | W1 | Rochester* | 0 | | | |
| Western Division | Western Division | Western Division | W2 | Minneapolis | 2 | | | |
| W2 | Minneapolis | 2 | W2 | Minneapolis | 2 | | | |
| W3 | Chicago | 0 | | | | | | |
* * Division winner
* Bold Series winner

## Division Semifinals
### Eastern Division Semifinals
#### (1) Washington Capitols vs. (4) Philadelphia Warriors

* March 23
* Boxscore
Washington Capitols 92, Philadelphia Warriors 70 :
| Scoring by quarter: 15–17, 25–17, 24–13, 28–23 |||
| Pts: Kleggie Hermsen 20 Asts: Sonny Hertzberg 3 | Pts: Jake Bornheimer 13 Asts: Howie Dallmar 3 |
| Washington leads series, 1–0 |||
* Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* March 24
* Boxscore
Philadelphia Warriors 78, Washington Capitols 80 :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–22, 13–17, 16–20, 29–21 |||
| Pts: Chink Crossin 22 Asts: Jerry Fleishman 3 | Pts: Bones McKinney 19 Asts: Jack Nichols 5 |
| Washington wins series, 2–0 |||
* Uline Arena, Washington, D.C.
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

#### (2) New York Knicks vs. (3) Baltimore Bullets

* March 23
* Boxscore
New York Knicks 81, Baltimore Bullets 82 :
| Scoring by half: 39–36, 42–46 |||
| Pts: Carl Braun 21 | Pts: Jake Pelkington 21 |
| Baltimore leads series, 1–0 |||
* Baltimore Coliseum, Baltimore, Maryland
* March 24
* Boxscore
Baltimore Bullets 74, New York Knicks 84 :
| Scoring by half: 35–39, 39–45 |||
| Pts: Jake Pelkington 14 | Pts: Carl Braun 20 |
| Series tied, 1–1 |||
* Madison Square Garden III, Manhattan, New York
* March 26
* Boxscore
Baltimore Bullets 99, New York Knicks 103 (OT) :
| Scoring by quarter: 26–25, 25–26, 16–17, 22–21, Overtime: 10–14 |||
| Pts: Connie Simmons 22 | Pts: Harry Gallatin 21 |
| New York wins series, 2–1 |||
* Madison Square Garden III, Manhattan, New York
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bullets winning the first meeting.
Baltimore leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series :
1948
Baltimore Bullets 2, New York Knicks 1
1948 BAA First Round :

### Western Division Semifinals
#### (1) Rochester Royals vs. (4) St. Louis Bombers

* March 22
* Boxscore
St. Louis Bombers 64, Rochester Royals 93 :
| Scoring by half: 27–50, 37–43 |||
| Pts: Bill Roberts 16 | Pts: Bob Davies 23 |
| Rochester leads series, 1–0 |||
* Edgerton Park Arena, Rochester, New York
* March 23
* Boxscore
Rochester Royals 66, St. Louis Bombers 64 :
| Scoring by half: 29–26, 37–38 |||
| Pts: Bobby Wanzer 17 | Pts: Red Rocha 27 |
| Rochester wins series, 2–0 |||
* St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

#### (2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) Chicago Stags

* March 23
* Boxscore
Chicago Stags 77, Minneapolis Lakers 84 :
| Scoring by half: 35–33, 42–51 |||
| Pts: Max Zaslofsky 22 | Pts: George Mikan 37 |
| Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 |||
* Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
* March 24
* Boxscore
Minneapolis Lakers 101, Chicago Stags 85 :
| Scoring by half: 56–42, 45–43 |||
| Pts: George Mikan 38 | Pts: Max Zaslofsky 22 |
| Minneapolis wins series, 2–0 |||
* Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

## Division Finals
### Eastern Division Finals
#### (1) Washington Capitols vs. (2) New York Knicks

* March 29
* Boxscore
New York Knicks 71, Washington Capitols 77 :
| Scoring by quarter: 17–21, 18–17, 17–18, 19–21 |||
| Pts: Harry Gallatin 17 | Pts: Johnny Norlander 16 |
| Washington leads series, 1–0 |||
* National Guard Armory, Washington, D.C.
* March 31
* Boxscore
Washington Capitols 84, New York Knicks 86 (OT) :
| Pts: Jack Nichols 25 | Pts: Carl Braun 30 |
| Series tied, 1–1 |||
* Madison Square Garden III, Manhattan, New York
* April 2
* Boxscore
New York Knicks 76, Washington Capitols 84 :
| Scoring by quarter: 15–24, 23–24, 17–12, 21–24 |||
| Pts: Braun, Gallatin 15 each | Pts: Sonny Hertzberg 24 |
| Washington wins series, 2–1 |||
* National Guard Armory, Washington, D.C.
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

### Western Division Finals
#### (1) Rochester Royals vs. (2) Minneapolis Lakers

* March 27
* Boxscore
Minneapolis Lakers 80, Rochester Royals 79 :
| Scoring by half: 46–34, 34–45 |||
| Pts: George Mikan 32 | Pts: Arnie Risen 17 |
| Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 |||
* Edgerton Park Arena, Rochester, New York
* March 29
* Boxscore
Rochester Royals 55, Minneapolis Lakers 67 :
| Scoring by half: 32–34, 23–34 |||
| Pts: Arnie Risen 21 | Pts: George Mikan 31 |
| Minneapolis wins series, 2–0 |||
* St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

## BAA Finals: (W2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (E1) Washington Capitols

* 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
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.