1948–49 New York Knicks season

1948–49 New York Knicks season
Head coach	Joe Lapchick
General manager	Ned Irish
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Results
Record	32–28 (.533)
Place	Division: 2nd Conference: 2nd
Playoff finish	East Division Finals (eliminated 1–2)
Radio	WMGM

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. Before the 1949–50 season, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League to form the NBA.

BAA Draft

Main article: 1948 BAA draft

Note: This is not an extensive list; it only covers the first round, and any other players picked by the franchise that played at least one game in the league.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	4	Dolph Schayes	F/C	United States	NYU
–	–	Gene Berce	G/F	United States	Marquette
–	–	Harry Gallatin	F/C	United States	Northeast Missouri
–	–	Mel McGaha	G	United States	Arkansas
–	–	Ed Peterson	C	United States	Cornell
–	–	Tex Ritter	G		Eastern Kentucky
–	–	Dick Shrider	G		Ohio

Roster

1948–49 New York Knicks roster

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 Long Island 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
	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

Eastern Division Semifinals

(2) New York Knicks vs. (3) Baltimore Bullets: Knicks win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Baltimore (March 23): Baltimore 82, New York 81
• Game 2 @ New York (March 24): New York 84, Baltimore 74
• Game 3 @ New York (March 26): New York 103, Baltimore 99 (OT)

Last playoff meeting: 1948 BAA First Round (Baltimore won 2–1)

Eastern Division Finals

(1) Washington Capitols vs. (2) New York Knicks: Capitols win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Washington (March 29): Washington 77, New York 71
• Game 2 @ New York (March 31): New York 86, Washington 84 (OT)
• Game 3 @ Washington (April 2): Washington 84, New York 76

This was the first meeting between the Capitols and Knicks.

External links

• 1948–49 New York Knickerbockers Statistics