1947–48 New York Knicks season

The 1947–48 New York Knicks season was the second season for the team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA),[4] which later merged with the National Basketball League to become the National Basketball Association.[5] The Knicks finished in second place in the Eastern Division with a 26–22 record and qualified for the BAA Playoffs. In the first round, New York was eliminated by the Baltimore Bullets in a best-of-three series, two games to one. Carl Braun was the team's scoring leader during the season.[1]

1947–48 New York Knicks season
Head coach	Joe Lapchick[1]
General manager	Ned Irish
Arena	Madison Square Garden[1]
Results
Record	26–22 (.542)
Place	Division: 2nd Conference: 2nd
Playoff finish	BAA Quarterfinals (Lost to Bullets 1–2)
Local media
Television	WJZ-TV[2]
Radio	WHN[3]

At the 1947 BAA draft, the Knicks selected Dick Holub in the first round, with the fifth overall pick.[6] The Knicks also selected Wataru Misaka,[7] who made the team's final roster and became "the first person of color to play in modern professional basketball", just months after the Major League Baseball color line had been broken by the Brooklyn Dodgers' Jackie Robinson.[8] Misaka was cut after playing only three games with the team.[9] The 1947–48 season was the first as New York's head coach for Joe Lapchick, who had previously held the same position for college basketball's St. John's; he had been hired in March 1947.[10] The Knicks had a 13–13 record in the first 26 games of the season before going on an eight-game winning streak from January 28 to February 11. However, New York won only four of its final 12 regular season contests.[11]

In game one of the first round of the playoffs, held in Baltimore, the Bullets defeated the Knicks 85–81 behind a 34-point performance by Connie Simmons.[12] The Knicks evened the series at one victory apiece by winning the second game 79–69 in New York, as four players scored more than 10 points.[13] The win forced a decisive third game back in Baltimore, which the Knicks lost 84–77. Simmons led the Bullets with 22 points, while Chick Reiser added 21.[14] The Bullets went on to win the 1948 BAA Finals.[15]

Draft

Main article: 1947 BAA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	5	Dick Holub	C	United States	Long Island
–	–	Andy Duncan	F/C	United States	William & Mary
–	–	Ray Evans	–	United States	Kansas
–	–	Ed Golub	–	United States	–
–	–	Garland Head	–	United States	Texas Tech
–	–	Ron Livingston	–	United States	Saint Mary's
–	–	Dan Miller	–	United States	Saint Louis
–	–	Wataru Misaka	G	United States	Utah
–	–	Carl Reichert	–	United States	Findlay
–	–	Tom Tomlinson	–	United States	Southern Methodist

Roster

Roster listing

New York Knicks 1947–48 roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) 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 G 9 Gottlieb, Leo 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1920-11-28 DeWitt Clinton HS (NY) G 8 Hertzberg, Sonny 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-07-29 City College of New York C 11 Holub, Dick 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1921-10-29 Long Island 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 15 Misaka, Wat 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1923-12-21 Utah 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 7 Stutz, Stan 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1920-04-14 Rhode Island G 6 Tanenbaum, Sid 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1925-10-08 New York G/F 17 Van Breda Kolff, Butch 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1922-10-28 New York	Head coach Joe Lapchick Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Season standings

# Eastern Division Team W L PCT GB 1 x-Philadelphia Warriors 27 21 .563 – 2 x-New York Knicks 26 22 .542 1 3 x-Boston Celtics 20 28 .417 7 4 Providence Steamrollers 6 42 .125 21

Record vs. opponents

1947–48 BAA records
Team	BAL	BOS	CHI	NYK	PHI	PRO	STL	WAS
Baltimore	—	5–1	5–3	5–1	2–4	6–0	3–5	2–6
Boston	1–5	—	3–3	1–7	4–4	6–2	2–4	3–3
Chicago	3–5	3–3	—	6–0	4–2	4–2	3–5	5–3
New York	1–5	7–1	0–6	—	4–4	7–1	4–2	3–3
Philadelphia	4–2	4–4	2-4	1–7	—	8–0	3–3	2–4
Providence	0–6	2–6	2–4	1–7	0–8	—	0–6	1–5
St. Louis	5–3	4–2	5–3	2–4	3–3	6–0	—	4–4
Washington	6–2	3–3	3–5	3–3	4–2	5–1	4–4	—

Game log

#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	November 13	Washington	80–65	Bud Palmer (21)	1–0
2	November 15	St. Louis	73–67	Dick Holub (19)	2–0
3	November 18	@ Providence	87–69	Stan Stutz (27)	3–0
4	November 19	Chicago	63–81	Bud Palmer (16)	3–1
5	November 20	@ Baltimore	56–68	Dick Holub (24)	3–2
6	November 22	Philadelphia	78–83	Bud Palmer (30)	3–3
7	November 25	@ Boston	91–75	Dick Holub (19)	4–3
8	November 26	Boston	63–65	Bud Palmer (16)	4–4
9	November 27	@ Philadelphia	81–59	Leo Gottlieb (20)	5–4
10	December 1	Washington	62–70	Tommy Byrnes (15)	5–5
11	December 6	@ Providence	114–85	Carl Braun (47)	6–5
12	December 8	St. Louis	71–56	Bud Palmer (19)	7–5
13	December 10	@ Boston	79–75	Carl Braun (16)	8–5
14	December 13	@ Baltimore	80–66	Bud Palmer (18)	9–5
15	December 15	Philadelphia	71–74	Carl Braun (25)	9–6
16	December 18	@ Philadelphia	99–71	Tommy Byrnes (25)	10–6
17	December 20	Boston	70–58	Dick Holub (17)	11–6
18	December 23	@ Providence	58–66	Stan Stutz (17)	11–7
19	December 25	Providence	89–75	Tommy Byrnes (20)	12–7
20	December 27	Chicago	70–79	Carl Braun (16)	12–8
21	January 3	Baltimore	70–79	Dick Holub (16)	12–9
22	January 7	Chicago	74–79	Bud Palmer (21)	12–10
23	January 11	@ Chicago	86–99	Dick Holub (22)	12–11
24	January 15	@ St. Louis	59–55	Dick Holub (24)	13–11
25	January 17	@ Washington	62–78	Palmer, Tanenbaum (15)	13–12
26	January 19	Philadelphia	57–63	Carl Braun (24)	13–13
27	January 23	@ Boston	74–58	Sid Tanenbaum (21)	14–13
28	January 24	Baltimore	58–72	Sid Tanenbaum (14)	14–14
29	January 28	Providence	75–73	Dick Holub (16)	15–14
30	January 29	@ Philadelphia	66–60	Braun, Knorek, Tanenbaum (13)	16–14
31	January 31	Boston	66–64	Tommy Byrnes (17)	17–14
32	February 3	@ Providence	78–62	Stan Stutz (20)	18–14
33	February 4	Providence	108–69	Carl Braun (24)	19–14
34	February 6	@ Boston	68–57	Carl Braun (15)	20–14
35	February 8	Boston	80–68	Carl Braun (15)	21–14
36	February 11	Providence	86–63	Carl Braun (32)	22–14
37	February 12	@ Baltimore	86–96	Kuka, Tanenbaum (14)	22–15
38	February 14	Philadelphia	78–47	Bud Palmer (30)	23–15
39	February 18	@ Washington	79–75	Sid Tanenbaum (19)	24–15
40	February 19	@ Chicago	74–82	Carl Braun (23)	24–16
41	February 22	@ St. Louis	71–80	Sid Tanenbaum (23)	24–17
42	February 28	Baltimore	56–78	Stan Stutz (13)	24–18
43	March 2	@ Philadelphia	66–76	Bud Palmer (15)	24–19
44	March 6	Washington	69–64 (OT)	Bud Palmer (18)	25–19
45	March 10	St. Louis	73–82	Bud Palmer (25)	25–20
46	March 13	@ Chicago	51–58	Bud Palmer (14)	25–21
47	March 18	@ St. Louis	91–80	Paul Noel (19)	26–21
48	March 20	@ Washington	82–103	Bud Palmer (23)	26–22

Playoffs

BAA Quarterfinals

(W2) Baltimore Bullets vs. (E2) New York Knicks: Bullets win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Baltimore: Baltimore 85, New York 81
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 79, Baltimore 69
• Game 3 @ Baltimore: Baltimore 84, New York 77

Awards and records

• Carl Braun, All-BAA Second Team[16]

Transactions

Main article: List of 1947–48 BAA season transactions

Free agency

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Carl Braun	—	Colgate Raiders
Ray Kuka	—	Montana State Bobcats
Paul Noel	—	Kentucky Wildcats
Sid Tanenbaum	—	NYU Violets

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	New team
Aud Brindley	—	—
Bob Cluggish	—	—
Bob Fitzgerald	Signed contract	Syracuse Nationals
Frido Frey	Signed contract	Paterson Crescents
Frank Mangiapane	Signed contract	Paterson Crescents
Ossie Schectman	Signed contract	Paterson Crescents

References

1. "1947–48 New York Knickerbockers Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
2. The Fourth Estate (PDF). New York Knicks. 2003. p. 331. Retrieved January 20, 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 20, 2011.
4. "New York Knicks". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
5. "August 3: NBA is born". History. November 16, 2009. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
6. "1947 BAA Draft". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
7. Wertheim, Jon (February 11, 2012). "Decades before Lin's rise, Misaka made history for Asian-Americans". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
8. Goldstein, Richard (November 26, 2019). "Wat Misaka, 95, First Nonwhite in Modern Pro Basketball, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
9. Vecsey, George (August 10, 2009). "Pioneering Knick Returns to Garden". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
10. Kroessler, Jeffrey A. (2010). The Greater New York Sports Chronology. Columbia University Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-231-14648-7.
11. "1947–48 New York Knicks Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
12. "New York Knicks at Baltimore Bullets Box Score, March 27, 1948". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
13. "Baltimore Bullets at New York Knicks Box Score, March 28, 1948". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
14. "New York Knicks at Baltimore Bullets Box Score, April 1, 1948". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
15. "1947–48 BAA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
16. "All-NBA & All-ABA Teams". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved April 20, 2013.