1947–48 New York Knicks season

{{short description|Season of National Basketball Association team the New York Knicks}}

{{Infobox NBA season

| team = New York Knicks

| league = BAA

| end_year = 1948

| wins = 26

| losses = 22

| division_place = 2nd

| conf_place = 2nd

| coach = Joe Lapchick{{cite web|title=1947–48 New York Knickerbockers Roster and Statistics|publisher=Basketball-Reference|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/1948.html|accessdate=February 3, 2010}}

| gm = Ned Irish

| arena = Madison Square Garden

| television = WJZ-TV{{cite book|title=The Fourth Estate|publisher=New York Knicks|year=2003|page=331|url=http://www.nba.com/media/mediacentral/mg0304_nyk_10.pdf|accessdate=January 20, 2018}}

| radio = WHN{{cite book|last=Jaker|first=Bill|last2=Sulek|first2=Frank|last3=Kanze|first3=Peter|title=The Airwaves of New York: Illustrated Histories of 156 AM Stations in the Metropolitan Area, 1921–1996|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2008|page=194|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pLTB4E5wVBAC&pg=PA194|isbn=978-0-7864-3872-3|accessdate=September 20, 2011}}

| playoffs = BAA Quarterfinals
(lost to Bullets 1–2)

}}

The 1947–48 New York Knicks season was the second season for the team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA),{{cite web|title=New York Knicks|publisher=Basketball-Reference|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/|accessdate=December 16, 2019}} which later merged with the National Basketball League to become the National Basketball Association.{{cite web|title=August 3: NBA is born|publisher=History|date=November 16, 2009|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nba-is-born|accessdate=December 16, 2019}} 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.

At the 1947 BAA draft, the Knicks selected Dick Holub in the first round, with the fifth overall pick.{{cite web|title=1947 BAA Draft|publisher=Basketball-Reference|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/BAA_1947.html|accessdate=September 3, 2011}} The Knicks also selected Wataru Misaka,{{cite magazine|last=Wertheim|first=Jon|title=Decades before Lin's rise, Misaka made history for Asian-Americans|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=February 11, 2012|url=https://www.si.com/more-sports/2012/02/11/jeremy-linwatarumisaka|accessdate=December 16, 2019}} 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.{{cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Richard|title=Wat Misaka, 95, First Nonwhite in Modern Pro Basketball, Dies|work=The New York Times|date=November 26, 2019|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/sports/basketball/wat-misaka-dead.html|accessdate=November 26, 2019}} Misaka was cut after playing only three games with the team.{{cite news|last=Vecsey|first=George|title=Pioneering Knick Returns to Garden|work=The New York Times|date=August 10, 2009|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/sports/basketball/11vecsey.html|accessdate=November 26, 2019}} 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.{{cite book|last=Kroessler|first=Jeffrey A.|title=The Greater New York Sports Chronology|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2010|page=145|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A2UaAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA145|isbn=978-0-231-14648-7}} 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.{{cite web|title=1947–48 New York Knicks Schedule and Results|publisher=Basketball-Reference|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/1948_games.html|accessdate=March 4, 2013}}

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.{{cite web|title=New York Knicks at Baltimore Bullets Box Score, March 27, 1948|publisher=Basketball-Reference|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/194803270BLB.html|accessdate=March 4, 2013}} 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.{{cite web|title=Baltimore Bullets at New York Knicks Box Score, March 28, 1948|publisher=Basketball-Reference|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/194803280NYK.html|accessdate=March 4, 2013}} 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.{{cite web|title=New York Knicks at Baltimore Bullets Box Score, April 1, 1948|publisher=Basketball-Reference|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/194804010BLB.html|accessdate=March 4, 2013}} The Bullets went on to win the 1948 BAA Finals.{{cite web|title=1947–48 BAA Season Summary|publisher=Basketball-Reference|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/BAA_1948.html|accessdate=March 4, 2013}}

Draft

class="wikitable sortable sortable"

! style="background:#FF7518;color:#FFFFFF;" width="7%"| Round

! style="background:#FF7518;color:#FFFFFF;" width="7%"| Pick

! style="background:#FF7518;color:#FFFFFF;" width="20%"| Player

! style="background:#FF7518;color:#FFFFFF;" width="15%"| Position

! style="background:#FF7518;color:#FFFFFF;" width="15%"| Nationality

! style="background:#FF7518;color:#FFFFFF;" width="20%"| School/Club Team

| 5

| Dick Holub

| C

| {{flagu|United States}}

| Long Island

–

| –

| Andy Duncan

| F/C

| {{flagu|United States}}

| William & Mary

–

| –

| Ray Evans

| –

| {{flagu|United States}}

| Kansas

–

| –

| Ed Golub

| –

| {{flagu|United States}}

| –

–

| –

| Garland Head

| –

| {{flagu|United States}}

| Texas Tech

–

| –

| Ron Livingston

| –

| {{flagu|United States}}

| Saint Mary's

–

| –

| Dan Miller

| –

| {{flagu|United States}}

| Saint Louis

–

| –

| Wataru Misaka

| G

| {{flagu|United States}}

| Utah

–

| –

| Carl Reichert

| –

| {{flagu|United States}}

| Findlay

–

| –

| Tom Tomlinson

| –

| {{flagu|United States}}

| Southern Methodist

Roster

{{NBA roster header|team=New York Knicks 1947–48

|bg1 = #0000FF | color1 = white | bg2 = #FF8C00 | color2 = black}}

{{player2 | num = 4 | first = Carl | last = Braun | dab = basketball | pos = G-F | ft = 6 | in = 5 | lbs = 180 | college = Colgate | DOB = 1927-09-25 }}

{{player2 | num = 14 | first = Tommy | last = Byrnes | pos = F-G | ft = 6 | in = 3 | lbs = 175 | college = Seton Hall | DOB = 1923-02-19 }}

{{player2 | num = 9 | first = Leo | last = Gottlieb | pos = G | ft = 5 | in = 11 | lbs = 180 | college = DeWitt Clinton HS (NY) | DOB = 1920-11-28 }}

{{player2 | num = 8 | first = Sonny | last = Hertzberg | pos = G | ft = 5 | in = 10 | lbs = 175 | college = City College of New York | DOB = 1922-07-29 }}

{{player2 | num = 11 | first = Dick | last = Holub | pos = C | ft = 6 | in = 6 | lbs = 205 | college = Long Island University | DOB = 1921-10-29 }}

{{player2 | num = 19 | first = Lee | last = Knorek | pos = C | ft = 6 | in = 7 | lbs = 215 | school = Detroit Mercy | DOB = 1921-07-15 }}

{{player2 | num = 12 | first = Ray | last = Kuka | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 3 | lbs = 200 | school = Notre Dame | DOB = 1922-02-17 }}

{{player2 | num = 15 | first = Wat | last = Misaka | pos = G | ft = 5 | in = 7 | lbs = 150 | school = Utah | DOB = 1923-12-21 }}

{{player2 | num = 5 | first = Paul | last = Noel | pos = F | ft = 6 | in = 4 | lbs = 185 | school = Kentucky | DOB = 1924-08-17 }}

{{player2 | num = 16 | first = Bud | last = Palmer | pos = F-C | ft = 6 | in = 4 | lbs = 180 | school = Princeton | DOB = 1921-09-14 }}

{{player2 | num = 7 | first = Stan | last = Stutz | pos = G-F | ft = 5 | in = 10 | lbs = 170 | college = Rhode Island | DOB = 1920-04-14 }}

{{player2 | num = 6 | first = Sid | last = Tanenbaum | pos = G | ft = 6 | in = 0 | lbs = 160 | school = NYU | DOB = 1925-10-08 }}

{{player2 | num = 17 | first = Butch | last = Van Breda Kolff | pos = G-F | ft = 6 | in = 3 | lbs = 185 | college = NYU | DOB = 1922-10-28 }}

{{NBA roster footer

| head_coach = Joe Lapchick | asst_coach = | ath_train = | roster_url = https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/1948 | transaction_url = https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/1948_transactions}}

Regular season

=Season standings=

=Record vs. opponents=

colspan=12\|1947–48 BAA records
class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:center;"
width=100\|Team !style="background: #003DA5;color:#FFFFFF;width=35"\|BAL !style="background:#006400;color:#FFFFFF;width=35"\|BOS !style="background:#D50032;color:#22356A;width=35"\|CHI !style="background:#003EA4;color:#E85109;width=35"\|NYK !style="background:#002F6C;color:#FFC72C;width=35"\|PHI !style="background:#D40032;color:#000000;width=35"\|PRO !style="background:#D40032;color:#FFFFFF;width=35"\|STL !style="background:#046B38;color:#FFFFFF;width=35"\|WAS
style="text-align:left;" \| Baltimore	—	5–1	5–3	5–1	2–4	6–0	3–5	2–6
style="text-align:left;" \| Boston	1–5	—	3–3	1–7	4–4	6–2	2–4	3–3
style="text-align:left;" \| Chicago	3–5	3–3	—	6–0	4–2	4–2	3–5	5–3
style="text-align:left;" \| New York	1–5	7–1	0–6	—	4–4	7–1	4–2	3–3
style="text-align:left;" \| Philadelphia	4–2	4–4	2-4	1–7	—	8–0	3–3	2–4
style="text-align:left;" \| Providence	0–6	2–6	2–4	1–7	0–8	—	0–6	1–5
style="text-align:left;" \| St. Louis	5–3	4–2	5–3	2–4	3–3	6–0	—	4–4
style="text-align:left;" \| Washington	6–2	3–3	3–5	3–3	4–2	5–1	4–4	—

=Game log=

class="wikitable" width="50%"
align="center" style="background:#0000FF;color:#FF8C00;" \| #	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 1	November 13	Washington	80–65	Bud Palmer (21)	1–0
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 2	November 15	St. Louis	73–67	Dick Holub (19)	2–0
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 3	November 18	@ Providence	87–69	Stan Stutz (27)	3–0
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 4	November 19	Chicago	63–81	Bud Palmer (16)	3–1
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 5	November 20	@ Baltimore	56–68	Dick Holub (24)	3–2
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 6	November 22	Philadelphia	78–83	Bud Palmer (30)	3–3
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 7	November 25	@ Boston	91–75	Dick Holub (19)	4–3
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 8	November 26	Boston	63–65	Bud Palmer (16)	4–4
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 9	November 27	@ Philadelphia	81–59	Leo Gottlieb (20)	5–4
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 10	December 1	Washington	62–70	Tommy Byrnes (15)	5–5
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 11	December 6	@ Providence	114–85	Carl Braun (47)	6–5
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 12	December 8	St. Louis	71–56	Bud Palmer (19)	7–5
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 13	December 10	@ Boston	79–75	Carl Braun (16)	8–5
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 14	December 13	@ Baltimore	80–66	Bud Palmer (18)	9–5
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 15	December 15	Philadelphia	71–74	Carl Braun (25)	9–6
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 16	December 18	@ Philadelphia	99–71	Tommy Byrnes (25)	10–6
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 17	December 20	Boston	70–58	Dick Holub (17)	11–6
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 18	December 23	@ Providence	58–66	Stan Stutz (17)	11–7
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 19	December 25	Providence	89–75	Tommy Byrnes (20)	12–7
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 20	December 27	Chicago	70–79	Carl Braun (16)	12–8
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 21	January 3	Baltimore	70–79	Dick Holub (16)	12–9
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 22	January 7	Chicago	74–79	Bud Palmer (21)	12–10
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 23	January 11	@ Chicago	86–99	Dick Holub (22)	12–11
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 24	January 15	@ St. Louis	59–55	Dick Holub (24)	13–11
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 25	January 17	@ Washington	62–78	Palmer, Tanenbaum (15)	13–12
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 26	January 19	Philadelphia	57–63	Carl Braun (24)	13–13
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 27	January 23	@ Boston	74–58	Sid Tanenbaum (21)	14–13
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 28	January 24	Baltimore	58–72	Sid Tanenbaum (14)	14–14
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 29	January 28	Providence	75–73	Dick Holub (16)	15–14
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 30	January 29	@ Philadelphia	66–60	Braun, Knorek, Tanenbaum (13)	16–14
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 31	January 31	Boston	66–64	Tommy Byrnes (17)	17–14
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 32	February 3	@ Providence	78–62	Stan Stutz (20)	18–14
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 33	February 4	Providence	108–69	Carl Braun (24)	19–14
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 34	February 6	@ Boston	68–57	Carl Braun (15)	20–14
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 35	February 8	Boston	80–68	Carl Braun (15)	21–14
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 36	February 11	Providence	86–63	Carl Braun (32)	22–14
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 37	February 12	@ Baltimore	86–96	Kuka, Tanenbaum (14)	22–15
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 38	February 14	Philadelphia	78–47	Bud Palmer (30)	23–15
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 39	February 18	@ Washington	79–75	Sid Tanenbaum (19)	24–15
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 40	February 19	@ Chicago	74–82	Carl Braun (23)	24–16
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 41	February 22	@ St. Louis	71–80	Sid Tanenbaum (23)	24–17
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 42	February 28	Baltimore	56–78	Stan Stutz (13)	24–18
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 43	March 2	@ Philadelphia	66–76	Bud Palmer (15)	24–19
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 44	March 6	Washington	69–64 (OT)	Bud Palmer (18)	25–19
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 45	March 10	St. Louis	73–82	Bud Palmer (25)	25–20
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 46	March 13	@ Chicago	51–58	Bud Palmer (14)	25–21
align="center" bgcolor="ccffcc" \| 47	March 18	@ St. Louis	91–80	Paul Noel (19)	26–21
align="center" bgcolor="ffcccc" \| 48	March 20	@ Washington	82–103	Bud Palmer (23)	26–22

Playoffs

{{NBA game log start|New York Knicks|end_year=1948|playoffs=yes}}

{{NBA game log section|New York Knicks|First Round|first=yes|playoffs=yes|show=no

| home_wins = 1

| home_losses = 0

| road_wins = 0

| road_losses = 2

| hide_rebounds = yes

| hide_assists = yes

| hide_attendance = yes

}}

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"

| 1

| March 27

| @ Baltimore

| [https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/194803270BLB.html L 81–85]

| Bud Palmer (21)

| Baltimore Coliseum

| 0–1

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"

| 2

| March 28

| Baltimore

| [https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/194803280NYK.html W 79–69]

| Bud Palmer (18)

| Madison Square Garden III

| 1–1

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"

| 3

| April 1

| @ Baltimore

| [https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/194804010BLB.html L 77–84]

| Sid Tanenbaum (18)

| Baltimore Coliseum

| 1–2

Awards and records

Carl Braun, All-BAA Second Team{{cite web|title=All-NBA & All-ABA Teams|publisher=Basketball-Reference|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/all_league.html|accessdate=April 20, 2013}}