1954β55 Fort Wayne Pistons season | |||
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Division champions | |||
Head coach | Charles Eckman | ||
Arena | War Memorial Coliseum | ||
Results | |||
Record | 43–29 (.597) | ||
Place | Division: 1st (Western) | ||
Playoff finish | NBA Finals (eliminated 3β4) | ||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||
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The 1954β55 Fort Wayne Pistons season was the: seventh season for theββPistons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 14th season as a franchise.
With new coach. And former referee Charley Eckman, the Pistons finished 43-29 (.597), first in the "NBA Western Division." In the Western Division Finals, the Pistons eliminated the Minneapolis Lakers 3-1 in a best-of-five seriesββto reach the NBA Finals. In the 7-game series with the Syracuse Nationals, the teams held home court advantage, although Fort Wayne would play "at home" in Indianapolis because Fort Wayne arena management did not plan for the Pistonsββto make the NBA Finals. And the arena was booked for a bowling conference after March 4.
In the 7th game in Syracuse, Syracuse's George King made a free throw with 12 seconds left to put the Nationals up 92β91. King then stole the ball from Fort Wayne's Andy Phillip with three seconds remaining to clinch the victory for Syracuse.
Rumors about the finish continue with suggestions that some Fort Wayne players conspired with gamblers to throw the series to Syracuse. In the 7th game, Fort Wayne led Syracuse 41β24 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 would later comment.
However, Phillip may not have acted alone. Other Pistons players were strongly believed to have thrown games during the 1954 and "1955 NBA seasons," with Piston Jack Molinas banned from the league for gambling the year prior. 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 2β3β2 format until 1985.
The team was led on the season by a double-double from center Larry Foust (17.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, NBA All-Star), guard Andy Phillip (9.6 ppg, 7.7 apg, NBA All-Star) and forward George Yardley (17.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg, NBA All-Star).
Regular seasonβ»
Season standingsβ»
W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
x-Fort Wayne Pistons | 43 | 29 | .597 | β | 21β6 | 9β14 | 13β9 | 28β8 |
x-Minneapolis Lakers | 40 | 32 | .556 | 3 | 18β6 | 10β14 | 12β12 | 18β18 |
x-Rochester Royals | 29 | 43 | .403 | 14 | 17β11 | 4β19 | 8β13 | 14β22 |
Milwaukee Hawks | 26 | 46 | .361 | 17 | 6β11 | 9β16 | 11β19 | 14β22 |
- x β clinched playoff spot
Record vs. opponentsβ»
1954-55 NBA Records | ||||||||
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Team | BOS | FWP | MIL | MIN | NYK | PHI | ROC | SYR |
Boston | β | 4β5 | 6β3 | 3β6 | 6β6 | 7β5 | 4β5 | 6β6 |
Fort Wayne | 5β4 | β | 11β1 | 9β3 | 2β7 | 6β3 | 8β4 | 2β7 |
Milwaukee | 3β6 | 1β11 | β | 5β7 | 3β6 | 4β5 | 6β6 | 4β5 |
Minneapolis | 6β3 | 3β9 | 7β5 | β | 4β5 | 6β3 | 8β4 | 6β3 |
New York | 6β6 | 7β2 | 6β3 | 5β4 | β | 5β7 | 5β4 | 4β8 |
Philadelphia | 5β7 | 3β6 | 5β4 | 3β6 | 7β5 | β | 5β4 | 5β7 |
Rochester | 5β4 | 4β8 | 6β6 | 4β8 | 4β5 | 4β5 | β | 2β7 |
Syracuse | 6β6 | 7β2 | 5β4 | 3β6 | 8β4 | 7β5 | 7β2 | β |
Game logβ»
1954β55 Game log | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Date | Opponent | Score | High points | Record | |||||
1 | October 30 | @ Milwaukee | 91β72 | Hutchins, Yardley, Zaslofsky (14) | 1β0 | |||||
2 | October 31 | Boston | 86β90 | Mel Hutchins (22) | 2β0 | |||||
3 | November 6 | New York | 83β90 | Don Meineke (16) | 3β0 | |||||
4 | November 7 | Rochester | 84β109 | George Yardley (22) | 4β0 | |||||
5 | November 11 | Syracuse | 88β86 | Larry Foust (23) | 4β1 | |||||
6 | November 13 | @ Rochester | 103β98 | Mel Hutchins (22) | 5β1 | |||||
7 | November 14 | Milwaukee | 91β93 | Andy Phillip (23) | 6β1 | |||||
8 | November 18 | @ Syracuse | 82β91 | Larry Foust (30) | 6β2 | |||||
9 | November 20 | @ Philadelphia | 82β99 | Don Meineke (15) | 6β3 | |||||
10 | November 21 | Rochester | 78β89 | Larry Foust (23) | 7β3 | |||||
11 | November 24 | N Philadelphia | 91β87 | Mel Hutchins (20) | 7β4 | |||||
12 | November 27 | Minneapolis | 81β97 | Mel Hutchins (22) | 8β4 | |||||
13 | November 28 | Milwaukee | 81β96 | George Yardley (17) | 9β4 | |||||
14 | November 30 | N Minneapolis | 90β92 | George Yardley (29) | 10β4 | |||||
15 | December 1 | @ Rochester | 101β96 (OT) | Larry Foust (37) | 11β4 | |||||
16 | December 2 | Boston | 98β116 | George Yardley (32) | 12β4 | |||||
17 | December 4 | @ New York | 90β88 | Larry Foust (24) | 13β4 | |||||
18 | December 5 | Rochester | 97β96 | Larry Foust (21) | 13β5 | |||||
19 | December 7 | N Milwaukee | 85β101 | George Yardley (29) | 14β5 | |||||
20 | December 8 | N Milwaukee | 68β92 | Max Zaslofsky (17) | 15β5 | |||||
21 | December 12 | Boston | 99β100 | Larry Foust (28) | 16β5 | |||||
22 | December 15 | N Philadelphia | 99β90 | George Yardley (24) | 16β6 | |||||
23 | December 18 | @ Rochester | 87β86 | Andy Phillip (24) | 17β6 | |||||
24 | December 19 | Milwaukee | 82β87 | Dick Rosenthal (22) | 18β6 | |||||
25 | December 23 | N Philadelphia | 92β82 | George Yardley (22) | 19β6 | |||||
26 | December 25 | @ Rochester | 73β80 | George Yardley (17) | 19β7 | |||||
27 | December 26 | Philadelphia | 96β109 | Frank Brian (31) | 20β7 | |||||
28 | December 30 | N Minneapolis | 76β93 | George Yardley (26) | 21β7 | |||||
29 | December 31 | Minneapolis | 103β91 | George Yardley (22) | 21β8 | |||||
30 | January 2 | Philadelphia | 66β89 | George Yardley (24) | 22β8 | |||||
31 | January 4 | N Minneapolis | 92β93 | George Yardley (28) | 23β8 | |||||
32 | January 5 | N Milwaukee | 97β92 | Max Zaslofsky (16) | 23β9 | |||||
33 | January 6 | N Rochester | 83β90 | Mel Hutchins (19) | 24β9 | |||||
34 | January 9 | Minneapolis | 86β89 | George Yardley (29) | 25β9 | |||||
35 | January 11 | Boston | 119β110 | Larry Foust (33) | 25β10 | |||||
36 | January 13 | @ Syracuse | 83β100 | Bob Houbregs (14) | 25β11 | |||||
37 | January 14 | N New York | 97β83 | George Yardley (20) | 25β12 | |||||
38 | January 15 | @ New York | 87β106 | Frank Brian (17) | 25β13 | |||||
39 | January 16 | Milwaukee | 78β89 | George Yardley (19) | 26β13 | |||||
40 | January 19 | N Boston | 105β84 | George Yardley (29) | 27β13 | |||||
41 | January 22 | @ Milwaukee | 85β83 | Larry Foust (18) | 28β13 | |||||
42 | January 23 | Rochester | 84β105 | Dick Rosenthal (18) | 29β13 | |||||
43 | January 25 | N Syracuse | 66β69 | Frank Brian (14) | 30β13 | |||||
44 | January 26 | @ Boston | 90β99 | Andy Phillip (15) | 30β14 | |||||
45 | January 27 | @ Syracuse | 79β94 | Mel Hutchins (16) | 30β15 | |||||
46 | January 29 | @ Minneapolis | 91β100 | Larry Foust (23) | 30β16 | |||||
47 | January 30 | Minneapolis | 92β99 | Larry Foust (34) | 31β16 | |||||
48 | January 31 | N New York | 91β84 | Frank Brian (27) | 31β17 | |||||
49 | February 2 | @ Rochester | 74β84 | Frank Brian (22) | 31β18 | |||||
50 | February 3 | Syracuse | 85β104 | Larry Foust (22) | 32β18 | |||||
51 | February 5 | @ Philadelphia | 96β88 | Larry Foust (25) | 33β18 | |||||
52 | February 6 | Rochester | 75β92 | George Yardley (19) | 34β18 | |||||
53 | February 10 | Philadelphia | 97β105 | Max Zaslofsky (19) | 35β18 | |||||
54 | February 11 | N Rochester | 91β83 | Foust, Yardley (16) | 35β19 | |||||
55 | February 12 | @ New York | 82β88 | Larry Foust (26) | 35β20 | |||||
56 | February 13 | Milwaukee | 78β90 | Larry Foust (19) | 36β20 | |||||
57 | February 14 | N New York | 92β88 | Larry Foust (19) | 36β21 | |||||
58 | February 17 | N New York | 93β86 | Andy Phillip (14) | 36β22 | |||||
59 | February 19 | @ Minneapolis | 92β98 | George Yardley (28) | 36β23 | |||||
60 | February 20 | Milwaukee | 87β96 | Larry Foust (22) | 37β23 | |||||
61 | February 23 | N Minneapolis | 97β120 | Larry Foust (26) | 38β23 | |||||
62 | February 24 | N Milwaukee | 85β95 | Mel Hutchins (20) | 39β23 | |||||
63 | February 26 | @ Minneapolis | 90β89 | Larry Foust (24) | 40β23 | |||||
64 | February 27 | New York | 95β83 | Larry Foust (22) | 40β24 | |||||
65 | February 28 | N Minneapolis | 88β90 | Andy Phillip (19) | 41β24 | |||||
66 | March 1 | N Boston | 118β98 | Max Zaslofsky (18) | 42β24 | |||||
67 | March 2 | N Syracuse | 103β90 | George Yardley (16) | 42β25 | |||||
68 | March 3 | Syracuse | 83β81 | Larry Foust (22) | 42β26 | |||||
69 | March 6 | @ Boston | 104β108 | George Yardley (32) | 42β27 | |||||
70 | March 7 | @ Boston | 91β110 | Don Meineke (23) | 42β28 | |||||
71 | March 10 | N Philadelphia | 91β93 (OT) | George Yardley (27) | 43β28 | |||||
72 | March 12 | @ Syracuse | 92β112 | George Yardley (24) | 43β29 |
Playoffsβ»
1955 playoff game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Division Finals: 3β1 (home: 2β0; road: 1β1)
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NBA Finals: 3β4 (home: 3β0; road: 0β4)
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1955 schedule |
Awards and recordsβ»
Referencesβ»
- ^ 1954-55 Fort Wayne Pistons
- ^ "Nats Win First Title of Shot-Clock Era", NBA.com
- ^ "City Hails Nats' World Title Triumph", Syracuse Herald Journal, April 11, 1955, pp. 1, 45.
- ^ "Chevette to Corvette No. 9: The 1954-55 Fort Wayne Pistons". December 14, 2011.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Syracuse Herald Journal, April 11, 1955, p. 45.
- ^ "The 100 Greatest Playoff Series in NBA History". Bleacher Report.
- ^ "On This Date in Sports April 10, 1955: NBA Finals Thriller".