1948 BAA Finals

• 1. Introduction

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  The 1948 BAA Finals ended with the Baltimore Bullets defeating the Philadelphia Warriors four games to two, giving Baltimore its first professional sports championship. Baltimore had not won its own division that season. Somehow the Bullets still made it to the championship round. How did a team finish behind its division rivals and still end up playing for the title? What happened over the following days settled that question on the court.

• 2. Two Paths to the Finals

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  Baltimore reached the championship round by winning a four-team playoff among the Eastern and Western Division runners-up, not by topping its own division. In that bracket, Baltimore and Chicago represented the Western Division, while New York and Boston represented the East. Baltimore and Chicago each eliminated one of the Eastern teams before meeting each other in a best-of-three series, which Baltimore won to advance. The league used this runners-up format only twice, in 1947 and in 1948, and both times a runners-up team went on to win the title.

  Philadelphia and St. Louis, the two Division champions, settled the other Finals spot in a single best-of-seven series. That series ran seven games from the 23rd of March to the 6th of April 1948. Philadelphia had at least one day of rest before every one of those games. Philadelphia won that series 4-3, earning home court advantage for the Finals against Baltimore. Philadelphia's semifinal ended on the 6th of April, just four days before the Finals opener against Baltimore.

• 3. A Compressed Schedule

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  Philadelphia opened the Finals at home on the 10th of April 1948, beating Baltimore 71-60 to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Three days later, on the 13th, Baltimore won on the road 66-63, tying the series at one game apiece. Back in Baltimore on the 15th, the Bullets edged Philadelphia 72-70 to lead the series 2-1. Two days after that, on the 17th, Baltimore held on again 78-75, pushing the lead to 3-1.

  Philadelphia forced a sixth game on the 20th of April, winning 91-82 at home to cut Baltimore's lead to 3-2. The next night, the 21st of April, Baltimore closed out the series at home 88-73, winning four games to two. All six games were played across twelve days, with at least one day of rest between games except before that final, decisive contest. From the semifinals' start to that last game in Baltimore, the entire playoff tournament stretched across 30 days.

• 4. A Standalone Record

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  As of 2023, the Baltimore Bullets remain the only franchise to win a BAA or NBA Finals and then cease to exist entirely. Other champions that no longer share their original name simply changed identities or relocated to different cities over the years. Every other BAA or NBA champion since has kept playing somewhere, whether relocated or renamed. The 1948 Baltimore Bullets never got that chance.