1949 BAA Finals
The 1949 BAA Finals was the last championship series played in the Basketball Association of America. Months later, the league merged with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association. George Mikan, a 6-foot-10-inch center, led the Minneapolis Lakers against the Washington Capitols across six games that April. Minneapolis won. What that victory meant for the Lakers, and what the loss meant for a young Capitols coach named Red Auerbach, comes next.
No team based in Minneapolis-St. Paul had ever won a professional sports championship before this series. The Lakers changed that when they beat the Capitols to take the 1949 title.
George Mikan's championship season did not end with one title. This victory was the first of several consecutive NBA championships the Lakers would win. It marked the start of what became known as the George Mikan and the Lakers Dynasty.
Washington's season ended in defeat, but the coach on their bench was only getting started.
The Washington Capitols never reached the Finals again after this series. Red Auerbach, their head coach in 1949, would return to a Finals series many times over the next two decades. This loss to Minneapolis was actually his only defeat in a Final until 1958.
Auerbach won nine of his eleven Finals appearances across his career. The 1949 series was also the first of six total Finals matchups between Auerbach and the Lakers. He beat the Lakers five times in those six meetings. Their last meeting came in 1959, when Auerbach beat Lakers coach Kundla in what proved to be Kundla's final game running the Minneapolis bench.
None of those later meetings, though, came close to matching the frantic schedule of that very first series.
Monday the 4th of April 1949 opened the series, and Wednesday the 13th of April closed it. Every gap between games included one day of rest, except between games three and four, when there was none. Minneapolis had already been off the court for five days before the series started, having secured its spot in the Finals the preceding Tuesday. Washington, by contrast, had rested only one day, having advanced the previous Saturday. The entire playoff tournament, from start to finish, ran 23 days.
Game one went to Minneapolis, 88-84. Game two followed the same way, a 76-62 Lakers win. By game three, played in Washington, Minneapolis had built a 3-0 series lead after winning 94-74. Washington finally responded, taking game four 83-71 and game five 74-65 to close the gap to 3-2. Minneapolis closed it out at home on the 13th of April, winning game six 77-56 to take the series 4-2. It was the most lopsided margin of the final three games, a decisive end to a series that had tightened considerably down the stretch.
Common questions
Who won the 1949 BAA Finals?
The Minneapolis Lakers won the 1949 BAA Finals, defeating the Washington Capitols in six games to take the series 4-2.
Why was the 1949 BAA Finals significant for Minneapolis and St. Paul?
It gave the Minneapolis-St. Paul area its first professional sports championship. It also marked the start of what became known as the George Mikan and the Lakers Dynasty, the first of several consecutive NBA championships for the franchise.
Who coached the Washington Capitols in the 1949 BAA Finals?
Red Auerbach coached the Washington Capitols in the 1949 BAA Finals. The loss was his only defeat in a Final until 1958, and he went on to win nine of his eleven career Finals appearances.
When was the 1949 BAA Finals played?
The series ran from the 4th of April 1949 to the 13th of April 1949, with all six games completed in ten days.
What was the final score of the 1949 BAA Finals series?
Minneapolis won the series 4-2, closing it out with a 77-56 victory in game six on the 13th of April 1949.
How many times did Red Auerbach face the Minneapolis Lakers in the Finals after 1949?
The 1949 series was the first of six total Finals matchups between Red Auerbach and the Lakers. Auerbach won five of those six meetings, including the 1959 finale against Lakers coach Kundla.