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1954–55 NBA season
Ninth NBA season
Ninth NBA season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| title | 1954–55 NBA season |
| league | National Basketball Association |
| sport | Basketball |
| duration | October 30, 1954 – March 14, 1955 |
| March 15–27, 1955 (Playoffs) | |
| March 31 – April 10, 1955 (Finals) | |
| no_of_games | 72 |
| no_of_teams | 8 (9) |
| TV | NBC |
| draft | Draft |
| draft_link | 1954 NBA Draft |
| top_pick_link | List of first overall NBA draft picks |
| top_pick | Frank Selvy |
| picked_by | [Baltimore Bullets](1954-55-baltimore-bullets-season) |
| season | Regular season |
| season_champs | [Syracuse Nationals](1954-55-syracuse-nationals-season) |
| top_seed | [Fort Wayne Pistons](1954-55-fort-wayne-pistons-season) |
| top_scorer | Neil Johnston ([Philadelphia](1954-55-philadelphia-warriors-season)) |
| playoffs | Playoffs |
| playoffs_link | 1955 NBA Playoffs |
| conf1 | Eastern |
| conf1_link | Eastern Division (NBA) |
| conf1_champ | [Syracuse Nationals](1954-55-syracuse-nationals-season) |
| conf1_runner-up | [Boston Celtics](1954-55-boston-celtics-season) |
| conf2 | Western |
| conf2_link | Western Division (NBA) |
| conf2_champ | [Fort Wayne Pistons](1954-55-fort-wayne-pistons-season) |
| conf2_runner-up | [Minneapolis Lakers](1954-55-minneapolis-lakers-season) |
| finals | Finals |
| finals_venue | * Butler Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana |
| finals_link | 1955 NBA Finals |
| finals_champ | [Syracuse Nationals](1954-55-syracuse-nationals-season) |
| finals_runner-up | [Fort Wayne Pistons](1954-55-fort-wayne-pistons-season) |
| seasonslist | List of NBA seasons |
| seasonslistnames | NBA |
| prevseason_link | 1953–54 NBA season |
| prevseason_year | 1953–54 |
| nextseason_link | 1955–56 NBA season |
| nextseason_year | 1955–56 |
March 15–27, 1955 (Playoffs) March 31 – April 10, 1955 (Finals) | conf1_runner-up =Boston Celtics | conf2_runner-up =Minneapolis Lakers
- Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York | finals_runner-up =Fort Wayne Pistons The 1954–55 NBA season was the ninth season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Syracuse Nationals winning the NBA Championship, beating the Fort Wayne Pistons 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.
Notable occurrences
- In response to the relatively slow pace of games, the NBA introduced a 24-second shot clock. The shot clock revitalized the game and scoring skyrocketed league-wide.
- BALThe Baltimore Bullets dropped out of the NBA and folded on November 27, 1954, after playing 14 games (record 3 wins 11 losses), the last time (as of 2025) that an NBA franchise has folded; these games and all statistics were deleted from the NBA's records. The NBA would return to Baltimore when the Chicago Zephyrs relocated there as the "new" Bullets for the 1963–64 season, though the franchise would relocate to Washington in 1973, where they remain today as the Washington Wizards.
- As a result of Baltimore having folded, the NBA schedule was redrafted so each team now played 12 games against divisional opponents, and 9 games against the four teams in the other division, for a total of 72 games.
- The 1955 NBA All-Star Game was played in New York City, with the East beating the West 100–91. Bill Sharman of the Boston Celtics won the game's MVP award.
- NBC began televising NBA games. This continued until the 1962–63 season, when ABC took over. NBC would begin televising NBA games again in 1990.
- The Milwaukee Hawks played their final season in the Wisconsin city before moving to St. Louis, Missouri the following season. The NBA would return to Milwaukee with the expansion Bucks in 1968.
| Offseason | Team | 1953–54 coach | 1954–55 coach | In-season | Team | Outgoing coach | Incoming coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Wayne Pistons | Paul Birch | Charles Eckman | |||||
| N/A |
Teams
| Division | Teams | Eastern Conference}};" | Eastern | Western Conference}};" | Western |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Boston_1950.png | 100px]] | ||||
| **Boston Celtics** | |||||
| Arena: Boston Garden | |||||
| Coach: Red Auerbach | [[File:New_York_1946.png | 100px]] | |||
| **New York Knicks** | |||||
| Arena: Madison Square Garden | |||||
| Coach: Joe Lapchick | [[File:Philadelphia_1951.gif | 100px]] | |||
| **Philadelphia Warriors** | |||||
| Arena: Philadelphia Civic Center | |||||
| Coach: Edward Gottlieb | [[File:Syracuse_1949.gif | 100px]] | |||
| **Syracuse Nationals** | |||||
| Arena: Onondaga War Memorial | |||||
| Coach: Al Cervi | |||||
| [[File:Fort_Wayne_1948.gif | 100px]] | ||||
| **Fort Wayne Pistons** | |||||
| Arena: War Memorial Coliseum | |||||
| Coach: Charles Eckman | [[File:Milwaukee_1954.png | 90px]] | |||
| **Milwaukee Hawks** | |||||
| Arena: Milwaukee Arena | |||||
| Coach: Red Holzman | [[File:Minneapolis_1947.gif | 100px]] | |||
| **Minneapolis Lakers** | |||||
| Arena: Minneapolis Auditorium | |||||
| Coach: John Kundla | [[File:Rochester_1945.gif | 100px]] | |||
| **Rochester Royals** | |||||
| Arena: Edgerton Park Arena | |||||
| Coach: Les Harrison |
- Note: Team logos were not necessarily used by the teams on their jerseys.
- Any logo displaying offensive or racist images are only represented here for historical accuracy.
Final standings
Eastern Division
Western Division
x – clinched playoff spot
Playoffs
Main article: 1955 NBA playoffs
Statistics leaders
| Category | Player | Team | Stat | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Neil Johnston | ||||
| Rebounds | Neil Johnston | ||||
| Assists | Bob Cousy | ||||
| FG% | Larry Foust | ||||
| FT% | Bill Sharman |
Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points, rebounds, and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.
NBA awards
- Rookie of the Year: Bob Pettit, Milwaukee Hawks
- All-NBA First Team:
- Neil Johnston, Philadelphia Warriors
- Dolph Schayes, Syracuse Nationals
- Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics
- Bob Pettit, Milwaukee Hawks
- Larry Foust, Fort Wayne Pistons
- All-NBA Second Team:
- Harry Gallatin, New York Knicks
- Slater Martin, Minneapolis Lakers
- Vern Mikkelsen, Minneapolis Lakers
- Paul Seymour, Syracuse Nationals
- Bill Sharman, Boston Celtics
References
- 1954–55 NBA Season Summary basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 10, 2010
Info: Wikipedia Source
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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