The 1947–48 New York Knickerbockers season was the second season for the team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which later merged with the National Basketball League to become the National Basketball Association. The Knickerbockers 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 Knickerbockers selected Dick Holub in the first round, with the fifth overall pick. The Knickerbockers also selected Wataru Misaka, 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. Misaka was cut after playing only three games with the team. 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. 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.
In game one of the first round of the playoffs, held in Baltimore, the Bullets defeated the Knickerbockers 85–81 behind a 34-point performance by Connie Simmons. The Knickerbockers 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. The win forced a decisive third game back in Baltimore, which the Knickerbockers lost 84–77. Simmons led the Bullets with 22 points, while Chick Reiser added 21. The Bullets went on to win the 1948 BAA Finals.
Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 5 Dick Holub C Long Island – – Andy Duncan F/C William & Mary – – Ray Evans – Kansas – – Ed Golub – – – – Garland Head – Texas Tech – – Ron Livingston – Saint Mary's – – Dan Miller – Saint Louis – – Wataru Misaka G Utah – – Carl Reichert – Findlay – – Tom Tomlinson – Southern Methodist
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
Game log # Date Opponent Score High points Record 1 November 13 Washington W 80–65 Bud Palmer (21) 1–0 2 November 15 St. Louis W 73–67 Dick Holub (19) 2–0 3 November 18 @ Providence W 87–69 Stan Stutz (27) 3–0 4 November 19 Chicago L 63–81 Bud Palmer (16) 3–1 5 November 20 @ Baltimore L 56–68 Dick Holub (24) 3–2 6 November 22 Philadelphia L 78–83 Bud Palmer (30) 3–3 7 November 25 @ Boston W 91–75 Dick Holub (19) 4–3 8 November 26 Boston L 63–65 Bud Palmer (16) 4–4 9 November 27 @ Philadelphia W 81–59 Leo Gottlieb (20) 5–4 10 December 1 Washington L 62–70 Tommy Byrnes (15) 5–5 11 December 6 @ Providence W 114–85 Carl Braun (47) 6–5 12 December 8 St. Louis W 71–56 Bud Palmer (19) 7–5 13 December 10 @ Boston W 79–75 Carl Braun (16) 8–5 14 December 13 @ Baltimore W 80–66 Bud Palmer (18) 9–5 15 December 15 Philadelphia L 71–74 Carl Braun (25) 9–6 16 December 18 @ Philadelphia W 99–71 Tommy Byrnes (25) 10–6 17 December 20 Boston W 70–58 Dick Holub (17) 11–6 18 December 23 @ Providence L 58–66 Stan Stutz (17) 11–7 19 December 25 Providence W 89–75 Tommy Byrnes (20) 12–7 20 December 27 Chicago L 70–79 Carl Braun (16) 12–8 21 January 3 Baltimore L 70–79 Dick Holub (16) 12–9 22 January 7 Chicago L 74–79 Bud Palmer (21) 12–10 23 January 11 @ Chicago L 86–99 Dick Holub (22) 12–11 24 January 15 @ St. Louis W 59–55 Dick Holub (24) 13–11 25 January 17 @ Washington L 62–78 Palmer, Tanenbaum (15) 13–12 26 January 19 Philadelphia L 57–63 Carl Braun (24) 13–13 27 January 23 @ Boston W 74–58 Sid Tanenbaum (21) 14–13 28 January 24 Baltimore L 58–72 Sid Tanenbaum (14) 14–14 29 January 28 Providence W 75–73 Dick Holub (16) 15–14 30 January 29 @ Philadelphia W 66–60 Braun, Knorek, Tanenbaum (13) 16–14 31 January 31 Boston W 66–64 Tommy Byrnes (17) 17–14 32 February 3 @ Providence W 78–62 Stan Stutz (20) 18–14 33 February 4 Providence W 108–69 Carl Braun (24) 19–14 34 February 6 @ Boston W 68–57 Carl Braun (15) 20–14 35 February 8 Boston W 80–68 Carl Braun (15) 21–14 36 February 11 Providence W 86–63 Carl Braun (32) 22–14 37 February 12 @ Baltimore L 86–96 Kuka, Tanenbaum (14) 22–15 38 February 14 Philadelphia W 78–47 Bud Palmer (30) 23–15 39 February 18 @ Washington W 79–75 Sid Tanenbaum (19) 24–15 40 February 19 @ Chicago L 74–82 Carl Braun (23) 24–16 41 February 22 @ St. Louis L 71–80 Sid Tanenbaum (23) 24–17 42 February 28 Baltimore L 56–78 Stan Stutz (13) 24–18 43 March 2 @ Philadelphia L 66–76 Bud Palmer (15) 24–19 44 March 6 Washington W 69–64 (OT) Bud Palmer (18) 25–19 45 March 10 St. Louis L 73–82 Bud Palmer (25) 25–20 46 March 13 @ Chicago L 51–58 Bud Palmer (14) 25–21 47 March 18 @ St. Louis W 91–80 Paul Noel (19) 26–21 48 March 20 @ Washington L 82–103 Bud Palmer (23) 26–22
Playoffs
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | March 27 | @ Baltimore | L 81–85 | Bud Palmer (21) | Baltimore Coliseum | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | March 28 | Baltimore | W 79–69 | Bud Palmer (18) | Madison Square Garden III | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | April 1 | @ Baltimore | L 77–84 | Sid Tanenbaum (18) | Baltimore Coliseum | 1–2
Awards and records Carl Braun, All-BAA Second Team
Transactions
Free agency Additions Player Signed Former team Carl Braun — Colgate Raiders Ray Kuka — Montana State Bobcats Paul Noel — Kentucky Wildcats Sid Tanenbaum — NYU Violets
Subtractions Player Reason left New team Aud Brindley — — Bob Cluggish — — Bob Fitzgerald Signed contract Syracuse Nationals Frido Frey Signed contract Paterson Crescents Frank Mangiapane Signed contract Paterson Crescents Ossie Schectman Signed contract Paterson Crescents
References