1948–49 Washington Capitols season

The 1948–49 BAA season was the Capitols' 3rd season in the NBA/BAA.[1] They became the first team to win 15 straight games to start the season, an NBA record, which was since tied 45 years later by the Houston Rockets in 1993 before Golden State Warriors surpassed it in 2015. The Cleveland Cavaliers would later tie this mark as well in 2024.

1948–49 Washington Capitols season
Division champions
Head coachRed Auerbach
ArenaWashington Coliseum
Results
Record38–22 (.633)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishBAA Finals
(eliminated 2-4)

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
RadioWTOP
< 1947–48 1949–50 >

Draft

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Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 12 Jack Nichols F/C   United States Washington
Fred Bartell   United States Oregon
Ed Hughes   United States San Jose State
Thorton Jenkins   United States Missouri
Leo Katkaveck G   United States NC State
C. T. Parker   United States Louisiana Tech
Jack Parkinson G   United States Kentucky
Don Walker   United States Sam Houston State
Al Williams   United States Arkansas

Roster

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Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From
G/F 10 Feerick, Bob 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1920-01-02 Santa Clara
F/C 11 Hermsen, Kleggie 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1923-03-12 Minnesota
G 29 Hertzberg, Sonny 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-07-29 CCNY
G 23 Katkaveck, Leo 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1923-04-17 NC State
SF 17 McKinney, Bones 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1919-01-01 North Carolina
PF 15 Nichols, Jack 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) 1926-04-09 Washington
F 16 Norlander, Johnny 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1921-03-05 Hamline
G/F 13 O'Keefe, Dick 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1923-09-29 Santa Clara
G/F 22 Schulz, Dick 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 1917-01-03 Wisconsin
PG 20 Scolari, Fred 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1922-03-01 San Francisco
F/C 15 Toomay, Jack 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1922-08-09 Pacific
G/F 18 Zunic, Matt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1919-12-19 George Washington
Head coach

Red Auerbach


Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  •   Injured

Roster

Regular season

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Season standings

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#
Team W L PCT GB
1 x-Washington Capitols 38 22 .633
2 x-New York Knicks 32 28 .533 6
3 x-Baltimore Bullets 29 31 .483 9
4 x-Philadelphia Warriors 28 32 .467 10
5 Boston Celtics 25 35 .417 13
6 Providence Steamrollers 12 48 .200 26

Record vs. opponents

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1948–49 BAA records
Team BAL BOS CHI FWP IND MIN NYK PHI PRO ROC STL WAS
Baltimore 4–2 1–4 4–1 5–0 1–4 2–4 4–2 2–4 1–4 2–3 3–3
Boston 2–4 0–5 4–1 3–2 2–3 3–3 3–3 3–3 1–4 3–2 1–5
Chicago 4–1 5–0 4–2 5–1 2–4 3–2 2–3 5–0 2–4 3–3 3–2
Fort Wayne 1–4 1–4 2–4 3–3 2–4 1–4 5–0 4–1 0–6 1–4 2–3
Indianapolis 0–5 2–3 1-5 3–3 0–6 1–4 1–4 4–1 1–5 3–3 2–3
Minneapolis 4–1 3–2 4–2 4–2 6–0 4–1 4–1 5–0 4–2 4–2 2–3
New York 4–2 3–3 2–3 4–1 4–1 1–4 2–4 5–1 1–4 3–2 2–3
Philadelphia 2–4 3–3 3–2 0–5 4–1 1–4 4–2 6–0 0–5 3–2 2–4
Providence 4–2 3–3 0–5 1–4 1–4 0–5 1–5 0–6 2–3 0–5 0–6
Rochester 4–1 4–1 4–2 6–0 5–1 2–4 4–1 5–0 3–2 6–0 2–3
St. Louis 3–2 2–3 3–3 4–1 3–3 2–4 2–3 2–3 5–0 0–6 2–3
Washington 3–3 5–1 2–3 3–2 3–2 3–2 3–2 4–2 6–0 3–2 3–2

Game log

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# Date Opponent Score High points Record
1 November 3 Philadelphia 77–70 Hermsen, McKinney (17) 1–0
2 November 4 @ Providence 99–95 (3OT) Bob Feerick (22) 2–0
3 November 6 Minneapolis 67–62 Bones McKinney (24) 3–0
4 November 10 Rochester 73–66 Fred Scolari (12) 4–0
5 November 11 @ Baltimore 70–68 Bones McKinney (15) 5–0
6 November 13 Fort Wayne 80–71 Kleggie Hermsen (20) 6–0
7 November 17 @ New York 73–62 Hermsen, Hertzberg (12) 7–0
8 November 20 Boston 90–75 Kleggie Hermsen (15) 8–0
9 November 21 @ Rochester 80–77 Bob Feerick (19) 9–0
10 November 23 @ Boston 71–68 Kleggie Hermsen (16) 10–0
11 November 25 @ Philadelphia 81–73 Bones McKinney (18) 11–0
12 November 27 Indianapolis 94–76 McKinney, Scolari (19) 12–0
13 December 1 Providence 75–63 Feerick, McKinney (16) 13–0
14 December 2 @ Providence 66–61 Kleggie Hermsen (15) 14–0
15 December 4 Baltimore 83–82 Bones McKinney (21) 15–0
16 December 7 @ Indianapolis 78–94 Bones McKinney (17) 15–1
17 December 8 @ Minneapolis 94–83 Bones McKinney (20) 16–1
18 December 10 vs St. Louis 83–88 (OT) Sidney Hertzberg (21) 16–2
19 December 11 St. Louis 87–63 Feerick, Hertzberg (14) 17–2
20 December 15 Philadelphia 92–81 Bones McKinney (22) 18–2
21 December 18 Boston 69–60 Bones McKinney (21) 19–2
22 December 22 Providence 102–77 Bob Feerick (24) 20–2
23 December 25 Fort Wayne 88–74 Bob Feerick (20) 21–2
24 December 26 @ Fort Wayne 73–91 Kleggie Hermsen (19) 21–3
25 December 29 @ Minneapolis 68–91 Bones McKinney (20) 21–4
26 December 30 @ St. Louis 81–68 Bob Feerick (20) 22–4
27 January 1 Chicago 92–90 Bob Feerick (22) 23–4
28 January 4 @ Philadelphia 84–78 Leo Katkaveck (15) 24–4
29 January 5 Baltimore 68–88 Hermsen, Norlander, Schulz (10) 24–5
30 January 8 Indianapolis 89–81 Fred Scolari (15) 25–5
31 January 10 @ Boston 94–83 Fred Scolari (21) 26–5
32 January 12 @ Baltimore 92–106 Bob Feerick (17) 26–6
33 January 15 New York 75–73 Fred Scolari (17) 27–6
34 January 16 @ Chicago 70–92 Jack Nichols (15) 27–7
35 January 20 @ Providence 88–81 Bones McKinney (20) 28–7
36 January 22 Boston 95–64 Bones McKinney (17) 29–7
37 January 23 @ New York 97–93 Bones McKinney (26) 30–7
38 January 26 @ Baltimore 86–96 Fred Scolari (18) 30–8
39 January 28 @ Boston 90–91 Fred Scolari (17) 30–9
40 January 30 @ Minneapolis 79–84 Bob Feerick (19) 30–10
41 February 1 @ Indianapolis 69–83 Fred Scolari (20) 30–11
42 February 2 Indianapolis 83–57 Kleggie Hermsen (33) 31–11
43 February 3 @ St. Louis 74–65 Kleggie Hermsen (27) 32–11
44 February 5 New York 73–83 Jack Nichols (15) 32–12
45 February 6 @ Fort Wayne 72–82 Bones McKinney (19) 32–13
46 February 9 Rochester 99–94 (2OT) McKinney, Scolari (20) 33–13
47 February 12 Philadelphia 88–91 Bob Feerick (17) 33–14
48 February 15 @ Rochester 79–91 Jack Nichols (17) 33–15
49 February 19 Baltimore 92–88 Jack Nichols (18) 34–15
50 February 23 Providence 100–88 Jack Nichols (24) 35–15
51 February 26 Chicago 90–103 Feerick, McKinney, Norlander (15) 35–16
52 February 28 @ Chicago 67–57 Jack Nichols (13) 36–16
53 March 1 @ Rochester 64–67 Jack Nichols (14) 36–17
54 March 2 St. Louis 75–82 Fred Scolari (14) 36–18
55 March 5 Chicago 95–106 Bob Feerick (21) 36–19
56 March 9 @ New York 74–90 Jack Nichols (25) 36–20
57 March 12 Fort Wayne 87–60 Jack Nichols (29) 37–20
58 March 16 Minneapolis 85–72 Jack Nichols (17) 38–20
59 March 17 @ Philadelphia 81–84 Kleggie Hermsen (26) 38–21
60 March 19 New York 70–82 Bones McKinney (18) 38–22

Playoffs

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East Division Semifinals

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(1) Washington Capitols vs. (4) Philadelphia Warriors: Capitols win series 2-0

  • Game 1 @ Washington: Washington 92, Philadelphia 70
  • Game 2 @ Philadelphia: Washington 80, Philadelphia 78

Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the Capitols and Warriors.

East Division Finals

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(1) Washington Capitols vs. (2) New York Knicks: Capitols win series 2-1

  • Game 1 @ Washington: Washington 77, New York 71
  • Game 2 @ New York: New York 86, Washington 84 (OT)
  • Game 3 @ Washington: Washington 84, New York 76

Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the Capitols and Knicks.

BAA Finals

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(E1) Washington Capitols vs. (W2) Minneapolis Lakers: Lakers win series 4-2

  • Game 1 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 88, Washington 84
  • Game 2 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 76, Washington 62
  • Game 3 @ Washington: Minneapolis 94, Washington 74
  • Game 4 @ Washington: Washington 83, Minneapolis 71
  • Game 5 @ Washington: Washington 74, Minneapolis 65
  • Game 6 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 77, Washington 56

Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the Capitols and Lakers.

Awards and records

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References

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