1954–55 Fort Wayne Pistons season
Division champions
Head coachCharles Eckman
ArenaWar Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record43–29 (.597)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Western)
Playoff finishNBA Finals
(eliminated 3–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

The 1954–55 Fort Wayne Pistons season was the seventh season for the Pistons in the National Basketball Association (NBA)[1] and 14th season as a franchise.

With new coach and former referee Charley Eckman, the Pistons finished 43-29 (.597), first in the NBA Western Division. In the Western Division Finals, the Pistons eliminated the Minneapolis Lakers 3-1 in a best-of-five series to reach the NBA Finals. In the 7-game series with the Syracuse Nationals, the teams held home court advantage, although Fort Wayne would play "at home" in Indianapolis because Fort Wayne arena management did not plan for the Pistons to make the NBA Finals, and the arena was booked for a bowling conference after March 4.[2]

In the 7th game in Syracuse, Syracuse's George King made a free throw with 12 seconds left to put the Nationals up 92–91. King then stole the ball from Fort Wayne's Andy Phillip with three seconds remaining to clinch the victory for Syracuse.[3][4]

Rumors about the finish continue with suggestions that some Fort Wayne players conspired with gamblers to throw the series to Syracuse.[5] In the 7th game, Fort Wayne led Syracuse 41–24 early in the second quarter, then allowed the Nationals to rally to win the game.[6] Andy Phillip, who turned the ball over with three seconds left in the game, was believed by at least one of his teammates, George Yardley, to have thrown the game. "There were always unwholesome implications about that ball game", Yardley would later comment.[7]

However, Phillip may not have acted alone. Other Pistons players were strongly believed to have thrown games during the 1954 and 1955 NBA seasons, with Piston Jack Molinas banned from the league for gambling the year prior.[8] In fact, Yardley himself turned the ball over to Syracuse with a palming violation with 18 seconds remaining in Game 7.[9] The foul that gave Syracuse its winning free throw, meanwhile, was committed by Frankie Brian.[9] The NBA did not return to the 2–3–2 format until 1985.[10][11]

The team was led on the season by a double-double from center Larry Foust (17.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, NBA All-Star), guard Andy Phillip (9.6 ppg, 7.7 apg, NBA All-Star) and forward George Yardley (17.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg, NBA All-Star).

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Fort Wayne Pistons4329.597–21–69–1413–928–8
x-Minneapolis Lakers4032.556318–610–1412–1218–18
x-Rochester Royals2943.4031417–114–198–1314–22
Milwaukee Hawks2646.361176–119–1611–1914–22
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1954-55 NBA Records
Team BOS FWP MIL MIN NYK PHI ROC SYR
Boston —4–56–33–66–67–54–56–6
Fort Wayne 5–4—11–19–32–76–38–42–7
Milwaukee 3–61–11—5–73–64–56–64–5
Minneapolis 6–33–97–5—4–56–38–46–3
New York 6–67–26–35–4—5–75–44–8
Philadelphia 5–73–65–43–67–5—5–45–7
Rochester 5–44–86–64–84–54–5—2–7
Syracuse 6–67–25–43–68–47–57–2—

Game log

1954–55 Game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 30@ Milwaukee91–72Hutchins, Yardley, Zaslofsky (14)1–0
2October 31Boston86–90Mel Hutchins (22)2–0
3November 6New York83–90Don Meineke (16)3–0
4November 7Rochester84–109George Yardley (22)4–0
5November 11Syracuse88–86Larry Foust (23)4–1
6November 13@ Rochester103–98Mel Hutchins (22)5–1
7November 14Milwaukee91–93Andy Phillip (23)6–1
8November 18@ Syracuse82–91Larry Foust (30)6–2
9November 20@ Philadelphia82–99Don Meineke (15)6–3
10November 21Rochester78–89Larry Foust (23)7–3
11November 24N Philadelphia91–87Mel Hutchins (20)7–4
12November 27Minneapolis81–97Mel Hutchins (22)8–4
13November 28Milwaukee81–96George Yardley (17)9–4
14November 30N Minneapolis90–92George Yardley (29)10–4
15December 1@ Rochester101–96 (OT)Larry Foust (37)11–4
16December 2Boston98–116George Yardley (32)12–4
17December 4@ New York90–88Larry Foust (24)13–4
18December 5Rochester97–96Larry Foust (21)13–5
19December 7N Milwaukee85–101George Yardley (29)14–5
20December 8N Milwaukee68–92Max Zaslofsky (17)15–5
21December 12Boston99–100Larry Foust (28)16–5
22December 15N Philadelphia99–90George Yardley (24)16–6
23December 18@ Rochester87–86Andy Phillip (24)17–6
24December 19Milwaukee82–87Dick Rosenthal (22)18–6
25December 23N Philadelphia92–82George Yardley (22)19–6
26December 25@ Rochester73–80George Yardley (17)19–7
27December 26Philadelphia96–109Frank Brian (31)20–7
28December 30N Minneapolis76–93George Yardley (26)21–7
29December 31Minneapolis103–91George Yardley (22)21–8
30January 2Philadelphia66–89George Yardley (24)22–8
31January 4N Minneapolis92–93George Yardley (28)23–8
32January 5N Milwaukee97–92Max Zaslofsky (16)23–9
33January 6N Rochester83–90Mel Hutchins (19)24–9
34January 9Minneapolis86–89George Yardley (29)25–9
35January 11Boston119–110Larry Foust (33)25–10
36January 13@ Syracuse83–100Bob Houbregs (14)25–11
37January 14N New York97–83George Yardley (20)25–12
38January 15@ New York87–106Frank Brian (17)25–13
39January 16Milwaukee78–89George Yardley (19)26–13
40January 19N Boston105–84George Yardley (29)27–13
41January 22@ Milwaukee85–83Larry Foust (18)28–13
42January 23Rochester84–105Dick Rosenthal (18)29–13
43January 25N Syracuse66–69Frank Brian (14)30–13
44January 26@ Boston90–99Andy Phillip (15)30–14
45January 27@ Syracuse79–94Mel Hutchins (16)30–15
46January 29@ Minneapolis91–100Larry Foust (23)30–16
47January 30Minneapolis92–99Larry Foust (34)31–16
48January 31N New York91–84Frank Brian (27)31–17
49February 2@ Rochester74–84Frank Brian (22)31–18
50February 3Syracuse85–104Larry Foust (22)32–18
51February 5@ Philadelphia96–88Larry Foust (25)33–18
52February 6Rochester75–92George Yardley (19)34–18
53February 10Philadelphia97–105Max Zaslofsky (19)35–18
54February 11N Rochester91–83Foust, Yardley (16)35–19
55February 12@ New York82–88Larry Foust (26)35–20
56February 13Milwaukee78–90Larry Foust (19)36–20
57February 14N New York92–88Larry Foust (19)36–21
58February 17N New York93–86Andy Phillip (14)36–22
59February 19@ Minneapolis92–98George Yardley (28)36–23
60February 20Milwaukee87–96Larry Foust (22)37–23
61February 23N Minneapolis97–120Larry Foust (26)38–23
62February 24N Milwaukee85–95Mel Hutchins (20)39–23
63February 26@ Minneapolis90–89Larry Foust (24)40–23
64February 27New York95–83Larry Foust (22)40–24
65February 28N Minneapolis88–90Andy Phillip (19)41–24
66March 1N Boston118–98Max Zaslofsky (18)42–24
67March 2N Syracuse103–90George Yardley (16)42–25
68March 3Syracuse83–81Larry Foust (22)42–26
69March 6@ Boston104–108George Yardley (32)42–27
70March 7@ Boston91–110Don Meineke (23)42–28
71March 10N Philadelphia91–93 (OT)George Yardley (27)43–28
72March 12@ Syracuse92–112George Yardley (24)43–29

Playoffs

1955 playoff game log
Division Finals: 3–1 (home: 2–0; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsLocationSeries
1 March 20 Minneapolis W 96–79 Larry Foust (15) North Side Gymnasium 1–0
2 March 22 Minneapolis W 98–97 (OT) Mel Hutchins (20) Butler Fieldhouse 2–0
3 March 23 @ Minneapolis L 91–99 (OT) George Yardley (25) Minneapolis Auditorium 2–1
4 March 27 @ Minneapolis W 105–96 Rosenthal, Hutchins (21) Minneapolis Auditorium 3–1
NBA Finals: 3–4 (home: 3–0; road: 0–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 March 31 @ Syracuse L 82–86 Larry Foust (26) — Onondaga War Memorial
7,500		 0–1
2 April 2 @ Syracuse L 84–87 George Yardley (21) — Onondaga War Memorial
5,845		 0–2
3 April 3 Syracuse W 96–89 Mel Hutchins (23) — Butler Fieldhouse
3,200		 1–2
4 April 5 Syracuse W 109–102 Frankie Brian (18) — Butler Fieldhouse
2,611		 2–2
5 April 7 Syracuse W 74–71 George Yardley (16) — Butler Fieldhouse
4,110		 3–2
6 April 9 @ Syracuse L 104–109 George Yardley (31) — Onondaga War Memorial
4,997		 3–3
7 April 10 @ Syracuse L 91–92 Larry Foust (24) Andy Phillip (10) Onondaga War Memorial
6,697		 3–4
1955 schedule

Awards and records

References

  1. ↑ 1954-55 Fort Wayne Pistons
  2. ↑ "Nats Win First Title of Shot-Clock Era", NBA.com
  3. ↑ "City Hails Nats' World Title Triumph", Syracuse Herald Journal, April 11, 1955, pp. 1, 45.
  4. ↑ "Chevette to Corvette No. 9: The 1954-55 Fort Wayne Pistons". December 14, 2011.
  5. ↑ The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball. By Charley Rosen. p. 154. 2001 Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1-58322-268-5
  6. ↑ "Syracuse Five Defeats Pistons in N.B.A. Play-Off Final, 92-91", The New York Times, April 11, 1955, p. 31.
  7. ↑ Rosen, p. 154.
  8. ↑ Rosen, pp. 108-154.
  9. 1 2 Syracuse Herald Journal, April 11, 1955, p. 45.
  10. ↑ "The 100 Greatest Playoff Series in NBA History". Bleacher Report.
  11. ↑ "On This Date in Sports April 10, 1955: NBA Finals Thriller".
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