1947–48 Boston Celtics season

The 1947–48 Boston Celtics season was the second season of the Boston Celtics in the Basketball Association of America (BAA/NBA).^[1] This was the first season in which the Celtics qualified for the playoffs, where they lost in the BAA Quarterfinals to the Chicago Stags.

1947–48 Boston Celtics season
Head coach	Honey Russell
Owners	Walter A. Brown
Arena	Boston Arena Boston Garden
Results
Record	20–28 (.417)
Place	Division: 3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	BAA Quarterfinals (lost to Stags 1–2)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Radio	WMEX
< 1946–47 1948–49 >

Draft picks

Main article: 1947 BAA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	3	Bulbs Ehlers	G/F	United States	Purdue
–	–	Bob Alemeida	–	United States	–
–	–	Hank Biasatti	G	Italy  Canada	Long Island
–	–	Johnny Ezersky	G/F	United States	Rhode Island State
–	–	George Felt	–	United States	Northwestern
–	–	Jack Hewson	F/C	United States	Temple
–	–	John Kelly	–	United States	Notre Dame
–	–	George Petrovick	–	United States	–
–	–	Gene Stump	G/F	United States	DePaul

Roster

1947–48 Boston Celtics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From F/C 10 Mike Bloom 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1915-01-14 Temple F/C 11 Chuck Connors 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1921-04-10 Seton Hall G/F 14 Bulbs Ehlers 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 1923-03-10 Purdue G 15–21 Jack Garfinkel 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1918-06-13 St. John's G 5 Cecil Hankins 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-01-06 Oklahoma State F/C 17 Jack Hewson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1924-09-17 Temple G 3 Charlie Hoefer 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 158 lb (72 kg) 1917-07-12 Queens College G/F 17 John Janisch 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1920-03-15 Valparaiso G 4 Saul Mariaschin 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1924-09-01 Harvard G 6 George Munroe 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1922-01-05 Dartmouth G 10–11 Stan Noszka 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1920-09-09 Duquesne G/F 7–9 Mel Riebe 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1916-07-12 Wooster C 22 Ed Sadowski 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1917-07-11 Seton Hall F 12 Art Spector 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1918-03-18 Villanova G/F 13 Gene Stump 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1923-11-13 DePaul

Head coach Honey Russell Assistant(s) Danny Silva Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Season standings

# Eastern Division v t e Team W L PCT GB 1 x-Philadelphia Warriors 27 21 .563 – 2 x-New York Knicks 26 22 .542 1 3 x-Boston Celtics 20 28 .417 7 4 Providence Steamrollers 6 42 .125 21

Record vs. opponents

1947–48 BAA Records
Team	BAL	BOS	CHI	NYK	PHI	PRO	STL	WAS
Baltimore	—	5–1	5–3	5–1	2–4	6–0	3–5	2–6
Boston	1–5	—	3–3	1–7	4–4	6–2	2–4	3–3
Chicago	3–5	3–3	—	6–0	4–2	4–2	3–5	5–3
New York	1–5	7–1	0–6	—	4–4	7–1	4–2	3–3
Philadelphia	4–2	4–4	2-4	1–7	—	8–0	3–3	2–4
Providence	0–6	2–6	2–4	1–7	0–8	—	0–6	1–5
St. Louis	5–3	4–2	5–3	2–4	3–3	6–0	—	4–4
Washington	6–2	3–3	3–5	3–3	4–2	5–1	4–4	—

Game log

#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	November 13	@ Baltimore	74–85	Sadowski, Simmons (16)	0–1
2	November 14	Philadelphia	74–79 (OT)	Ed Sadowski (27)	0–2
3	November 15	@ Washington	73–69	Ed Sadowski (14)	1–2
4	November 18	St. Louis	50–65	Ed Sadowski (14)	1–3
5	November 20	@ Philadelphia	67–57	Ed Sadowski (18)	2–3
6	November 21	Baltimore	73–89	Ed Sadowski (18)	2–4
7	November 22	@ Providence	65–62	Cecil Hankins (12)	3–4
8	November 25	New York	75–91	Ed Sadowski (15)	3–5
9	November 26	@ New York	65–63	Ed Sadowski (19)	4–5
10	November 28	Washington	92–83	Ed Sadowski (22)	5–5
11	December 2	Baltimore	69–77 (OT)	Ed Sadowski (18)	5–6
12	December 5	Providence	73–69	Ed Sadowski (24)	6–6
13	December 10	New York	75–79	Ed Sadowski (25)	6–7
14	December 12	Philadelphia	69–67	Mel Riebe (22)	7–7
15	December 17	Providence	67–66	Mel Riebe (17)	8–7
16	December 19	St. Louis	78–70	Ed Sadowski (30)	9–7
17	December 20	@ New York	58–70	Saul Mariaschin (20)	9–8
18	December 23	Chicago	75–83	Ed Sadowski (22)	9–9
19	December 27	@ Providence	74–63	Mel Riebe (15)	10–9
20	December 30	Philadelphia	70–64	Ed Sadowski (28)	11–9
21	January 1	@ St. Louis	48–58	Bulbs Ehlers (12)	11–10
22	January 3	@ Washington	60–95	Connie Simmons (12)	11–11
23	January 10	@ Providence	57–70	Ed Sadowski (19)	11–12
24	January 11	Washington	84–56	Mel Riebe (21)	12–12
25	January 16	Chicago	75–61	Ed Sadowski (23)	13–12
26	January 18	@ Chicago	48–72	Ed Sadowski (11)	13–13
27	January 22	@ Philadelphia	61–54	Noszka, Riebe, Sadowski (11)	14–13
28	January 23	New York	58–74	Mel Riebe (18)	14–14
29	January 25	@ St. Louis	54–72	Ed Sadowski (18)	14–15
30	January 27	Philadelphia	68–77	Ed Sadowski (21)	14–16
31	January 30	Providence	69–79	Ed Sadowski (22)	14–17
32	January 31	@ New York	64–66	Ed Sadowski (28)	14–18
33	February 6	New York	57–68	Ed Sadowski (18)	14–19
34	February 8	@ New York	68–80	Ed Sadowski (30)	14–20
35	February 12	@ Philadelphia	60–69	Ed Sadowski (20)	14–21
36	February 13	Providence	79–73	Ed Sadowski (23)	15–21
37	February 14	@ Washington	58–72	Ed Sadowski (16)	15–22
38	February 19	@ Baltimore	76–79 (OT)	Ed Sadowski (33)	15–23
39	February 22	Chicago	77–97	Mel Riebe (20)	15–24
40	February 26	@ St. Louis	92–94 (2OT)	Ed Sadowski (34)	15–25
41	February 27	@ Chicago	83–69	Ehlers, Sadowski (22)	16–25
42	February 29	Baltimore	65–62	Ed Sadowski (20)	17–25
43	March 4	@ Philadelphia	62–82	Ed Sadowski (16)	17–26
44	March 5	St. Louis	71–68	Ed Sadowski (32)	18–26
45	March 6	@ Baltimore	68–81	Mike Bloom (14)	18–27
46	March 13	@ Providence	86–64	Mel Riebe (22)	19–27
47	March 16	Washington	62–76	Ed Sadowski (18)	19–28
48	March 18	@ Chicago	77–72	Ed Sadowski (23)	20–28

Playoffs

1948 playoff game log
First Round: 1–2 (home: 1–2; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points Location Series 1 March 28 Chicago L 72–79 Sadowski, Riebe (22) Boston Garden 0–1 2 March 31 Chicago W 81–77 Saul Mariaschin (17) Boston Garden 1–1 3 April 2 Chicago L 74–81 Ed Sadowski (26) Boston Garden 1–2
1948 schedule

Awards and records

• Ed Sadowski, All-NBA First Team

Transactions

Main article: List of 1947–48 BAA season transactions

Trades

April 29, 1947	To Boston Celtics Cecil Hankins[2]	To St. Louis Bombers Wyndol Gray
October 27, 1947	To Boston Celtics George Munroe[3] Cash	To St. Louis Bombers John Abramovic
February 9, 1948	To Boston Celtics Mike Bloom[3]	To Baltimore Bullets Connie Simmons

Free agency

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
John Janisch		Detroit Falcons
Saul Mariaschin		Harvard Crimson
Stan Noszka		Pittsburgh Ironmen
Mel Riebe		Cleveland Rebels
Ed Sadowski		Cleveland Rebels

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	New team
Al Brightman	Signed contract	Seattle Athletics
Hal Crisler	Retired from basketball to pursue career in American football
Bob Duffy
Don Eliason
Warren Fenley
Mel Hirsch
Jerry Kelly	Signed contract	Providence Steamrollers
Harold Kottman	Signed contract	St. Paul Saints
Dick Murphy	Signed contract	Elizabeth Braves
John Simmons	Signed contract	Kansas City Blues
Virgil Vaughn