| ||||||||||
| Dates: | April 4–13 | |||||||||
| Eastern Finals: | Capitols defeated Knicks, 2–1 | |||||||||
| Western Finals: | Lakers defeated Royals, 2–0 | |||||||||
| BAA Finals | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ← 1948 | ||||||||||
| 1950 → | ||||||||||
The 1949 BAA Finals was the championship round following the Basketball Association of America (BAA)'s 1948–49 season, its third and last. Later that year, the BAA and National Basketball League merged to create the National Basketball Association (NBA).
6'10" George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers proved dominant. They routed the Washington Capitols in six games. This was the first of several successive NBA titles for the Lakers. It was the beginning of the George Mikan and the Lakers Dynasty. As for the Capitols, they would never reach the Finals again, but their coach in Red Auerbach would do so several times over the next two decades, and this represented his only loss in a Final until 1958 (Auerbach would win nine of his eleven appearances in a Final); this would be the first of six overall finals that featured Auerbach against the Lakers, for which he beat them five times, including in 1959 when he beat Kundla in his last game as head coach of the Lakers.
The six games of the final series were played in ten days – Monday, April 4, to Wednesday, April 13 – with one day off except after game three, the first of three played in Washington (Minneapolis led 3–0). Prior to its start, however, Minneapolis had been idle for five days, having qualified on the preceding Tuesday; Washington idle for only one day, having qualified on Saturday. The entire playoff tournament extended 23 days. This is the earliest NBA championship with a living player, Arnie Ferrin.
1949 BAA Playoffs[]
| Minneapolis Lakers (Western Division Champion) | Washington Capitols (Eastern Division Champion) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45–15 (.750)
1st Western, 6th Overall |
Regular season | 38–22 (.633)
1st Eastern, 12th Overall | ||
| Defeated the (3) Chicago Stags, 2–0 | Division Semifinals | Defeated the (4) Philadelphia Warriors, 2–0 | ||
| Defeated the (1) Rochester Royals, 2–0 | Division Finals | Defeated the (2) New York Knicks, 2–1 | ||
Series summary[]
| Game | Date | Away Team | Result | Home Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | April 4 | Washington | 84–88 | Minneapolis |
| Game 2 | April 6 | Washington | 62–76 | Minneapolis |
| Game 3 | April 8 | Minneapolis | 94–74 | Washington |
| Game 4 | April 9 | Minneapolis | 71–83 | Washington |
| Game 5 | April 11 | Minneapolis | 65–74 | Washington |
| Game 6 | April 13 | Washington | 56–77 | Minneapolis |
| Preceded by 1948 |
BAA Finals 1949 |
Succeeded by 1950 |