1948–49 Washington Capitols season

1948–49 Washington Capitols season
Division champions
Head coach	Red Auerbach
Arena	Washington Coliseum
Results
Record	38–22 (.633)
Place	Division: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	BAA Finals (eliminated 2-4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	WTOP

The 1948–49 BAA season was the Capitols' 3rd season in the NBA/BAA. 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.

Draft

Main article: 1948 BAA draft

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

1948–49 Washington Capitols roster

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

Season standings

#	Eastern Division
	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

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

#	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

East Division Semifinals

(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

(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

Main article: 1949 BAA Finals

(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

• Bob Feerick, All-NBA Second Team
• Bones McKinney, All-NBA Second Team