The First Season: Game 21

65 years ago, a new league, the Basketball Association of America (eventually to become the National Basketball Association), appeared on the hoops firmament. Numbering among the league's charter membership were the Philadelphia Warriors, a franchise that would move to San Francisco in 1962, and then to Oakland in 1971, to become the Golden State Warriors we know and love. This is the story of their first season.

December 30, 1946

Just four days ago, the Warriors had beaten the Pittsburgh Ironmen at home, 53-46, in a game that was probably closer than it should have been. Now, the Warriors traveled to Pittsburgh for the rematch in the last game of a three-game road trip beset with travel difficulties. Nothing in the newspaper accounts of the game suggest any trouble getting out of St Louis, but the Warriors were no doubt ready for some home cooking and rest. First, though, they had to take on the Ironmen, who hadn't played since their trip to Philadelphia and were looking forward to another shot at their cross-state rivals.

Fatigue showed in the Warriors' game early on, as they had to struggle to keep up. The Ironmen led 14-13 after one and 34-29 at halftime. Pittsburgh coach Paul Birch employed an aggressive defense against Joe Fulks to limit the league scoring leader's opportunities, which slowed the Philadelphia offense some, but Fulks made 11 of 12 free throws on the night, mitigating the strategy's impact. Angelo Musi and Howie Dallmar found themselves with more scoring chances while Fulks was busy drawing whistles.

Despite having a tired team, Warriors coach Eddie Gottlieb kept a very short bench, using only six players the entire game in an effort to eke out a win, and in the third quarter Musi netted a pair of field goals to give Philadelphia their first lead, 49-47. They managed to hang onto the lead until, with two minutes left in the game, a pair of Ironmen free throws put Pittsburgh back on top 60-59. That would be the last lead for the homestanders, however. Fulks sank his last two free throws to return the lead to the Warriors and George Senesky chipped in one more to make the final score 62-60.

All in all, it appeared to be an ugly game as both teams combined to take 49 free throws, a high number for the era. Pittsburgh's attempt to stifle Fulks had some effect, as for the first time in quite a while, Jumping Joe wasn't the game's top scorer. Pittsburgh's Colby Gunther earned that honor with 20 points, one more than Fulks' 19. Still, the Ironmen fell to 7-17 while the Warriors improved to 12-9 before heading home to rest up before a January 2nd matchup with the Providence Steamrollers, a team looking to overtake them for third place.

Box

December 30, 1946
Duquesne Gardens
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance n/a

Warriors 62, Ironmen 60

Philadelphia 14 20 14 12 -60
Pittsburgh 13 16 22 11 -62

Philadelphia scoring

Joe Fulks 19p
Angelo Musi 13p
Jerry Rullo 9p
Howie Dallmar 7p
Art Hillhouse 7p
George Senesky 7p

Pittsburgh scoring

Colby Gunther 20p
Tony Kappen 16p
Ed Milkovich 7p
Harry Zeller 7p
John Mills 4p
Stan Noszka 4p
Joe Fabel 1p
Press Maravich 1p
Mike Bytzura
Gorham Getchell
Noble Jorgensen