The First Season: Game 24

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.


January 8, 1947

After their four-day rest following a loss to the Providence Steamrollers, the Philadelphia Warriors traveled west to Pittsburgh to take on the Ironmen. The Ironmen continued to flounder about in the basement of the Western Division with a 7-19 record and came into the game under the weight of a four-game losing streak. The Warriors, meanwhile, had gone 6-3 in their last nine games and had hopes of challenging the Caps and the Knicks in the East. The Warriors and Ironmen had met three times previously with Philadelphia winning each of them.

Following the tipoff at the Duquesne Gardens, the Warriors took the early advantage, achieving a slim three-point lead in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Pittsburgh rallied and a pair of buckets by guard Stan Noszka pushed the Ironmen in front and they managed to hold onto 28-24 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, Noszka continued his hot shooting and along with forward Colby Gunther spurred Pittsburgh to a 49-40 margin by the end of the third. In the fourth quarter, both Noszka and center Harry Zeller fouled out, but despite the best efforts of Joe Fulks and Angelo Musi, the Warriors simply couldn't make up the deficit and lost, 67-63.

Gunther's 25 points led all scorers while Fulks could manage only 19, roughly four points under his league leading average. The win didn't do much to help Pittsburgh out of the muck, but the Warriors, at 13-11, were now 7.5 games behind Washington and returning home to face Toronto on the following night.

Box

January 8, 1947
Duquesne Gardens
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance n/a

Ironmen 67, Warriors 63

Philadelphia scoring

Joe Fulks 19p
Angelo Musi 17p
Howie Dallmar 14p
Art Hillhouse 4p
George Senesky 4p
Jerry Fleishman 2p
Matt Guokas 2p
Pete Rosenberg 1p
Jerry Rullo

Pittsburgh scoring

Colby Gunther 25p
Stan Noszka 21p
Mike Bytzura 7p
Tony Kappen 5p
John Mills 3p
Press Maravich 2p
Harry Zeller 2p
Joe Fabel 1p
Ed Milkovich 1p
Roger Jorgensen