The 1955 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1954–55 NBA season. The best-of-seven series was won by the Syracuse Nationals, who defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons in the final game when Syracuse's George King made a free throw with 12 seconds left to put the Nationals up 92–91. King then stole the ball from Fort Wayne's Andy Phillip with three seconds remaining to clinch the victory for Syracuse. Because of the arena not believing Fort Wayne would make the NBA Finals, the arena was booked and not available, and the Fort Wayne home games were played in Indianapolis. It has been alleged that some Fort Wayne players conspired with gamblers to throw the series to Syracuse. The suspicious nature of the seventh game in particular has raised concerns about the legitimacy of the series. Fort Wayne led Syracuse 41–24 early in the second quarter, then allowed the Nationals to rally to win the game. Andy Phillip, who turned the ball over with three seconds left in the game, was believed by at least one of his teammates, George Yardley, to have thrown the game. "There were always unwholesome implications about that ball game", Yardley told the author Charley Rosen. However, Phillip may not have acted alone. Other Pistons players were strongly believed to have thrown games during the 1954 and 1955 NBA seasons.Rosen, pp. 108-154. In fact, Yardley himself turned the ball over to Syracuse with a palming violation with 18 seconds remaining in Game 7.''Syracuse Herald Journal'', April 11, 1955, p. 45. The foul that gave Syracuse its winning free throw, meanwhile, was committed by Frankie Brian. The NBA did not return to the 2–3–2 format until 1985. As of the season, this is the only NBA Finals to date in which the home team has won all seven games.

Series summary

''Nationals win series 4–3'' * – Games played in Indianapolis

Team rosters

Syracuse Nationals

Fort Wayne Pistons

Box scores

* George King hit a free throw with 12 seconds left, then stole the ball from Andy Phillip with 3 seconds left to seal it.

Notes and sources

External links

NBA History
{{DEFAULTSORT:1955 Nba Finals Finals NBA Finals

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

Basketball competitions in Indiana Basketball competitions in Syracuse, New York

Sports competitions in Fort Wayne, Indiana