The Portland Indians were a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. They were a member of the

Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League The Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League was a professional basketball league with teams from the Pacific Northwest in the United States and Canada. The league existed for two seasons, 1946-47 and 1947-48. Teams Three teams played in both ...

for the duration of the league, which only lasted two seasons: 1946–47 and 1947–48. They played their home games in the Portland Armory.

Notable players

* Norm Baker (member of

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

) * Don Durdan (

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I ...

basketball and football player, in

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...

) * Jackie Goldsmith (notable key figure involved in the

CCNY point-shaving scandal The CCNY point-shaving scandal of 1951 was a college basketball point-shaving gambling scandal which revealed widespread bribery and match fixing involving major colleges and universities both in and around New York City, particularly at the Ma ...

) *

Noble Jorgensen Noble Gordon "Jorgy" Jorgensen (May 18, 1925 – November 2, 1982) was an American professional basketball player. He was a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other leagues. He was a member of Portland's first professional ...

(future NBA center) * John Mandic (Oregon State Beavers, NBA, in Oregon Sports Hall of Fame) * Urgel (Slim) Wintermute (player/coach) (member of 1939

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the Division I level ...

team, in Oregon Sports Hall of Fame) * Swede Roos, (player/coach, teammate of Naismith Hall of Famers

George Mikan George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (; June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed "Mr. Basketball", was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of ...

and

Bobby McDermott Robert Frederick McDermott (January 7, 1914 – October 3, 1963) was an American professional basketball player in the 1930s and 1940s. He was known as an outstanding shooter and has been called "the greatest long-distance shooter in the history ...

on the NBL's

Chicago American Gears The Chicago American Gears were an American basketball team that played professionally in the National Basketball League (NBL) from 1944 to 1947 and in the Professional Basketball League of America (PBLA) in 1947 after leaving the NBL. The te ...

)

League championships

In the 1946–47 season, the Indians posted the best overall record, but finished second in the round-robin playoffs to the Bellingham Fircrests. When the Fircrests declined an invitation to the

World Professional Basketball Tournament The World Professional Basketball Tournament was an annual invitational tournament held in Chicago from 1939 to 1948 and sponsored by the ''Chicago Herald American''. Many teams came from the National Basketball League (United States), National Bas ...

in Chicago, the Indians went instead, but lost to the

Sheboygan Redskins The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) were a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–50 season. History Overview The Redskins played in thre ...

in the first round. In the 1947–48 season, the Indians entered the round-robin playoffs as a wildcard team, eventually reaching the best-of-five championship series against the Seattle Athletics. Portland won the first two games in Seattle, and Seattle won the third game in Portland. The fourth game was also played in Portland. With Portland leading 81–80 with 20 seconds left, the timekeeper sounded the final buzzer as Seattle's Al Brightman scored an open layup. Whether or not this was done inadvertently is not known, but the basket was disallowed and Portland was initially given the victory. Eventually, both teams agreed to replay the game two days later and Portland won the game 76–74, and with it, the championship.

References

{{Portland Indians Basketball teams established in 1946

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1948 Defunct basketball teams in Oregon 1946 establishments in Oregon 1948 disestablishments in Oregon