1946–47 Boston Celtics season

The 1946–47 Boston Celtics season was the first season of the Boston Celtics in the Basketball Association of America (BAA/NBA). Walter A. Brown was the man who was responsible for starting the franchise. In June 1946, Brown, who operated the Boston Garden arena and was part of the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins, was the driving force behind the Basketball Association of America and the Celtics birth. After considering several team names, including Whirlwinds, Unicorns, and Olympics, Brown opted for Celtics. He hoped to grab the attention of Boston's large Irish American population. John Davis "Honey" Russell was hired as the first Celtics coach, and the team soon began its inaugural season, losing its first game 59–53 to the Providence Steamrollers. The Celtics won their first game of the season against the Toronto Huskies on November 16, 1946.

1946–47 Boston Celtics season
Head coach	Honey Russell
Owners	Walter A. Brown
Arena	Boston Arena Boston Garden
Results
Record	22–38 (.367)
Place	Division: 5th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	WMEX

Roster

1946–47 Boston Celtics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From F 6–18 Brightman, Al 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1923-09-22 Long Beach State F/C 11 Connors, Chuck 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1921-04-10 Seton Hall F 15 Crisler, Hal 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1923-12-31 Iowa State F 17 Duffy, Bob 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-07-05 Colgate F 14 Eliason, Don 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1918-07-24 Hamline F 7 Fenley, Warren 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1922-02-08 Manhattan G 15 Garfinkel, Jack 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1918-06-13 St. John's G/F 4 Gray, Wyndol 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1922-03-20 Bowling Green G 3 Hirsch, Mel 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1921-07-31 Brooklyn G 3 Hoefer, Charlie 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 158 lb (72 kg) 1921-09-16 Queens College F 14–24 Kelly, Jerry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 1918-06-14 Marshall C 9 Kottman, Harold 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1922-08-22 Culver–Stockton G 5 Murphy, Dick 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1921-03-10 Manhattan F/C 10 Simmons, Connie 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 222 lb (101 kg) 1925-03-15 Flushing HS (NY) G 6 Simmons, Johnny 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 1924-07-07 NYU F 12 Spector, Art 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1920-10-17 Villanova F/C 17 Vaughn, Virgil 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1918-05-15 Western Kentucky

Head coach Honey Russell Assistant coach(es) Danny Silva Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

On November 5, the Celtics played their first game at the Boston Arena in front of 4,329 fans. The game would be delayed for an hour when the wooden backboard was damaged after a practice dunk during warm-ups. After the backboard was repaired, the Celtics lost to the Chicago Stags by a score 57–55. This would become the first-ever broken backboard in BAA/NBA History.

Season standings

#	Eastern Division
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	x-Washington Capitols	49	11	.817	–
2	x-Philadelphia Warriors	35	25	.583	14
3	x-New York Knicks	33	27	.550	16
4	Providence Steamrollers	28	32	.467	21
5	Boston Celtics	22	38	.367	27
6	Toronto Huskies	22	38	.367	27

Record vs. opponents

1946–47 BAA Records
Team	BOS	CHI	CLE	DET	NYK	PHI	PIT	PRO	STL	TOR	WAS
Boston	—	0–6	2–4	3–3	4–2	1–5	5–1	1–5	1–5	4–2	1–5
Chicago	6–0	—	5–1	3–3	3–3	5–1	6–0	3–3	3–4	4–2	1–5
Cleveland	4–2	1–5	—	4–2	4–2	3–3	4–2	2–4	1–5	6–0	1–5
Detroit	3–3	3–3	2–4	—	1–5	2–4	3–3	2–4	0–6	3–3	1–5
New York	2–4	3–3	2-4	5–1	—	2–4	6–0	4–2	4–2	3–3	2–4
Philadelphia	5–1	1–5	3–3	4–2	4–2	—	5–1	4–2	3–3	5–1	1–5
Pittsburgh	1–5	0–6	2–4	3–3	0–6	1–5	—	3–3	1–5	3–3	1–5
Providence	5–1	3–3	4–2	4–2	2–4	2–4	3–3	—	2–4	3–3	0–6
St. Louis	5–1	4–3	5–1	6–0	2–4	3–3	5–1	4–2	—	2–4	2–4
Toronto	2–4	2–4	0–6	3–3	3–3	1–5	3–3	3–3	4–2	—	1–5
Washington	5–1	5–1	5–1	5–1	4–2	5–1	5–1	6–0	4–2	5–1	—

Game log

1946–47 Game Log
November Game Date Opponent Score Location/Attendance High points Record 1 November 2, 1946 @ Providence Steamrollers 53–59 Rhode Island Auditorium Red Wallace (9) 0–1 2 November 5, 1946 Chicago Stags 55–57 Boston Garden John Simmons (13) 0–2 3 November 9 @ Detroit Falcons 46–69 Detroit Olympia Art Spector (12) 0–3 4 November 13 @ Chicago Stags 61–71 Chicago Stadium John Simmons (14) 0–4 5 November 14 @ St. Louis Bombers 62–64 St. Louis Arena Gray, Wallace (12) 0–5 6 November 16 Toronto Huskies 53–49 Boston Garden Wyndol Gray (13) 1–5 7 November 21 St. Louis Bombers 53–65 Boston Garden Connie Simmons (9) 1–6 8 November 22 @ Toronto Huskies 82–83 Maple Leaf Gardens Connie Simmons (18) 1–7 9 November 23 @ Detroit Falcons 46–54 Detroit Olympia Connie Simmons (15) 1–8 10 November 25 Providence Steam Rollers 59–71 Boston Garden John Simmons (14) 1–9 11 November 26 Philadelphia Warriors 54–66 Philadelphia Arena Connie Simmons (15) 1–10 12 November 28 Pittsburgh Ironmen 59–55 Boston Garden Harold Kottman (19) 2–10
December Game Date Opponent Score Location/Attendance High points Record 13 December 1 @ Chicago Stags 56–66 Boston Garden Al Brightman (26) 2–11 14 December 2 @ Pittsburgh Ironmen 46–44 Duquesne Gardens Al Brightman (11) 3–11 15 December 5 Detroit Falcons 61–65 Boston Garden Connie Simmons (10) 3–12 16 December 7 New York Knickerbockers 65–90 Boston Garden Gray, Kottman (15) 3–13 17 December 8 @ New York Knickerbockers 44–62 Madison Square Garden Wyndol Gray (13) 3–14 18 December 12 Detroit Falcons 73–66 Boston Garden Jerry Kelly (21) 4–14 19 December 14 Philadelphia Warriors 77–65 Boston Garden Red Wallace (19) 5–14 20 December 19 St. Louis Bombers 74–76 Boston Garden Al Brightman (13) 5–15 21 December 22 @ St. Louis Bombers 53–65 St. Louis Arena Chuck Connors (14) 5–16 22 December 23 @ Pittsburgh Ironmen 54–64 Duquesne Gardens C. Simmons, Spector (9) 5–17 23 December 27 Philadelphia Warriors 60–63 Boston Garden Al Brightman (17) 5–18 24 December 28 @ Providence Steam Rollers 68–80 Rhode Island Auditorium Wyndol Gray (17) 5–19 25 December 30 Washington Capitols 60–70 Boston Garden Connie Simmons (19) 5–20
January Game Date Opponent Score Location/Attendance High points Record 26 January 3 @ Toronto Huskies 58–53 Maple Leaf Gardens Al Brightman (21) 6–20 27 January 6 Cleveland Rebels 53–64 Boston Garden Connors, Gray (15) 6–21 28 January 10 New York Knicks 66–62 Boston Garden Al Brightman (18) 7–21 29 January 11 @ Providence Steam Rollers 73–72 Rhode Island Auditorium Al Brightman (17) 8–21 30 January 16 Washington Capitols 47–38 Boston Garden Al Brightman (14) 9–21 31 January 18 @ New York Knickerbockers 58–45 Madison Square Garden Al Brightman (19) 10–21 32 January 20 Chicago Stags 54–81 Boston Garden Wyndol Gray (13) 10–22 33 January 21 @ Philadelphia Warriors 43–59 Philadelphia Arena John Simmons (10) 10−23 34 January 23 Pittsburgh Ironmen 48–43 Boston Garden Charlie Hoefer (11) 11–23 35 January 25 @ New York Knickerbockers 52–46 Madison Square Garden Al Brightman (17) 11–24 36 January 27 Washington Capitols 57–80 Boston Garden Connie Simmons (12) 12–24 37 January 29 @ Washington Capitols 57–69 Uline Arena Connie Simmons (11) 12–25 38 January 30 Pittsburgh Ironmen 66–51 Boston Garden Connie Simmons (18) 13–25
February Game Date Opponent Score Location/Attendance High points Record 39 February 3 @ Philadelphia Warriors 55–61 Philadelphia Arena Connie Simmons (17) 13–26 40 February 6 New York Knickerbockers 49–48 Boston Garden Connie Simmons (14) 14–26 41 February 13 St. Louis Bombers 64–54 Boston Garden Connie Simmons (17) 15–26 42 February 16 @ Chicago Stags 77–84 Chicago Stadium Connie Simmons (25) 15–27 43 February 18 @ Cleveland Rebels 73–84 Cleveland Arena Connie Simmons (21) 15–28 44 February 19 @ Detroit Falcons 57–51 Detroit Olympia Connie Simmons (18) 16–28 45 February 21 @ Toronto Huskies 61–67 Maple Leaf Gardens Connie Simmons (26) 16–29 46 February 23 Providence Steam Rollers 55–67 Boston Garden Al Brightman (14) 16–30 47 February 24 @ Washington Capitals 59–83 Uline Arena Al Brightman (14) 16–31 48 February 28 Cleveland Rebels 69–62 Boston Garden Al Brightman (22) 17–31
March Game Date Opponent Score Location/Attendance High points Record 49 March 1 @ Washington Capitols 52–75 Uline Arena Jack Garfinkel (18) 17–32 50 March 6 Detroit Falcons 74–65 Boston Garden Connie Simmons (19) 18–32 50 March 8 Toronto Huskies 67–65 Boston Garden Connie Simmons (19) 19–32 52 March 10 Providence Steam Rollers 70–87 Boston Garden John Simmons (17) 19–33 53 March 12 Toronto Huskies 69–57 Boston Garden Hoefer, J. Simmons (13) 20–33 54 March 13 @ Philadelphia Warriors 57–81 Philadelphia Arena Charlie Hoefer (12) 20–34 55 March 18 Cleveland Rebels 58–67 Boston Garden Connie Simmons (14) 20–35 56 March 24 Chicago Stags 69–80 Boston Garden Connie Simmons (17) 20–36 57 March 25 @ Cleveland Rebels 64–72 Cleveland Arena Art Spector (19) 20–37 58 March 26 Pittsburgh Ironmen 74–61 Duquesne Gardens Al Brightman (17) 21–37 59 March 29 @ St. Louis Bombers 55–59 St. Louis Arena Al Brightman (15) 21–38 60 March 30 @ Cleveland Rebels 71–66 Cleveland Arena Connie Simmons (20) 22–38
1946–47 Schedule

Player stats

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	AST	SPG	BPG	PPG
Connie Simmons	60			.320		.677		62			10.3
Al Brightman	58			.256		.627		60			9.8
Wyndol Gray	55			.292		.581		47			6.4
Art Spector	55			.267		.553		46			6.0
Jerry Kelly	43			.291		.667		24			6.0
Charlie Hoefer	35			.241		.634		24			6.0
Red Wallace	24			.246		.438		20			5.5
Johnny Simmons	60			.280		.614		29			5.3
Chuck Connors	49			.247		.464		40			4.6
Jack Garfinkel	40			.266		.607		58			4.5
Harold Kottman	53			.314		.465		17			3.1
Warren Fenley	33			.225		.511		16			2.6
Tony Kappen	18			.275		.632		6			4.1
Virgil Vaughn	17			.192		.536		10			2.6
Mel Hirsch	13			.200		.500		10			1.5
Dick Murphy	7			.059		.000		3			0.9
Moe Becker	6			.227		.750		1			2.2
Bob Duffy	6			.286		1.000		0			1.3
Hal Crisler	4			.333		1.000		0			1.5
Don Eliason	1			.000		–		0			0.0

Transactions

Trades

December 12, 1946	To Boston Celtics Moe Becker	To Pittsburgh Ironmen Tony Kappen
January 2, 1947	To the Boston Celtics Charlie Hoefer	To the Toronto Huskies Red Wallace

Purchases

Player	Date bought	Previous team
Jack Garfinkel	January 16, 1947	Rochester Royals