December 20, 1955 MSG Doubleheader- Celtics beat Lakers and Nationals beat Knicks

In a doubleheader at Madison Square Garden in the feature game the defending champion Syracuse Nationals beat the Knicks 98-91 in a game they controlled from start to finish. In front of 9,280 fans the Nationals raced to a early 19 point lead in the 1st quarter they never relinquished. The Knicks failed to get rebounds, passed wildly and had a subpar game in general. Johnny Kerr was the high scorer for the Nationals with 29 points and Carl Braun had 20 for the Knicks.

In the 1st game the Celtics defeated the Lakers 111-104. It was close game that was tied 12 different times. The Celtics found themselves down 97-90 before Ed Macauley and Jack Nichols led the Celtics roaring back to take a 111-104 victory. Jack Nichols had 22 points for the Celtics in victory. In a notable occurrence earlier in the contest referee Jack Stutz stopped the game because of fans throwing steel paper clips onto the court. Laker Ed Kalafat was hit by the clips but wasn't injured. The win improved the Celtics record to 11-9.

Box Score

Boston (111)
G F PF P
Macauley lf 6 7 3 19
Palazzi 0 0 0 0
Nichols rf 8 6 2 22
Loscutoff 5 1 4 11
Risen c 3 2 4 8
Morrison 0 0 2 0
Cousy lg 9 4 5 22
Sharman rg 6 5 4 17
Barrett 4 4 4 12

Total...41 29 28 111

Minneapolis (104)
Lovellette lf 9 2 1 20
Hitch 4 5 1 13
Schnitker rf 1 3 3 5
Kalapat 6 4 4 16
Mikkelsen c 8 6 4 22
Skoog lg 3 3 4 9
Mencel 3 0 1 6
Martin rg 1 7 5 9
Garmaker 2 0 2 4

Total...37 30 29 104

Boston..................24 25 29 33-111
Minneapolis.........17 32 31 24-104

Free Throws Missed- Cousy 4, Risen 4, Nichols, Morrison, Macauley, Garmaker 2, Hitch, Martin, Kalafat, Lovellette, Mikkelsen, Hitch, Skoog, Schnittker

Officials-Stan Stutz & Norm Drucker

December 14, 1955 Boston Garden doubleheader, Celtics beat Knicks and Lakers beat Pistons

In a doubleheader at the Boston Garden the Lakers beat the Pistons by the score of 98-85 in the 1st game, and in the feature game the Celtics beat the Knicks 102-100. The Lakers had a rare great performance in the season to date as they controlled the game the entire way and led by as many 30 in the 3rd period. Clyde Lovellette led the Lakers in scoring with 22 points and Larry Faust led the Pistons with 22 points. The Lakers victory brought their record for the season to 6-15.

In the feature game of the doubleheader it was a contest that went right down the wire for the rival Knicks and Celtics, in the end the Celtics prevailed 102-100 after Ed Macauley's game winning dunk with 6 seconds left and Nat Clifton missed a shot that would have sent the game into overtime. Bob Cousy hobbled by leg and shoulder injuries played slightly more than half the game had an efficient game only scoring 5 points but dishing off 15 assists. Rookie Jim Loscutoff had a great game with 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Box Score

Boston (102)
G F PF P
Macauley lf 6 11 2 23
Nichols rf 8 3 3 19
Palazzi 1 2 2 4
Hemric 1 0 0 2
Risen c 3 4 4 9
Morrison 1 1 1 3
Barrett lg 2 3 6 7
Cousy lg 1 3 4 5
Sharman 4 5 5 13
Loscutoff 7 3 3 17

Total.. 34 34 30 102

Knicks (100)
G F PF P
Braun lf 11 6 1 28
Gallatin rf 3 4 4 10
Clifton 0 1 3 1
Peterson 4 0 5 8
Felix c 1 2 2 4
Dukes 5 0 6 10
Sears lg 2 2 3 6
Shue rg 7 8 4 22
McGuire 0 2 1 2
Baechtold 2 5 1 9

Total.. 35 35 30 100

Boston......................22 31 27 22-102
Knickerbockers.......24 31 21 24-100

Free throws missed- Macauley 2, Hemric, Risen 3, Cousy, Sharman, Loscutoff, Braun 2, Gallatin, Clifton, Dukes, Sears, Shue 2, McGuire, Baechtold 2