The 1949–50 Washington Capitols season was the fourth season of the Washington Capitols in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It would also be the first season where the team would be without the legendary Red Auerbach as the head coach, as he would leave the team following the Capitols' failure to secure a long-term deal out of him. This season would be the only full season where the Capitols finished their season with a losing record. Despite that fact, however, they would still qualify for the 1950 NBA playoffs due to them being the third-best team in the Eastern Division that season behind only the New York Knicks and the newly-added Syracuse Nationals from the former National Basketball League. However, the Capitols would fail to win a single playoff game this time around, as they would be swept by the Knicks in the Eastern Division Semifinal Round.
BAA/NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 8 Wallace Jones F Kentucky 2 – Red Owens – Baylor 3 – Cliff Barker G Kentucky
Roster
Regular season Season standings
Game log
| 1 | November 2 | Baltimore | W 66–61 | Jack Nichols (14) | | 1–0 |- | 2 | November 5 | St. Louis | W 81–69 | Jack Nichols (18) | | 2–0 |- | 3 | November 8 | Minneapolis | L 66–68 | Jack Nichols (19) | | 2–1 |- | 4 | November 9 | at Philadelphia | W 84–69 | Fred Scolari (15) | | 3–1 |- | 5 | November 10 | at Baltimore | W 88–72 | Fred Scolari (24) | | 4–1 |- | 6 | November 12 | Boston | L 68–76 | Jack Nichols (21) | | 4–2 |- | 7 | November 15 | vs Chicago | L 63–77 | Jack Nichols (31) | | 4–3 |- | 8 | November 16 | Denver | W 99–90 | Dick O'Keefe (19) | | 5–3 |- | 9 | November 19 | Chicago | W 85–69 | Jack Nichols (20) | | 6–3 |- | 10 | November 22 | New York | L 74–89 | Jack Nichols (17) | | 6–4 |- | 11 | November 23 | at New York | L 67–87 | Chick Halbert (13) | | 6–5 |- | 12 | November 26 | Fort Wayne | W 93–76 | Fred Scolari (25) | | 7–5 |- | 13 | November 30 | Rochester | L 84–86 | Jack Nichols (26) | | 7–6
| 14 | December 3 | Philadelphia | W 79–63 | Fred Scolari (20) | | 8–6 |- | 15 | December 4 | at Fort Wayne | L 68–72 | Reiser, Scolari (11) | | 8–7 |- | 16 | December 6 | at Chicago | L 55–75 | Fred Scolari (15) | | 8–8 |- | 17 | December 7 | at Minneapolis | L 76–93 | Bones McKinney (16) | | 8–9 |- | 18 | December 10 | Fort Wayne | W 75–69 | Chick Reiser (13) | | 9–9 |- | 19 | December 14 | St. Louis | W 79–61 | Johnny Norlander (15) | | 10–9 |- | 20 | December 17 | Baltimore | L 72–89 | Chick Reiser (18) | | 10–10 |- | 21 | December 21 | Minneapolis | L 61–75 | Jack Nichols (22) | | 10–11 |- | 22 | December 22 | at Baltimore | L 82–86 | Bones McKinney (20) | | 10–12 |- | 23 | December 23 | Boston | W 86–73 | Fred Scolari (20) | | 11–12 |- | 24 | December 25 | at St. Louis | W 81–68 | Fred Scolari (19) | | 12–12 |- | 25 | December 26 | at Anderson | L 73–80 | Jack Nichols (22) | | 12–13 |- | 26 | December 27 | at Rochester | L 72–96 | Leo Katkaveck (15) | | 12–14 |- | 27 | December 28 | Syracuse | W 87–85 | Jack Nichols (27) | | 13–14 |- | 28 | December 31 | New York | W 70–64 | Bones McKinney (16) | | 14–14
| 29 | January 1 | at Syracuse | L 73–79 | Leo Katkaveck (15) | | 14–15 |- | 30 | January 3 | at Rochester | L 79–83 | Bones McKinney (21) | | 14–16 |- | 31 | January 4 | Rochester | L 63–72 | Jack Nichols (20) | | 14–17 |- | 32 | January 7 | Waterloo | W 101–83 | Jack Nichols (19) | | 15–17 |- | 33 | January 10 | Chicago | W 86–71 | Fred Scolari (17) | | 16–17 |- | 34 | January 11 | at New York | L 72–73 | Fred Scolari (21) | | 16–18 |- | 35 | January 13 | at Philadelphia | W 77–67 | Bones McKinney (17) | | 17–18 |- | 36 | January 14 | Philadelphia | W 78–70 | Jack Nichols (18) | | 18–18 |- | 37 | January 18 | Minneapolis | L 68–76 | Jack Nichols (22) | | 18–19 |- | 38 | January 19 | at Baltimore | W 81–68 | Chick Reiser (19) | | 19–19 |- | 39 | January 21 | Sheboygan | L 82–88 | Dick O'Keefe (22) | | 19–20 |- | 40 | January 22 | at Fort Wayne | L 70–82 | Chick Reiser (16) | | 19–21 |- | 41 | January 24 | vs St. Louis | W 75–67 | Fred Scolari (15) | | 20–21 |- | 42 | January 25 | at Tri-Cities | W 65–62 | Bob Feerick (16) | | 21–21 |- | 43 | January 26 | at St. Louis | W 82–71 | Fred Scolari (30) | | 22–21 |- | 44 | January 29 | at Minneapolis | L 60–88 | Fred Scolari (13) | | 22–22 |- | 45 | January 31 | at Denver | W 88–78 | Jack Nichols (22) | | 23–22
| 46 | February 2 | at Sheboygan | L 65–68 | Jack Nichols (17) | | 23–23 |- | 47 | February 4 | New York | L 71–76 | Fred Scolari (18) | | 23–24 |- | 48 | February 7 | at Indianapolis | L 81–88 | Fred Scolari (14) | | 23–25 |- | 49 | February 8 | at Waterloo | L 70–77 | Fred Scolari (16) | | 23–26 |- | 50 | February 9 | at Minneapolis | L 59–71 | Bob Feerick (15) | | 23–27 |- | 51 | February 11 | Anderson | W 81–69 | Fred Scolari (16) | | 24–27 |- | 52 | February 15 | Tri-Cities | L 81–85 | Fred Scolari (24) | | 24–28 |- | 53 | February 18 | Indianapolis | W 81–79 | Don Otten (21) | | 25–28 |- | 54 | February 21 | at Rochester | L 76–84 | Don Otten (21) | | 25–29 |- | 55 | February 22 | at New York | L 81–89 | Don Otten (17) | | 25–30 |- | 56 | February 24 | at Boston | L 74–89 | Chuck Gilmur (18) | | 25–31 |- | 57 | February 25 | Philadelphia | L 80–92 | Don Otten (22) | | 25–32 |- | 58 | February 26 | at Fort Wayne | W 81–78 | Dick O'Keefe (24) | | 26–32
| 59 | March 1 | vs Chicago | L 75–76 | Don Otten (23) | | 26–33 |- | 60 | March 2 | Chicago | W 91–88 | Fred Scolari (28) | | 27–33 |- | 61 | March 4 | Boston | W 95–75 | Fred Scolari (17) | | 28–33 |- | 62 | March 7 | vs Boston | L 64–75 | Leo Katkaveck (14) | | 28–34 |- | 63 | March 8 | Baltimore | W 88–80 | Chick Reiser (18) | | 29–34 |- | 64 | March 10 | at Boston | W 76–66 | Don Otten (17) | | 30–34 |- | 65 | March 11 | St. Louis | W 92–90 | Chick Reiser (17) | | 31–34 |- | 66 | March 15 | Rochester | L 64–93 | Gilmur, Scolari (15) | | 31–35 |- | 67 | March 17 | at Philadelphia | L 59–85 | Chick Reiser (12) | | 31–36 |- | 68 | March 18 | Fort Wayne | W 82–76 | Chick Reiser (18) | | 32–36
NBA Playoffs NBA Eastern Division Semifinals (2) New York Knicks vs. (3) Washington Capitols: Knicks win series 2-0 Game 1 @ Washington (March 21): New York 90, Washington 87 Game 2 @ New York (March 22): New York 103, Washington 83
Last playoff meeting: 1949 BAA Eastern Division Finals (Washington won 2–1)
References