Apr. 1, 1964 - San Francisco’s Warriors tripped and fell into a playoff hole at the University of San Francisco’s War Memorial Gymnasium tonight. They became the first team in 12 NBA playoff games this season to lose on their home court as the battling St. Louis Hawks clawed their way to a 116-111 triumph before 5,231 spectators.
Behind by as much as 20 points early in the second quarter as the Warriors got off to a rocketing start behind the hot shooting of Wilt Chamberlain and Nate Thurmond, the Hawks came on strong to outscore the home club in each of the last three quarters. Richie Guerin, a rascally refugee from the New York Knicks, murdered the Warriors in the stretch as he pumped in 14 points in the final period for a game total of 32. Cliff Hagan (pictured) played a strong game as well.
Fouls ruined the Warriors, who were playing their first game in two weeks. They committed 30 of them, and St. Louis converted 40 free throws into 32 points. Conversely, San Francisco made only 17 of 27 free throws. And this time it wasn’t Chamberlain who undid them in that department. He made his first four in succession and seven of nine for the game. With Wilt pulling down 22 rebounds, the Warriors commanded the boards, 63-55.
In the St. Louis dressing room, Hawk coach Harry Gallatin said: “Sure, we had some great fast breaks and some spectacular offensive play by a half dozen of our guys, but ganging up on Chamberlain is what we did best. When they’d finally get the ball to Wilt, he had so many people in his lap he couldn’t move.”
The teams meet in the second contest Friday night at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.
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