Basketball wasn't always the sleek, billion-dollar spectacle of the TD Garden. Honestly, if you hopped in a time machine back to November 5, 1946, you probably wouldn't even recognize the product. The Boston Celtics first game didn't happen in front of a capacity crowd or under the glow of championship banners. It happened in a drafty, smoke-filled arena in Providence, Rhode Island. And they lost.
The final score was 59-53 in favor of the Providence Steamrollers. Think about that for a second. In today's NBA, teams sometimes put up 53 points in a single half. Back then? That was the whole game. The Celtics shot a dismal 20.8 percent from the floor. It was ugly, gritty, and technically, the birth of the most successful franchise in the history of the sport. But at the time, nobody knew if the league—the Basketball Association of America (BAA)—would even survive the week.
The Boston Celtics first game and the chaos of 1946
Walter Brown was a hockey guy. That's the part people forget. He was the president of the Boston Garden, and he saw basketball as a way to fill the building on nights when the Bruins weren't playing or the circus wasn't in town. He put up $1,000 to join the BAA. It was a gamble.
The roster for that Boston Celtics first game was a ragtag group of guys who were mostly just happy to have a job after World War II. You had Connie Simmons, who ended up being the leading scorer for Boston that night with 11 points. Eleven. That's a "good quarter" for Jayson Tatum, but for Simmons, it was a Herculean effort in a game where every basket felt like it was being fought for in a phone booth.
The Rhode Island Auditorium was the venue. It was cold. It smelled like stale tobacco and ice. Because the Steamrollers shared the building with a hockey team, the court was literally laid over a sheet of ice. Condensation made the floor slick. Players were sliding around like they were on a pond. The ball was heavy, brown, and lacked the consistent bounce of a modern Spalding or Wilson.
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Who actually played?
Honey Russell was the coach. He was a tough-as-nails guy who didn't have much patience for finesse. His inaugural lineup featured names that have mostly faded into the footnotes of library archives.
- Connie Simmons: The big man who could actually find the hoop.
- Al Brightman: A forward who put up 10 points.
- Wyndol Gray: He was supposed to be the star, but he struggled with the physicality of the BAA's defensive rules—or lack thereof.
- Virgil Vaughn and Jerry Kelly: Role players who were basically out there to hack whoever tried to drive to the basket.
The game was played in four 12-minute quarters, which was a departure from the college game's two halves. This was a professional experiment. There was no shot clock. If you had a lead, you could just stand there and hold the ball. It was boring as hell to watch at times. But that night in Providence, the Steamrollers pulled away late. Ernie Calverley, a local hero from Rhode Island, was the thorn in Boston's side. He was one of the first true "stars" of the league, and he made sure the Celtics started their journey with an "L."
Why the first game almost killed the dream
People didn't care. That’s the blunt truth. While the Boston Celtics first game is now a landmark event, the local newspapers barely gave it a blurb. The city was obsessed with the Red Sox and the Bruins. Basketball was seen as a "college sport" or something played in YMCAs.
Walter Brown was losing money. Fast. He famously told his wife that if things didn't turn around, they’d be broke within a year. The Celtics didn't even play their first home game until nearly two weeks later. When they finally did host a game at the Boston Garden against the Chicago Stags, the court was so poorly constructed that a player actually fell through a soft spot in the wood.
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The 1946 season was a slog. Boston finished 22-38. They were bad. They were disorganized. But that first loss in Providence set a baseline. It proved that there was a hunger for professional sports in New England, even if the "hunger" was more like a mild curiosity at the time.
The technical nightmare of 1940s hoops
We have to talk about the rules. Or the lack of them. In the Boston Celtics first game, there was no three-point line. If you shot from the mid-court logo, it was worth two points. Most players took "set shots"—meaning both feet stayed planted on the ground. The jump shot was considered flashy and unnecessary.
Dribbling was different, too. You couldn't "palm" the ball even a little bit. If your hand drifted to the side of the ball, the whistle blew. This resulted in a very upright, stiff style of play. Imagine the fastest, most athletic players today being told they have to play like they're carrying a tray of drinks. That was 1946.
Beyond the box score: What we get wrong about the debut
Most fans think Red Auerbach was there from day one. He wasn't. Red didn't arrive until 1950. The Boston Celtics first game was a pre-Red era. It was the "prehistoric" age of the franchise. There were no cigars, no Bill Russell, and certainly no parquet floor. The famous parquet floor didn't arrive until 1946-47 as a way to save money on expensive lumber because wood was scarce after the war.
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There's a misconception that the Celtics were always "The Celtics." In reality, they almost changed their name several times. Walter Brown considered names like the Whirlwinds, the Olympians, and the Unicorns. He settled on Celtics because, as he put it, "Boston is full of Irishmen." It was a marketing play, plain and simple.
How to trace the legacy of that first night
If you want to understand the modern dominance of the team, you have to look at the failures of that opening night. The loss to the Steamrollers taught Walter Brown that he couldn't just "put on a game." He had to build a culture.
- Check the Archives: The Boston Public Library holds microfilm of the Boston Globe from November 1946. Seeing the tiny box score next to ads for 5-cent cigars puts the "magnitude" of the event in perspective.
- Visit the Site: The Rhode Island Auditorium is gone now (it was demolished in the 80s), but the location on North Main Street in Providence remains a pilgrimage site for basketball historians.
- Study the 1946 BAA Draft: Look at how many players from that first Celtics roster actually made it to a second season. Hint: Not many. It was a league of high turnover.
The Boston Celtics first game wasn't a triumph. It was a 53-point struggle in a cold gym. But it provided the DNA for what was to come. Without that loss in Providence, Walter Brown might never have felt the pressure to hire Red Auerbach, trade for Bill Russell, or obsessively pursue the banners that now hang from the rafters.
To truly appreciate the 18 championships, you have to appreciate the night they couldn't even break 55 points against a team called the Steamrollers. It's a reminder that even the greatest dynasties start with a stumble in a rink covered in plywood.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Historians
- Research the BAA-NBL Merger: To understand why the Celtics' 1946 stats look so weird, look into the 1949 merger that created the NBA we know today.
- Evaluate "Era Adjustments": When comparing modern players to the 1946 squad, look at "Pace of Play" metrics. The Celtics' 53 points in 1946 adjusted for modern possessions would still be a terrible score, but it highlights just how much the shot clock changed the sport in 1954.
- Track the "Original Three": Only three teams from the original BAA still exist in their original cities: the Celtics, the New York Knicks, and the Golden State (then Philadelphia) Warriors. Comparing their first-game performances shows a consistent theme of low scoring and high fouls.
If you’re looking to dive deeper into the gritty details of early pro ball, seek out the book The Last Pass or look for digital archives of the Providence Journal from that week. They provide a much more visceral look at the "Steamrollers vs. Celtics" matchup than any modern Wikipedia summary ever could.