1954 NBA Finals

1954 basketball championship series August 2023 NBA 1954 Syracuse Nationals Al Cervi 3 Minneapolis Lakers John Kundla 4 March 31–April 12 Lakers:George Mikan (1959)Jim Pollard (1978)Clyde Lovellette (1988)Vern Mikkelsen (1995)Slater Martin (1982)Nationals:Dolph Schayes (1973)Earl Lloyd (2003)Coaches:John Kundla (1995)Al Cervi (1985, player) Nationals defeated Celtics, 2–0 Lakers defeated Royals, 2–1 The 1954 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1954 NBA playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1953–54 season. The Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers faced the Eastern Division champion Syracuse Nationals in a best-of-seven series with Minneapolis having home-court advantage. The Lakers won their third consecutive NBA championship and fifth title in six years dating from 1949. Minneapolis won Game 1 and the teams thereafter alternated victories, with the Lakers winning the decisive game by a seven-point margin at home. The seven games were played in thirteen days, beginning Wednesday, March 31 and concluding Monday, April 12. The entire postseason tournament spanned 28 days in which both Minneapolis and Syracuse played 13 games."NBA Division Playoffs Open Tonight". The Washington Post. March 16, 1954. This was the Lakers’ last championship during their time in Minneapolis, as the team would move to Los Angeles and would not win the championship again until 1972. This was the last major professional sports championship won by a Minneapolis-St. Paul-based team until the Minnesota Twins won the 1987 World Series. Team rosters Minneapolis Lakers Minneapolis Lakers 1953–54 PF Jim Fritsche 6 8 210 1931-12-10 Hamline University G 16 Bob Harrison basketball 6 1 190 1927-08-12 Michigan SF 12 Jim Holstein 6 3 1930-09-24 180 Cincinnati C 34-89 Clyde Lovellette 6 9 234 1929-09-07 Kansas PG 22 Slater Martin 5 10 170 1925-10-22 Texas C 99 George Mikan 6 10 245 1924-06-18 DePaul PF 19 Vern Mikkelsen 6 7 230 1928-10-21 Hamline University SF 17 Jim Pollard 6 4 185 1922-07-09 Stanford SG 18 Saul Pep 6 2 185 1924-02-16 Seton Hall SF 15-24 Dick Schnittker 6 5 200 1928-05-27 Ohio State SG 20 Whitey Skoog 5 11 180 1926-11-02 Minnesota John Kundla https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MNL/1954.html Syracuse Nationals Syracuse Nationals 1953–54 7 Bill Gabor SG 5 11 170 May 13, 1922 Syracuse 15 Billy Kenville PG 6 2 187 December 1, 1930 St. Bonaventure 3 George King basketball, born 1928 PG 6 0 175 August 16, 1928 University of Charleston 16 Bob Lavoy PF 6 7 185 June 29, 1926 Western Kentucky 11 Earl Lloyd SF 6 5 200 April 3, 1928 West Virginia State University 12 Al Masino PG 5 10 174 February 5, 1928 Canisius 17 Jim Neal C 6 11 235 May 21, 1930 Wofford College 8 Wally Osterkorn PF 6 5 215 July 6, 1928 Illinois 4 Dolph Schayes C 6 8 220 May 19, 1928 NYU 5 Paul Seymour basketball SG 6 1 180 January 30, 1928 Toledo Al Cervi https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SYR/1954.html Series summary Game Date Home team Result Road team Game 1 March 31 Minneapolis Lakers 79–68 (1–0) Syracuse Nationals Game 2 April 3 Minneapolis Lakers 60–62 (1–1) Syracuse Nationals Game 3 April 4 Syracuse Nationals 67–81 (1–2) Minneapolis Lakers Game 4 April 8 Syracuse Nationals 80–69 (2–2) Minneapolis Lakers Game 5 April 10 Syracuse Nationals 73–84 (2–3) Minneapolis Lakers Game 6 April 11 Minneapolis Lakers 63–65 (3–3) Syracuse Nationals Game 7 April 12 Minneapolis Lakers 87–80 (4–3) Syracuse Nationals Lakers win series 4–3 Box scores #eee March 31 Boxscore Syracuse Nationals 68 Minneapolis Lakers 79 13–10 18–24 19–22 18–23 Bob Lavoy 15 Wally Osterkorn 8 Paul Seymour 6 Clyde Lovellette 16 George Mikan 10 Slater Martin 6 Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota 4,579 Charles Eckman, Joe Serafin Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 April 3 Boxscore Syracuse Nationals 62 Minneapolis Lakers 60 15–15 13–12 20–11 14–22 Wally Osterkorn 20 Wally Osterkorn 17 Lavoy, Seymour 3 each George Mikan 15 George Mikan 15 Vern Mikkelsen 3 Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota 6,277 Charles Eckman, Joe Serafin Series tied, 1–1 With seven seconds remaining, Paul Seymour hit a shot from 43 feet away to give Syracuse the victory. The 62 points scored by the Nationals set a record that still stands (as of ) for lowest amount of points scored in an NBA Finals game from the winning team.https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/E3kfx Stathead June 10, 2026 For single games, in the NBA/BAA, round is Finals, sorted by ascending Points. #eee April 4 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 81 Syracuse Nationals 67 24–16 14–17 20–11 23–23 George Mikan 30 George Mikan 15 Slater Martin 7 Bob Lavoy 18 Bob Lavoy 15 Paul Seymour 7 Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York 8,719 Minneapolis leads series, 2–1 April 8 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 69 Syracuse Nationals 80 14–18 20–18 18–21 17–23 Whitey Skoog 16 Jim Pollard 9 Slater Martin 6 Paul Seymour 25 Bob Lavoy 11 Paul Seymour 6 Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York 7,655 Series tied, 2–2 #eee April 10 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 84 Syracuse Nationals 73 22–17 19–14 21–21 22–21 Vern Mikkelsen 21 Mikan, Lovellette 13 each Slater Martin 7 Dolph Schayes 17 Earl Lloyd 8 Paul Seymour 5 Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York 7,283 Minneapolis leads series, 3–2 April 11 Boxscore Syracuse Nationals 65 Minneapolis Lakers 63 19–27 19–16 16–6 11–14 Paul Seymour 16 George Mikan 30 Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota 6,776 Charles Eckman, Joe Serafin Series tied, 3–3 #eee April 12 Boxscore Syracuse Nationals 80 Minneapolis Lakers 87 14–17 18–21 22–27 26–22 Dolph Schayes 18 Jim Pollard 21 Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota 7,274 Charles Eckman, Joe Serafin Minneapolis wins series, 4–3 Television Game two was the first NBA Finals contest to be carried live on national television, with the DuMont network providing the coverage. Game five was also aired by DuMont, featuring Marty Glickman doing play-by-play and Lindsey Nelson as the color analyst. References "1953–54 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-04-10.   Select "Previous Season" from the heading for 1952–53, and so on. Select "Finals" from League Playoffs for the daily schedule of the final series, and so on. External links 1954 Finals at NBA.com 1954 NBA Playoffs at Basketball-Reference.com Category:NBA Finals Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:Basketball competitions in Minneapolis Category:1950s in Minneapolis Category:March 1954 sports events in the United States Category:April 1954 sports events in the United States Category:Basketball competitions in Syracuse, New York