1953 NBA Finals

1953 basketball championship series August 2023 NBA 1953 New York Knickerbockers Joe Lapchick 1 Minneapolis Lakers John Kundla 4 April 4–10 Lakers:George Mikan (1959)Jim Pollard (1978)Slater Martin (1982)Vern Mikkelsen (1995)Knicks:Harry Gallatin (1991)Al McGuire (1992, coach)Dick McGuire (1993)Nat Clifton (2014)Carl Braun (2019)Coaches:Joe Lapchick (1966, player)John Kundla (1995) Knickerbockers defeated Celtics, 3–1 Lakers defeated Pistons, 3–2 The 1953 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1953 NBA playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1952–53 season. The Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers faced the Eastern Division champion New York Knickerbockers in a best-of-seven series with Minneapolis having home-court advantage. By winning four games to one, the Lakers won their fifth title in six years dating from 1948, the club's final season in the National Basketball League. The five games were played in seven days, beginning Saturday and Sunday, April 4 and 5, in Minneapolis and concluding there on the following Friday. Meanwhile, two mid-week games were played in New York City. The entire postseason tournament spanned 25 days in which Minneapolis played 12 games, New York 11. Series summary Game Date Home team Result Road team Game 1 April 4 Minneapolis Lakers 88–96 (0–1) New York Knickerbockers Game 2 April 5 Minneapolis Lakers 73–71 (1–1) New York Knickerbockers Game 3 April 7 New York Knickerbockers 75–90 (1–2) Minneapolis Lakers Game 4 April 8 New York Knickerbockers 69–72 (1–3) Minneapolis Lakers Game 5 April 10 New York Knickerbockers 84–91 (1–4) Minneapolis Lakers Lakers win series 4–1 Team rosters Minneapolis Lakers Minneapolis Lakers 1952–53 16 Bob Harrison basketball SG 6 1 190 1927-08-12 Michigan 11 Lew Hitch PF 6 8 200 1929-07-16 Kansas State 12, 13 Jim Holstein SF 6 3 180 1930-09-24 Cincinnati 22 Slater Martin PG 5 10 170 1925-10-22 Texas 99 George Mikan C 6 10 245 1924-06-18 DePaul 19 Vern Mikkelsen PF 6 7 230 1928-10-21 Hamline University 17 Jim Pollard SF 6 4 185 1922-07-09 Stanford 18 Pep Saul SG 6 2 185 1924-02-16 Seton Hall Dick Schnittker F 6 5 200 1928-05-27 Ohio State 12 Howie Schultz PF 6 6 200 1922-07-03 Hamline University 20 Whitey Skoog SG 5 11 180 1926-11-02 Minnesota John Kundla https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MNL/1953.html New York Knickerbockers New York Knicks 1952–53 12 Vince Boryla SF 6 5 210 1927-03-11 Denver 4 Carl Braun basketball SG 6 5 180 1927-09-25 Colgate 8 Nat Clifton PF 6 6 220 1922-10-13 Xavier University of Louisiana Jerry Fleishman G-F 6 2 190 1922-02-14 NYU 11 Harry Gallatin PF 6 6 210 1927-04-26 Truman State 3, 16 Al McGuire PG 6 2 180 1928-09-07 St. John's 15 Dick McGuire PG 6 0 180 1926-01-25 St. John's 5 Sherwin Raiken G 6 2 185 1928-10-29 Villanova 18 Connie Simmons C 6 8 222 1925-03-15 Flushing High School 14, 17 Dick Surhoff SF 6 4 210 1929-11-16 Long Island University 9 Ernie Vandeweghe SF 6 3 195 1928-09-12 Colgate Joe Lapchick https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/1953.html Game summaries #eee April 4 Boxscore New York Knickerbockers 96 Minneapolis Lakers 88 19–18 24–29 23–20 30–21 Carl Braun 21 George Mikan 25 Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota 5,000 Sid Borgia, Arnie Heft New York leads series, 1–0 April 5 Boxscore New York Knickerbockers 71 Minneapolis Lakers 73 16–26 14–21 24–11 17–15 Connie Simmons 17 George Mikan 18 Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota 4,848 Sid Borgia, Arnie Heft Series tied, 1–1 #eee April 7 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 90 New York Knickerbockers 75 21–14 18–24 26–22 25–15 George Mikan 20 Connie Simmons 18 69th Regiment Armory, Manhattan, New York 5,100 Minneapolis leads series, 2–1 April 8 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 71 New York Knickerbockers 69 21–16 20–18 13–16 17–19 George Mikan 27 Connie Simmons 17 69th Regiment Armory, Manhattan, New York 5,200 Minneapolis leads series, 3–1 #eee April 10 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 91 New York Knickerbockers 84 19–18 25–17 25–25 22–24 Jim Pollard 17 Vern Mikkelsen 6 Carl Braun 19 Ernie Vandeweghe 4 69th Regiment Armory, Manhattan, New York 5,200 Minneapolis wins series, 4–1 References 25em "1952–53 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-04-10.  Select "Previous Season" from the heading for 1951–52, and so on. Select "Finals" from League Playoffs for the daily schedule of the final series, and so on. External links 1953 Finals at NBA.com 1953 NBA Playoffs at Basketball-Reference.com Category:NBA Finals Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals NBA Finals Category:Basketball competitions in New York City Category:Basketball competitions in Minneapolis Category:1950s in Minneapolis Category:1950s in Manhattan Category:Rose Hill, Manhattan