1952 NBA Finals

1952 basketball championship series August 2023 Action during the 1952 NBA Finals NBA 1952 New York Knickerbockers Joe Lapchick 3 Minneapolis Lakers John Kundla 4 April 12–25 Lakers:George Mikan (1959)Jim Pollard (1978)Slater Martin (1982)Vern Mikkelsen (1995)Knickerbockers:Harry Gallatin (1991)Al McGuire (1992, coach)Dick McGuire (1993)Nat Clifton (2014)Coaches:Joe Lapchick (1966, player)John Kundla (1995) Knickerbockers defeated Nationals, 3–1 Lakers defeated Royals, 3–1 The 1952 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1952 NBA playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1951–52 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. Minneapolis won game one and the teams thereafter alternated victories, Minneapolis winning the decisive game by a 17-point margin at home on Friday, April 25. All but Game 7 were played in the teams' secondary arenas: the Lakers played at the Saint Paul Auditorium, while the Barnum circus bumped the Knickerbockers from Madison Square Garden to the 69th Regiment Armory. The seven games were played in fourteen days, beginning Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13, in Minneapolis/St. Paul and returning to Minneapolis/St. Paul for games five and seven on the following Saturday and Friday. Meanwhile, three Wednesday or Friday games were played in New York City. The entire postseason tournament spanned 39 days in which Minneapolis played 13 games and New York 14. Series summary Game Date Home team Result Road team Game 1 April 12 Minneapolis Lakers 83–79 (OT) (1–0) New York Knickerbockers Game 2 April 13 Minneapolis Lakers 72–80 (1–1) New York Knickerbockers Game 3 April 16 New York Knickerbockers 77–82 (1–2) Minneapolis Lakers Game 4 April 18 New York Knickerbockers 90–89 (OT) (2–2) Minneapolis Lakers Game 5 April 20 Minneapolis Lakers 102–89 (3–2) New York Knickerbockers Game 6 April 23 New York Knickerbockers 76–68 (3–3) Minneapolis Lakers Game 7 April 25 Minneapolis Lakers 82–65 (4–3) New York Knickerbockers Lakers win series 4–3 Team rosters Minneapolis Lakers Minneapolis Lakers 1951–52 16 Bob Harrison basketball SG 6 1 190 August 12, 1927 Michigan 11 Lew Hitch PF 6 8 200 July 16, 1929 Kansas State 4, 15 Joe Hutton basketball SG 6 1 170 October 6, 1928 Hamline University 22 Slater Martin PG 5 10 170 October 22, 1925 Texas 99 George Mikan C 6 10 245 June 18, 1924 DePaul 19 Vern Mikkelsen PF 6 7 230 October 21, 1928 Hamline University 17 Jim Pollard SF 6 4 185 July 9, 1922 Stanford 18 Pep Saul SG 6 2 185 February 16, 1924 Seton Hall 12 Howie Schultz PF 6 6 200 July 3, 1922 Hamline University John Kundla https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MNL/1952.html New York Knickerbockers New York Knicks 1951–52 12 Vince Boryla SF 6 5 210 1927-03-11 Denver 8 Nat Clifton PF 6 6 220 1922-10-13 Xavier University of Louisiana 11 Harry Gallatin PF 6 6 210 1927-04-26 Truman State 6, 17 George Kaftan SF 6 3 190 1928-02-22 Holy Cross 7 Ray Lumpp SG 6 1 178 1923-07-11 NYU 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 19, 22 Herb Scherer C 6 9 212 1928-12-21 Long Island University 18 Connie Simmons C 6 8 222 1925-03-15 Flushing High School 9 Ernie Vandeweghe SF 6 3 195 1928-09-12 Colgate 10 Max Zaslofsky SG 6 2 170 1925-12-07 St. John's Joe Lapchick https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/1952.html Game summaries #eee April 12 Boxscore New York Knickerbockers 79 Minneapolis Lakers 83 OT 18–21 14–19 27–20 12–11 8–12 Simmons, McGuire 15 each Nat Clifton 12 Dick McGuire 5 Jim Pollard 34 George Mikan 16 Pollard, Mikan 4 each St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota 8,722 Sid Borgia, Stan Stutz Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 April 13 Boxscore New York Knickerbockers 80 Minneapolis Lakers 72 11–17 30–14 20–20 19–21 Harry Gallatin 18 Harry Gallatin 11 Dick McGuire 5 George Mikan 18 George Mikan 21 Slater Martin 4 St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota Sid Borgia, Stan Stutz Series tied, 1–1 #eee April 16 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 82 New York Knickerbockers 77 19–20 22–26 19–16 22–15 George Mikan 26 George Mikan 17 Pep Saul 8 Max Zaslofsky 17 Nat Clifton 10 Dick McGuire 10 69th Regiment Armory, Manhattan, New York 4,500 Minneapolis leads series, 2–1 April 18 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 89 New York Knickerbockers 90 OT 21–23 21–18 20–16 15–20 12–13 Slater Martin 32 George Mikan 17 Pep Saul 5 Connie Simmons 30 Nat Clifton 12 Dick McGuire 6 69th Regiment Armory, Manhattan, New York 5,200 Sid Borgia, Stan Stutz Series tied, 2–2 #eee April 20 Boxscore New York Knickerbockers 89 Minneapolis Lakers 102 26–33 22–16 17–28 24–25 Nat Clifton 17 Clifton, Gallatin 8 each six players 1 each Mikkelsen, Mikan 32 each George Mikan 17 Pep Saul 5 St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota 7,244 Sid Borgia, Stan Stutz Minneapolis leads series, 3–2 April 23 Boxscore Minneapolis Lakers 68 New York Knickerbockers 76 20–24 13–11 19–17 16–24 George Mikan 28 George Mikan 15 Slater Martin 9 Max Zaslofsky 23 Harry Gallatin 13 Ernie Vandeweghe 7 69th Regiment Armory, Manhattan, New York 3,000 Series tied, 3–3 #eee April 25 Boxscore New York Knickerbockers 65 Minneapolis Lakers 82 12–18 17–18 8–13 28–33 Max Zaslofsky 21 Nat Clifton 10 Nat Clifton 3 George Mikan 22 George Mikan 19 Slater Martin 6 Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota 8,612 Sid Borgia, Stan Stutz Minneapolis wins series, 4–3 This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/rivals.cgi?request=1&team_id=LAL&opp_id=NYK&is_playoffs=Y Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus New York Knicks (Playoffs) basketball-reference.com February 19, 2021 References 25em "1951–52 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-04-10.  Select "Previous Season" from the heading for 1950–51, and so on. Select "Finals" from League Playoffs for the daily schedule of the final series, and so on. External links 1952 Finals at NBA.com 1952 NBA Playoffs at Basketball-Reference.com Category:NBA Finals 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 NBA Finals Category:1950s in Manhattan Category:Rose Hill, Manhattan