1953–54 Minneapolis Lakers season

Pro basketball team season (won NBA championship) March 2026 August 2023 Minneapolis Lakers 1954 yes yes 46 26 Western 1 John Kundla Minneapolis Auditorium WLOL NBA champions (Defeated Nationals 4–3) MNL The 1953–54 Minneapolis Lakers season was the sixth season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Lakers won the Western Division with a 46–26 record. George Mikan was hampered by knee troubles as he averaged only 18.1 points per game. The Lakers signed a promising rookie named Clyde Lovellette, who was able to alleviate the pressure on Mikan.http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/mpls/mplslakers.html Minneapolis Lakers – Sports Ecyclopedia February 9, 2014 January 19, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160119163208/http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/mpls/mplslakers.html dead In the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers won three straight to face the Rochester Royals in the Western Finals. The Lakers beat the Royals to qualify for the NBA Finals. In the Finals, the Lakers and Syracuse Nationals alternated wins. In the end, the Lakers emerged with their third straight title, and fifth overall in the franchise's first six seasons in the NBA. They became the first NBA team to win three consecutive NBA championships.Numbelievable! 95 Michael X. Ferraro John Veneziano Triumph Books Chicago 2007 978-1-57243-990-0 In the seventh and final game, the Lakers won by a score of 87–80, for the franchise's final NBA title before their relocation to Los Angeles in 1960. Following the season, Mikan announced his retirement. The Lakers would not win another NBA championship until 1972. NBA draft 1953 NBA draft Roster 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 Regular season Season standings MNL Game log # Date Opponent Score High points Record 1 October 30 @ Milwaukee 59–69 George Mikan (12) 0–1 2 October 31 @ New York 67–91 George Mikan (16) 0–2 3 November 1 @ Boston 84–79 Jim Pollard (20) 1–2 4 November 4 @ Baltimore 77–75 George Mikan (24) 2–2 5 November 5 @ Syracuse 77–65 Slater Martin (20) 3–2 6 November 7 New York 62–70 George Mikan (22) 4–2 7 November 10 N Fort Wayne 62–78 Slater Martin (12) 4–3 8 November 13 @ Milwaukee 92–84 George Mikan (26) 5–3 9 November 14 @ Rochester 91–98 (3OT) George Mikan (30) 5–4 10 November 15 N Boston 89–74 Jim Pollard (17) 6–4 11 November 17 N Fort Wayne 83–66 Clyde Lovellette (19) 7–4 12 November 19 @ Philadelphia 107–79 Vern Mikkelsen (24) 8–4 13 November 21 Rochester 70–76 George Mikan (36) 9–4 14 November 22 @ Milwaukee 57–55 George Mikan (24) 10–4 15 November 26 Philadelphia 80–88 George Mikan (23) 11–4 16 November 29 Boston 82–95 George Mikan (28) 12–4 17 December 3 N Syracuse 74–87 George Mikan (27) 13–4 18 December 5 Syracuse 80–90 George Mikan (18) 14–4 19 December 12 New York 67–71 Martin, Mikkelsen (14) 15–4 20 December 13 N Rochester 87–70 Frank Saul (16) 15–5 21 December 15 @ New York 79–80 (OT) George Mikan (17) 15–6 22 December 16 N Milwaukee 69–63 (OT) George Mikan (21) 16–6 23 December 17 @ Baltimore 64–75 George Mikan (18) 16–7 24 December 19 @ Rochester 91–78 Slater Martin (20) 17–7 25 December 20 @ Syracuse 76–81 Slater Martin (17) 17–8 26 December 25 N Baltimore 78–88 Vern Mikkelsen (15) 17–9 27 December 26 Fort Wayne 71–77 George Mikan (16) 18–9 28 December 27 @ Fort Wayne 79–75 George Mikan (21) 19–9 29 December 30 Fort Wayne 97–80 George Mikan (17) 19–10 30 January 2 New York 74–78 George Mikan (26) 20–10 31 January 4 N Rochester 85–84 George Mikan (32) 20–11 32 January 7 Rochester 71–89 Mikan, Mikkelsen (20) 21–11 33 January 9 @ Milwaukee 78–67 Lovellette, Mikan (17) 22–11 34 January 10 Boston 85–99 Mikan, Pollard (16) 23–11 35 January 13 @ Boston 84–88 George Mikan (21) 23–12 36 January 14 @ Syracuse 71–96 George Mikan (19) 23–13 37 January 16 Milwaukee 64–58 Clyde Lovellette (12) 23–14 38 January 17 @ Fort Wayne 83–86 Vern Mikkelsen (24) 23–15 39 January 18 N Milwaukee 91–72 Vern Mikkelsen (18) 24–15 40 January 23 Fort Wayne 72–75 George Mikan (16) 25–15 41 January 26 @ Milwaukee 84–69 Lovellette, Martin (14) 26–15 42 January 27 Baltimore 73–76 Jim Pollard (24) 27–15 43 January 28 N Baltimore 104–82 George Mikan (24) 28–15 44 January 30 Milwaukee 64–80 Jim Pollard (13) 29–15 45 January 31 Boston 67–82 Jim Pollard (22) 30–15 46 February 2 @ Rochester 87–78 George Mikan (23) 31–15 47 February 3 N New York 79–91 Frank Saul (18) 32–15 48 February 4 @ Baltimore 82–70 George Mikan (20) 33–15 49 February 6 Philadelphia 94–97 George Mikan (26) 34–15 50 February 7 @ Fort Wayne 83–90 Jim Pollard (18) 34–16 51 February 8 N Philadelphia 91–106 George Mikan (20) 35–16 52 February 9 N Philadelphia 67–70 George Mikan (23) 36–16 53 February 11 Baltimore 82–110 Dick Schnittker (17) 37–16 54 February 12 N Milwaukee 62–71 George Mikan (21) 37–17 55 February 13 N Philadelphia 77–86 George Mikan (27) 38–17 56 February 14 Rochester 77–105 George Mikan (16) 39–17 57 February 16 N Rochester 79–85 Jim Pollard (24) 40–17 58 February 18 Boston 105–92 George Mikan (17) 40–18 59 February 20 Syracuse 68–83 George Mikan (14) 41–18 60 February 21 @ Syracuse 73–100 Lovellette, Mikan, Skoog (14) 41–19 61 February 22 N Philadelphia 79–72 Vern Mikkelsen (17) 41–20 62 February 23 @ New York 100–82 Mikan, Mikkelsen (20) 42–20 63 February 25 @ Philadelphia 72–81 Mikan, Mikkelsen (17) 42–21 64 February 27 @ Baltimore 95–85 George Mikan (29) 43–21 65 February 28 @ Fort Wayne 77–94 Lovellette, Mikan (15) 43–22 66 March 2 Syracuse 87–91 George Mikan (27) 44–22 67 March 5 @ Boston 106–128 George Mikan (30) 44–23 68 March 6 @ Rochester 59–74 George Mikan (15) 44–24 69 March 7 Milwaukee 63–65 Vern Mikkelsen (17) 45–24 70 March 9 N Rochester 70–61 George Mikan (11) 45–25 71 March 10 New York 85–76 Jim Pollard (17) 45–26 72 March 13 Fort Wayne 66–93 Slater Martin (27) 46–26 Playoffs Minneapolis Lakers yes 1954 #79A3DD #F7C330 Minneapolis Lakers Division Round Robin Semifinals yes no #F7C330 #FFFFFF 2 0 1 0 yes yes yes |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | March 17 | Rochester | W 109–88 | Slater Martin (24) | Minneapolis Auditorium | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | March 18 | @ Fort Wayne | W 90–85 | George Mikan (28) | War Memorial Coliseum | 2–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | March 20 | Fort Wayne | W 78–73 | George Mikan (21) | Minneapolis Auditorium | 3–0 |- Minneapolis Lakers Division Finals yes no #F7C330 #FFFFFF 2 0 0 1 yes yes yes |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | March 24 | Rochester | W 89–76 | George Mikan (28) | Minneapolis Auditorium | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | March 27 | @ Rochester | L 73–74 | George Mikan (17) | Edgerton Park Arena | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | March 28 | Rochester | W 82–72 | George Mikan (17) | Minneapolis Auditorium | 2–1 |- Minneapolis Lakers NBA Finals yes no #F7C330 #FFFFFF 2 2 2 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | March 31 | Syracuse | W 79–68 | Clyde Lovellette (16) | George Mikan (10) | Slater Martin (6) | Minneapolis Auditorium4,579 | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 3 | Syracuse | L 60–62 | George Mikan (15) | George Mikan (15) | Vern Mikkelsen (3) | Minneapolis Auditorium6,277 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | April 4 | @ Syracuse | W 81–67 | George Mikan (30) | George Mikan (15) | Slater Martin (7) | Onondaga War Memorial8,719 | 2–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | April 8 | @ Syracuse | L 69–80 | Whitey Skoog (16) | Jim Pollard (9) | Slater Martin (6) | Onondaga War Memorial7,655 | 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | April 10 | @ Syracuse | W 84–73 | Vern Mikkelsen (21) | Mikan, Lovellette (13) | Slater Martin (7) | Onondaga War Memorial7,283 | 3–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 6 | April 11 | Syracuse | L 63–65 | George Mikan (30) | — | — | Minneapolis Auditorium6,776 | 3–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 7 | April 12 | Syracuse | W 87–80 | Jim Pollard (21) | — | — | Minneapolis Auditorium7,274 | 4–3 |- MNL yes 1954 Awards and honors George Mikan, All-NBA First Team Jim Pollard, All-NBA Second Team George Mikan, NBA All-Star Game Jim Pollard, NBA All-Star Game Slater Martin, NBA All-Star Game References External links 1953–54 Lakers on Database Basketball 1953–54 Lakers on Basketball Reference Category:Los Angeles Lakers seasons Minneapolis Lakers season Category:NBA championship seasons Minnesota Lakers Minnesota Lakers