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1952–53 Minneapolis Lakers season

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1952–53 Minneapolis Lakers season
NBA champions
Division champions
Head coachJohn Kundla
ArenaMinneapolis Auditorium
Results
Record48–22 (.686)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Western)
Playoff finishNBA Champions
(Defeated Knicks 4–1)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
RadioWLOL
< 1951–52 1953–54 >

The 1952–53 Minneapolis Lakers season was the fifth season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] The Lakers continued to be the dominant force in the league as they won the Western Division with a 48–22 record. In the playoffs, the Lakers would sweep the Indianapolis Olympians in 2 straight. In the Western Finals, the Lakers would win the first 2 games at home. Against the Fort Wayne Pistons, the Lakers were pushed to a 5th game. The series returned to Minneapolis, where the Lakers won the 5th game 74–58. In the Finals, the Lakers vanquished the New York Knickerbockers for their 2nd straight Championship, and 4th Championship overall in the franchise's first five seasons in the NBA.[2] HoopsHype later ranked this squad as the team with the fourth-easiest path to an NBA Finals championship, noting them as the team who had the easiest path while facing off against opponents who held mostly above-average records that season, with the only outlier being their first round opponent of the Indianapolis Olympians under their final season of existence.[3]

Offseason

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NBA draft

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Main article: 1952 NBA draft

Roster

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Regular season

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Season standings

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Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Minneapolis Lakers 48 22 .686 - 24-2 16-15 8-5 17-13
x-Rochester Royals 44 26 .629 4 24-8 13-17 7-1 27-13
x-Fort Wayne Pistons 36 33 .522 11.5 25-9 8-19 3-5 18-22
x-Indianapolis Olympians 28 43 .394 20.5 19-14 4-23 5-6 15-26
Milwaukee Hawks 27 44 .380 21.5 14-8 3-24 10-12 15-26

Record vs. opponents

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1952-53 NBA Records
Team BAL BOS FWP IND MIL MIN NYK PHI ROC SYR
Baltimore — 2–8 0–6 2–4 3–3 1–5 0–10 6–4 0–6 2–8
Boston 8–2 — 4–2 4–2 5–1 1–5 6–4 9–1 4–2 5–6
Fort Wayne 6–0 2–4 — 7–3 7–3 1–9 4–2 5–0 3–7 1–5
Indianapolis 4–2 2–4 3–7 — 5–6 4–6 1–5 5–1 3–7 1–5
Milwaukee 3–3 1–5 3–7 6–5 — 3–7 1–5 4–2 3–7 3–3
Minneapolis 5–1 5–1 9–1 6–4 7–3 — 4–2 6–0 4–6 2–4
New York 10–0 4–6 2–4 5–1 5–1 2–4 — 10–0 3–3 6–4
Philadelphia 4–6 1–9 0–5 1–5 2–4 0–6 0–10 — 2–4 2–8
Rochester 6–0 2–4 7–3 7–3 7–3 6–4 3–3 4–2 — 2–4
Syracuse 8–2 6–5 5–1 5–1 3–3 4–2 4–6 8–2 4–2 —

Game log

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# Date Opponent Score High points Record
1 November 1 Boston 91–94 Vern Mikkelsen (17) 1–0
2 November 2 @ Fort Wayne 81–69 Jim Pollard (18) 2–0
3 November 5 @ Baltimore 97–75 Slater Martin (21) 3–0
4 November 8 @ Philadelphia 93–71 George Mikan (18) 4–0
5 November 9 @ Syracuse 89–96 George Mikan (25) 4–1
6 November 11 @ Boston 101–92 Slater Martin (20) 5–1
7 November 13 @ New York 91–100 George Mikan (32) 5–2
8 November 15 @ Rochester 89–97 George Mikan (29) 5–3
9 November 16 Milwaukee 51–87 George Mikan (14) 6–3
10 November 20 @ Fort Wayne 89–81 George Mikan (32) 7–3
11 November 22 Fort Wayne 89–96 George Mikan (35) 8–3
12 November 23 @ Milwaukee 62–46 George Mikan (17) 9–3
13 November 27 Indianapolis 69–90 Vern Mikkelsen (19) 10–3
14 November 28 @ Indianapolis 97–82 Slater Martin (22) 11–3
15 November 29 @ Rochester 71–83 Jim Pollard (17) 11–4
16 November 30 Philadelphia 66–91 George Mikan (23) 12–4
17 December 1 N Baltimore 67–89 Mikan, Mikkelsen (17) 13–4
18 December 3 @ Boston 106–102 (OT) Jim Pollard (29) 14–4
19 December 4 @ New York 81–71 Vern Mikkelsen (24) 15–4
20 December 6 New York 78–85 (OT) George Mikan (27) 16–4
21 December 8 N Indianapolis 76–81 George Mikan (25) 16–5
22 December 11 Syracuse 79–82 Vern Mikkelsen (31) 17–5
23 December 14 Rochester 77–95 Slater Martin (17) 18–5
24 December 19 @ Indianapolis 87–69 Slater Martin (22) 19–5
25 December 20 @ Milwaukee 75–86 Vern Mikkelsen (28) 19–6
26 December 25 Indianapolis 73–90 George Mikan (20) 20–6
27 December 27 Boston 71–94 Jim Pollard (20) 21–6
28 December 28 Milwaukee 77–86 Harrison, Mikkelsen (17) 22–6
29 December 30 @ Indianapolis 69–74 George Mikan (16) 22–7
30 December 31 Baltimore 56–82 George Mikan (19) 23–7
31 January 2 N Milwaukee 74–66 Vern Mikkelsen (22) 24–7
32 January 3 N Milwaukee 79–75 Slater Martin (22) 25–7
33 January 4 Rochester 80–83 (OT) George Mikan (23) 26–7
34 January 6 N Rochester 85–69 George Mikan (26) 26–8
35 January 8 @ Syracuse 67–75 George Mikan (16) 26–9
36 January 10 N Fort Wayne 79–84 George Mikan (29) 27–9
37 January 11 New York 79–85 George Mikan (22) 28–9
38 January 14 @ Baltimore 112–104 (2OT) George Mikan (46) 29–9
39 January 17 @ Rochester 101–109 George Mikan (41) 29–10
40 January 18 Milwaukee 83–70 George Mikan (22) 29–11
41 January 23 N Milwaukee 65–67 George Mikan (22) 29–12
42 January 25 Boston 82–87 George Mikan (30) 30–12
43 January 27 N Fort Wayne 96–76 Jim Pollard (23) 31–12
44 January 29 Syracuse 83–65 George Mikan (13) 31–13
45 January 31 Fort Wayne 80–87 George Mikan (23) 32–13
46 February 1 @ Fort Wayne 92–76 Slater Martin (19) 33–13
47 February 3 @ Indianapolis 93–96 (3OT) George Mikan (29) 33–14
48 February 5 New York 73–81 George Mikan (36) 34–14
49 February 7 @ Rochester 72–87 George Mikan (25) 34–15
50 February 8 Indianapolis 67–71 George Mikan (24) 35–15
51 February 12 Syracuse 81–91 George Mikan (36) 36–15
52 February 14 Philadelphia 84–92 George Mikan (19) 37–15
53 February 15 @ Milwaukee 80–71 George Mikan (23) 38–15
54 February 17 N Baltimore 74–70 Vern Mikkelsen (19) 38–16
55 February 19 Rochester 87–107 Mikan, Pollard (17) 39–16
56 February 21 Fort Wayne 75–85 Jim Pollard (17) 40–16
57 February 22 @ Fort Wayne 78–90 George Mikan (26) 40–17
58 February 24 @ New York 63–79 Jim Pollard (12) 40–18
59 February 25 @ Baltimore 85–72 George Mikan (20) 41–18
60 February 26 @ Philadelphia 85–73 George Mikan (25) 42–18
61 February 27 N Philadelphia 75–98 George Mikan (22) 43–18
62 March 1 N Philadelphia 80–102 George Mikan (33) 44–18
63 March 3 N Fort Wayne 86–68 Vern Mikkelsen (23) 45–18
64 March 5 @ Syracuse 91–94 Vern Mikkelsen (23) 45–19
65 March 6 @ Boston 85–100 Vern Mikkelsen (21) 45–20
66 March 7 @ Rochester 82–84 Vern Mikkelsen (17) 45–21
67 March 8 Milwaukee 73–100 George Mikan (18) 46–21
68 March 9 N Indianapolis 83–95 Vern Mikkelsen (22) 46–22
69 March 12 Rochester 77–89 George Mikan (28) 47–22
70 March 17 @ Indianapolis 73–71 Pollard, Skoog (14) 48–22

Player stats

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Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average

Player GP REB AST STL BLK PTS AVG

Playoffs

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1953 playoff game log
Division Semifinals: 2–0 (home: 1–0; road: 1–0)
Game Date Team Score High points Location Series
1 March 22 Indianapolis W 85–69 Vern Mikkelsen (18) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–0
2 March 23 @ Indianapolis W 81–79 Pollard, Mikkelsen (16) Butler Fieldhouse 2–0
Division Finals: 3–2 (home: 3–0; road: 0–2)
Game Date Team Score High points Location Series
1 March 26 Fort Wayne W 83–73 George Mikan (21) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–0
2 March 28 Fort Wayne W 82–75 George Mikan (20) Minneapolis Auditorium 2–0
3 March 30 @ Fort Wayne L 95–98 George Mikan (23) War Memorial Coliseum 2–1
4 April 1 @ Fort Wayne L 82–85 George Mikan (25) War Memorial Coliseum 2–2
5 April 2 Fort Wayne W 74–58 Mikan, Martin (18) Minneapolis Auditorium 3–2
NBA Finals: 4–1 (home: 1–1; road: 3–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 April 4 New York L 88–96 George Mikan (25) — Minneapolis Auditorium
5,000 		0–1
2 April 5 New York W 73–71 George Mikan (18) — Minneapolis Auditorium
4,848 		1–1
3 April 7 @ New York W 90–75 George Mikan (20) — 69th Regiment Armory
5,100 		2–1
4 April 8 @ New York W 71–69 George Mikan (27) — 69th Regiment Armory
5,200 		3–1
5 April 10 @ New York W 91–84 Jim Pollard (17) Vern Mikkelsen (6) 69th Regiment Armory
5,200 		4–1
1953 schedule

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ 1952–53 Minneapolis Lakers
  2. ^ "Minneapolis Lakers – Sports Ecyclopedia".
  3. ^ "Ranking the easiest paths to an NBA title ever". June 18, 2024.
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