1952 NBA Playoffs

1952 NBA playoffs

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The 1952 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1951–52 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.

For the first time in NBA history, all teams that made the playoffs the year before meet again, but this time with different outcomes. This would happen again in 1957, in 1966, and then 1973 before a few more teams add to the playoffs in 1975, 1977 and 1984.

The first NBA dynasty, the Lakers won their third NBA title in the last 4 years and what would become their first of 3 straight titles. If not for their division finals loss to the Rochester Royals the previous season, Minneapolis would have won 6 straight titles.

	Division Semifinals					Division Finals					NBA Finals
	1	Rochester	2
	4	Fort Wayne	0
						1	Rochester	1
	Western Division
						2	Minneapolis	3
	3	Indianapolis	0
	2	Minneapolis	2
											W2	Minneapolis	4
											E3	New York	3
	1	Syracuse	2
	4	Philadelphia	1
						1	Syracuse	1
	Eastern Division
						3	New York	3
	3	New York	2
	2	Boston	1

Western Division

Champion: Minneapolis Lakers

Division Semifinals

(1) Rochester Royals vs. (4) Fort Wayne Pistons: Royals win series 2–0

• Game 1 @ Rochester (March 18): Rochester 95, Fort Wayne 78
• Game 2 @ Fort Wayne (March 20): Rochester 92, Fort Wayne 86

Last Playoff Meeting: 1951 NBA Western Division Semifinals (Rochester won 2–1)

(2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) Indianapolis Olympians: Lakers win series 2–0

• Game 1 @ Minneapolis (March 23): Minneapolis 78, Indianapolis 70
• Game 2 @ Indianapolis (March 25): Minneapolis 94, Indianapolis 87

Last Playoff Meeting: 1951 NBA Western Division Semifinals (Minneapolis won 2–1)

Division Finals

(1) Rochester Royals vs. (2) Minneapolis Lakers: Lakers win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Rochester (March 29): Rochester 88, Minneapolis 78
• Game 2 @ Rochester (March 30): Minneapolis 83, Rochester 78 (OT)
• Game 3 @ Minneapolis (April 5): Minneapolis 77, Rochester 67
• Game 4 @ Minneapolis (April 6): Minneapolis 82, Rochester 80

Last Playoff Meeting: 1951 NBA Western Division Finals (Rochester won 3–1)

Eastern Division

Champion: New York Knicks

Division Semifinals

(1) Syracuse Nationals vs. (4) Philadelphia Warriors: Nationals win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Syracuse (March 20): Syracuse 102, Philadelphia 83
• Game 2 @ Philadelphia (March 22): Philadelphia 100, Syracuse 95
• Game 3 @ Syracuse (March 23): Syracuse 84, Philadelphia 73

Last Playoff Meeting: 1951 NBA Eastern Division Semifinals (Syracuse won 2–0)

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Boston (March 19): Boston 105, New York 94
• Game 2 @ New York (March 23): New York 101, Boston 97
• Game 3 @ Boston (March 26): New York 88, Boston 87 (2OT)

Last Playoff Meeting: 1951 NBA Eastern Division Semifinals (New York won 2–0)

Division Finals

(1) Syracuse Nationals vs. (3) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Syracuse (April 2): New York 87, Syracuse 85
• Game 2 @ Syracuse (April 3): Syracuse 102, New York 92
• Game 3 @ New York (April 5): New York 99, Syracuse 92
• Game 4 @ New York (April 8): New York 100, Syracuse 93

Last Playoff Meeting: 1951 NBA Eastern Division Finals (New York won 3–2)

NBA Finals

(2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) New York Knicks: Lakers win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Minneapolis (April 12): Minneapolis 83, New York 79 (OT)
• Game 2 @ Minneapolis (April 13): New York 80, Minneapolis 72
• Game 3 @ New York (April 16): Minneapolis 82, New York 77
• Game 4 @ New York (April 18): New York 90, Minneapolis 89 (OT)
• Game 5 @ Minneapolis (April 20): Minneapolis 102, New York 89
• Game 6 @ New York (April 23): New York 76, Minneapolis 68
• Game 7 @ Minneapolis (April 25): Minneapolis 82, New York 65

Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the Lakers and Knicks.

External links

• Basketball-Reference.com's 1952 NBA Playoffs page