1951–52 Minneapolis Lakers season

The 1951–52 Minneapolis Lakers season was the fourth season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The NBA widened the foul lane before the 1951–52 season in an attempt to slow down George Mikan. Despite the change, it had little effect on Mikan. He still averaged 23.8 points per game, although he lost the scoring title to Paul Arizin, from the Philadelphia Warriors.[1] The Lakers went into the campaign with essentially the same lineup. Rochester took first place in the Western Division by a game, but the Lakers ousted the Royals in four games in the division finals. The NBA Finals would have the Lakers oppose the New York Knickerbockers.[1] Games 3 and 4 of the Finals were played at the 69th Regiment Armory instead of at Madison Square Garden. This was because the circus was in town. The teams split those games, and Games 5 and 6 as well. Game 7 was dominated by Minneapolis. The Lakers pounded out an 82–65 win, at home, to claim their third NBA crown in their first four seasons.[1]

1951–52 Minneapolis Lakers season
NBA champions
Head coachJohn Kundla
ArenaMinneapolis Auditorium
Results
Record40–26 (.606)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finishNBA Champions
(Defeated Knicks 4–3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
RadioWLOL

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings
Western Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Rochester Royals4125.621–28–512–181–222–14
x-Minneapolis Lakers4026.606121–513–206–124–12
x-Indianapolis Olympians3432.515725–64–245–218–18
x-Fort Wayne Pistons2937.4391222–116–241–217–19
Milwaukee Hawks1749.258248–133–226–149–27

Record vs. opponents
1951-52 NBA Records
Team BAL BOS FWP IND MIL MIN NYK PHI ROC SYR
Baltimore —1–82–42–44–20–62–74–52–43–6
Boston 8–1—3–33–35–13–34–56–33–34–5
Fort Wayne 4–23–3—5–44–55–43–32–43–60–6
Indianapolis 4–23–34–5—7–24–53–32–43–64–2
Milwaukee 2–41–55–42–7—1–82–41–51–82–4
Minneapolis 6–03–34–55–48–1—4–22–47–21–5
New York 7–25–43–33–34–22–4—6–32–45–4
Philadelphia 5–43–64–24–25–14–23–6—2–43–6
Rochester 4–23–36–36–38–12–74–24–2—4–2
Syracuse 6–35–46–02–44–25–14–56–32–4—

Game log
1951–52 Game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1November 3@ Rochester93–74Vern Mikkelsen (25)1–0
2November 4@ Syracuse67–98George Mikan (27)1–1
3November 9@ Philadelphia86–98George Mikan (41)1–2
4November 10@ New York89–73George Mikan (31)2–2
5November 11@ Boston72–77Jim Pollard (17)2–3
6November 12@ Baltimore90–80George Mikan (31)3–3
7November 13@ Indianapolis77–71George Mikan (22)4–3
8November 17Fort Wayne64–68 (OT)George Mikan (32)5–3
9November 22Rochester65–70 (2OT)Vern Mikkelsen (21)6–3
10November 24Milwaukee72–59George Mikan (19)7–3
11November 25Indianapolis73–82George Mikan (31)8–3
12November 28Boston76–90George Mikan (34)9–3
13December 1Fort Wayne69–89George Mikan (24)10–3
14December 2@ Fort Wayne61–63George Mikan (22)10–4
15December 5Syracuse83–81 (OT)Vern Mikkelsen (23)10–5
16December 8N Baltimore85–64Mikan, Pollard (22)11–5
17December 9Indianapolis85–78Vern Mikkelsen (25)11–6
18December 11@ Indianapolis69–85Mikan, Mikkelsen (16)11–7
19December 12Baltimore79–99George Mikan (25)12–7
20December 16Milwaukee52–99George Mikan (24)13–7
21December 18@ New York67–69George Mikan (19)13–8
22December 21@ Philadelphia103–105 (3OT)George Mikan (36)13–9
23December 22@ Baltimore96–90 (3OT)George Mikan (39)14–9
24December 23@ Fort Wayne79–81George Mikan (33)14–10
25December 25Boston93–100Jim Pollard (25)15–10
26December 30Philadelphia64–93George Mikan (22)16–10
27January 1Syracuse80–82George Mikan (37)17–10
28January 4N Fort Wayne79–64Mikan, Pollard (21)18–10
29January 5N Indianapolis86–65George Mikan (20)19–10
30January 6New York92–107Jim Pollard (32)20–10
31January 8@ Indianapolis75–82George Mikan (27)20–11
32January 9Indianapolis74–91George Mikan (29)21–11
33January 11@ Milwaukee75–63George Mikan (18)22–11
34January 12N Milwaukee96–84Jim Pollard (24)23–11
35January 13Philadelphia88–81George Mikan (33)23–12
36January 16@ Boston108–94Vern Mikkelsen (36)24–12
37January 17@ Syracuse105–110 (3OT)Martin, Mikkelsen (19)24–13
38January 19@ Rochester85–96Slater Martin (20)24–14
39January 20Rochester81–91 (2OT)George Mikan (61)25–14
40January 23Syracuse99–97 (OT)George Mikan (28)25–15
41January 26@ Milwaukee57–56Jim Pollard (18)26–15
42January 27Milwaukee62–91Vern Mikkelsen (19)27–15
43January 30New York65–77Martin, Pollard (14)28–15
44January 31@ Fort Wayne85–78Mikan, Pollard (23)29–15
45February 1@ Indianapolis77–85George Mikan (25)29–16
46February 3Rochester75–77George Mikan (25)30–16
47February 7Rochester75–86George Mikan (27)31–16
48February 9Fort Wayne70–67George Mikan (29)31–17
49February 10@ Milwaukee69–70 (2OT)Frank Saul (14)31–18
50February 14N Milwaukee109–74Jim Pollard (25)32–18
51February 16N Boston75–77Slater Martin (17)32–19
52February 17@ Fort Wayne87–99Howie Schultz (19)32–20
53February 19@ New York96–98George Mikan (26)32–21
54February 20@ Baltimore93–78Vern Mikkelsen (28)33–21
55February 21@ Syracuse80–88George Mikan (25)33–22
56February 23@ Rochester83–73George Mikan (26)34–22
57February 24@ Fort Wayne70–83Jim Pollard (19)34–23
58February 25Philadelphia95–108George Mikan (28)35–23
59March 1N Indianapolis98–88George Mikan (26)36–23
60March 2@ Milwaukee96–85Jim Pollard (26)37–23
61March 4@ Philadelphia81–83George Mikan (41)37–24
62March 5@ Boston74–82Slater Martin (20)37–25
63March 8@ Rochester92–94 (OT)Mikan, Pollard (21)37–26
64March 9Rochester90–96Jim Pollard (32)38–26
65March 12New York83–85Jim Pollard (22)39–26
66March 16Baltimore82–126Vern Mikkelsen (23)40–26

Player stats

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

West Division Semifinals

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

  • Game 1 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 78, Indianapolis 70
  • Game 2 @ Indianapolis: Minneapolis 94, Indianapolis 87

West Division Finals

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

  • Game 1 @ Rochester: Rochester 88, Minneapolis 78
  • Game 2 @ Rochester: Minneapolis 83, Rochester 78 (OT)
  • Game 3 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 77, Rochester 67
  • Game 4 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 82, Rochester 80

NBA Finals

(W2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (E3) New York Knicks: Lakers win series 4–3

  • Game 1 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 83, New York 79 (OT)
  • Game 2 @ Minneapolis: New York 80, Minneapolis 72
  • Game 3 @ New York: Minneapolis 82, New York 77
  • Game 4 @ New York: New York 90, Minneapolis 89 (OT)
  • Game 5 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 102, New York 89
  • Game 6 @ New York: New York 76, Minneapolis 68
  • Game 7 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 82, New York 65

Awards and honors

References
  1. LAKERS: Los Angeles Lakers History
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