1952–53 Fort Wayne Pistons season

The 1952–53 NBA season was the Pistons' fifth season in the NBA and 12th season as a franchise.[1]

1952–53 Fort Wayne Pistons season
Head coach	Paul Birch
Arena	War Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record	36–33 (.522)
Place	Division: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finish	West Division Finals (eliminated 2–3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

Offseason

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College

Regular season

Season standings

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

x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

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

1952–53 Game log
#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	November 1	@ Rochester	82–94	Frank Brian (15)	0–1
2	November 2	Minneapolis	81–69	Larry Foust (19)	0–2
3	November 6	Rochester	84–64	Frank Brian (20)	0–3
4	November 9	Indianapolis	71–74	Frank Brian (18)	1–3
5	November 11	@ Indianapolis	63–78	Larry Foust (16)	1–4
6	November 15	@ Milwaukee	68–71	Frank Brian (22)	1–5
7	November 16	New York	83–112	Dick Groat (25)	2–5
8	November 20	Minneapolis	89–81	Fred Schaus (24)	2–6
9	November 22	@ Minneapolis	89–96	Larry Foust (21)	2–7
10	November 23	Philadelphia	80–92	Fred Schaus (22)	3–7
11	November 26	@ Milwaukee	80–72	Don Meineke (19)	4–7
12	November 27	Milwaukee	87–95 (OT)	Dwight Eddleman (24)	5–7
13	November 29	N Boston	71–78	Frank Brian (17)	5–8
14	November 30	Baltimore	95–100 (2OT)	Dwight Eddleman (27)	6–8
15	December 4	Syracuse	78–70	Dwight Eddleman (21)	6–9
16	December 5	@ Indianapolis	74–84	Larry Foust (27)	6–10
17	December 6	@ Baltimore	103–91	Fred Schaus (21)	7–10
18	December 7	New York	91–102	Don Meineke (27)	8–10
19	December 11	Milwaukee	70–71 (OT)	Larry Foust (22)	9–10
20	December 14	Indianapolis	71–86	Larry Foust (27)	10–10
21	December 16	N Philadelphia	64–95	Foust, Groat (18)	11–10
22	December 18	@ Philadelphia	86–79	Larry Foust (22)	12–10
23	December 20	@ Rochester	89–92	Larry Foust (23)	12–11
24	December 21	Philadelphia	71–74	Don Meineke (16)	13–11
25	December 23	@ Indianapolis	59–72	Fred Schaus (14)	13–12
26	December 25	Milwaukee	69–71 (2OT)	Larry Foust (14)	14–12
27	December 27	N New York	91–92	Dick Groat (17)	15–12
28	December 28	Boston	89–66	Frank Brian (19)	15–13
29	December 31	Indianapolis	85–91	Larry Foust (25)	16–13
30	January 1	@ Syracuse	78–92	Larry Foust (22)	16–14
31	January 3	@ Rochester	101–106	Brian, Eddleman, Foust, Groat (13)	16–15
32	January 4	Philadelphia	68–79	Andy Phillip (25)	17–15
33	January 6	@ Milwaukee	71–73	Brian, Foust (17)	17–16
34	January 10	N Minneapolis	84–79	Fred Schaus (20)	17–17
35	January 11	Indianapolis	68–72	Larry Foust (17)	18–17
36	January 15	Boston	85–91	Dwight Eddleman (28)	19–17
37	January 16	N Indianapolis	68–75	Larry Foust (15)	20–17
38	January 18	Rochester	87–90	Dick Groat (22)	21–17
39	January 21	@ Boston	84–94	Frank Brian (21)	21–18
40	January 22	@ Syracuse	75–87	Larry Foust (15)	21–19
41	January 24	@ New York	76–82	Larry Foust (22)	21–20
42	January 25	Milwaukee	62–65	Don Meineke (15)	22–20
43	January 27	N Minneapolis	96–76	Andy Phillip (17)	22–21
44	January 29	Boston	98–111	Larry Foust (21)	23–21
45	January 30	N Rochester	70–68 (OT)	Phillip, Schaus (15)	23–22
46	January 31	@ Minneapolis	80–87	Dick Groat (19)	23–23
47	February 1	Minneapolis	92–76	Frank Brian (16)	23–24
48	February 5	Indianapolis	63–68	Andy Phillip (19)	24–24
49	February 8	Baltimore	78–89	Andy Phillip (19)	25–24
50	February 11	Syracuse	78–96	Frank Brian (20)	26–24
51	February 14	@ Baltimore	102–88	Fred Schaus (20)	27–24
52	February 15	Rochester	84–72	Chuck Share (17)	27–25
53	February 17	@ Rochester	88–78	Andy Phillip (19)	28–25
54	February 19	Baltimore	79–83 (OT)	Fred Scolari (17)	29–25
55	February 21	@ Minneapolis	75–85	Andy Phillip (15)	29–26
56	February 22	Minneapolis	78–90	Andy Phillip (20)	30–26
57	February 24	@ Rochester	91–80	Don Meineke (19)	31–26
58	February 26	@ Syracuse	77–89	Don Meineke (20)	31–27
59	February 28	@ New York	74–85	Larry Foust (20)	31–28
60	March 1	Milwaukee	74–76	Fred Scolari (24)	32–28
61	March 3	N Minneapolis	86–68	Larry Foust (18)	32–29
62	March 4	Syracuse	75–73 (2OT)	Larry Foust (20)	32–30
63	March 6	@ Indianapolis	73–64	Andy Phillip (23)	33–30
64	March 7	@ Baltimore	83–81 (OT)	Brian, Foust, Schaus (15)	34–30
65	March 8	Rochester	71–69	Foust, Phillip, Scolari (13)	34–31
66	March 9	Milwaukee	74–94	Fred Schaus (17)	35–31
67	March 11	@ Boston	92–98	Fred Scolari (26)	35–32
68	March 15	New York	69–81	Fred Schaus (18)	36–32
69	March 17	@ Milwaukee	61–87	Larry Foust (12)	36–33

Playoffs

West Division Semifinals

(2) Rochester Royals vs. (3) Fort Wayne Pistons: Pistons win series 2-1

• Game 1 @ Rochester: Fort Wayne 84, Rochester 77
• Game 2 @ Fort Wayne: Rochester 83, Fort Wayne 71
• Game 3 @ Rochester: Fort Wayne 67, Rochester 65

Last Playoff Meeting: 1952 Western Division Semifinals (Rochester won 2–0)

West Division Finals

(1) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) Fort Wayne Pistons: Lakers win series 3-2

• Game 1 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 83, Fort Wayne 73
• Game 2 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 82, Fort Wayne 75
• Game 3 @ Fort Wayne: Fort Wayne 98, Minneapolis 95
• Game 4 @ Fort Wayne: Fort Wayne 85, Minneapolis 82
• Game 5 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 74, Fort Wayne 58

Last Playoff Meeting: 1950 Central Division Finals (Minneapolis won 2–0)

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Awards and records

• Don Meineke, NBA Rookie of the Year Award

References

1. 1952–53 Fort Wayne Pistons

See also

• 1952-53 NBA season