| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 18–April 25, 1952 |
| Season | 1951–52 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Minneapolis Lakers (3rd title) |
| Runner-up | New York Knicks |
| Semifinalists | |
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.
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Syracuse* | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Philadelphia | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Syracuse* | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Division | ||||||||||||||
| E3 | New York | 3 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | New York | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Boston | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | New York | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Minneapolis | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Rochester* | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Fort Wayne | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Rochester* | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Western Division | ||||||||||||||
| W2 | Minneapolis | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Indianapolis | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Minneapolis | 2 | ||||||||||||
March 20
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 83, Syracuse Nationals 102 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–25, 21–24, 22–28, 21–25 | ||
| Pts: Paul Arizin 22 Rebs: Paul Arizin 13 Asts: Andy Phillip 6 |
Pts: Dolph Schayes 31 Rebs: Dolph Schayes 18 Asts: Seymour, Osterkorn 4 each | |
| Syracuse leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 22
|
| Syracuse Nationals 95, Philadelphia Warriors 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–30, 23–28, 21–18, 29–24 | ||
| Pts: Osterkorn, Seymour 16 each Rebs: Schayes, Ratkovicz 12 each Asts: Wally Osterkorn 7 |
Pts: Paul Arizin 29 Rebs: Paul Arizin 10 Asts: Andy Phillip 9 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 23
|
| Philadelphia Warriors 73, Syracuse Nationals 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–22, 20–20, 11–19, 18–23 | ||
| Pts: Paul Arizin 26 Rebs: Paul Arizin 15 Asts: Andy Phillip 7 |
Pts: Red Rocha 20 Rebs: Wally Osterkorn 12 Asts: Paul Seymour 4 | |
| Syracuse wins series, 2–1 | ||
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the 76ers/Nationals winning the first two meetings.
| Philadelphia 76ers/ Syracuse Nationals leads 2–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
March 19
|
| New York Knicks 94, Boston Celtics 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–21, 21–32, 25–24, 30–28 | ||
| Pts: Max Zaslofsky 20 Asts: Dick McGuire 7 |
Pts: Bob Cousy 31 Asts: Bill Sharman 7 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 23
|
| Boston Celtics 97, New York Knicks 101 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–22, 22–29, 25–26, 25–24 | ||
| Pts: Ed Macauley 36 Asts: Bob Donham 9 |
Pts: Connie Simmons 22 Asts: Dick McGuire 7 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
March 26
|
| New York Knicks 88, Boston Celtics 87 (2OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 13–20, 26–21, 25–17, 15–21, Overtime: 4–4, 5–4 | ||
| Pts: Max Zaslofsky 21 Asts: Dick McGuire 9 |
Pts: Bob Cousy 34 Asts: Bob Cousy 8 | |
| New York wins series, 2–1 | ||
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Knicks winning the first two meetings.
| New York leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
March 18
|
| Fort Wayne Pistons 78, Rochester Royals 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–22, 14–17, 18–23, 24–33 | ||
| Pts: Larry Foust 17 | Pts: Bobby Wanzer 26 | |
| Rochester leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 20
|
| Rochester Royals 92, Fort Wayne Pistons 86 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–17, 14–26, 23–15, 25–28 | ||
| Pts: Bob Davies 29 | Pts: Jack Kerris 17 | |
| Rochester wins series, 2–0 | ||
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with both teams splitting the first two meetings.
| Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
March 23
|
| Indianapolis Olympians 70, Minneapolis Lakers 78 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–19, 21–18, 14–18, 17–23 | ||
| Pts: Barnhorst, Graboski 17 each | Pts: George Mikan 24 | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 25
|
| Minneapolis Lakers 94, Indianapolis Olympians 87 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–24, 21–25, 25–21, 25–17 | ||
| Pts: George Mikan 36 | Pts: Joe Graboski 29 | |
| Minneapolis wins series, 2–0 | ||
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first meeting.
| Minneapolis leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
April 2
|
| New York Knicks 87, Syracuse Nationals 85 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 13–23, 23–22, 28–13, 23–27 | ||
| Pts: Max Zaslofsky 26 | Pts: Dolph Schayes 25 | |
| New York leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 3
|
| New York Knicks 92, Syracuse Nationals 102 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–21, 27–27, 17–27, 26–27 | ||
| Pts: Harry Gallatin 16 | Pts: Paul Seymour 21 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 5
|
| Syracuse Nationals 92, New York Knicks 99 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–24, 23–29, 22–14, 28–32 | ||
| Pts: Red Rocha 22 | Pts: Max Zaslofsky 20 | |
| New York leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 8
|
| Syracuse Nationals 93, New York Knicks 100 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–20, 22–20, 17–28, 38–32 | ||
| Pts: Dolph Schayes 22 | Pts: Max Zaslofsky 20 | |
| New York wins series, 3–1 | ||
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with both teams splitting the first two meetings.
| Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
March 29
|
| Minneapolis Lakers 78, Rochester Royals 88 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–28, 17–19, 23–23, 13–18 | ||
| Pts: George Mikan 47 | Pts: Bob Davies 26 | |
| Rochester leads series, 1–0 | ||
March 30
|
| Minneapolis Lakers 83, Rochester Royals 78 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–17, 15–17, 17–20, 14–19, Overtime: 10–5 | ||
| Pts: Vern Mikkelsen 19 | Pts: Arnie Risen 24 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 5
|
| Rochester Royals 67, Minneapolis Lakers 77 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–14, 15–22, 19–18, 19–23 | ||
| Pts: Arnie Johnson 16 | Pts: Jim Pollard 22 | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 6
|
| Rochester Royals 80, Minneapolis Lakers 82 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–20, 26–23, 19–22, 15–17 | ||
| Pts: Bob Davies 21 | Pts: Saul, Mikkelsen 18 each | |
| Minneapolis wins series, 3–1 | ||
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with both teams splitting the first two meetings.
| Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
|
Main article: 1952 NBA Finals |
April 12
|
| New York Knicks 79, Minneapolis Lakers 83 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–21, 14–19, 27–20, 12–11, Overtime: 8–12 | ||
| Pts: Simmons, McGuire 15 each Rebs: Nat Clifton 12 Asts: Dick McGuire 5 |
Pts: Jim Pollard 34 Rebs: George Mikan 16 Asts: Pollard, Mikan 4 each | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 13
|
| New York Knicks 80, Minneapolis Lakers 72 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 11–17, 30–14, 20–20, 19–21 | ||
| Pts: Harry Gallatin 18 Rebs: Harry Gallatin 11 Asts: Dick McGuire 5 |
Pts: George Mikan 18 Rebs: George Mikan 21 Asts: Slater Martin 4 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
April 16
|
| Minneapolis Lakers 82, New York Knicks 77 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–20, 22–26, 19–16, 22–15 | ||
| Pts: George Mikan 26 Rebs: George Mikan 17 Asts: Pep Saul 8 |
Pts: Max Zaslofsky 17 Rebs: Nat Clifton 10 Asts: Dick McGuire 10 | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 18
|
| Minneapolis Lakers 89, New York Knicks 90 (OT) | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–23, 21–18, 20–16, 15–20, Overtime: 12–13 | ||
| Pts: Slater Martin 32 Rebs: George Mikan 17 Asts: Pep Saul 5 |
Pts: Connie Simmons 30 Rebs: Nat Clifton 12 Asts: Dick McGuire 6 | |
| Series tied, 2–2 | ||
April 20
|
| New York Knicks 89, Minneapolis Lakers 102 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–33, 22–16, 17–28, 24–25 | ||
| Pts: Nat Clifton 17 Rebs: Clifton, Gallatin 8 each Asts: six players 1 each |
Pts: Mikkelsen, Mikan 32 each Rebs: George Mikan 17 Asts: Pep Saul 5 | |
| Minneapolis leads series, 3–2 | ||
April 23
|
| Minneapolis Lakers 68, New York Knicks 76 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–24, 13–11, 19–17, 16–24 | ||
| Pts: George Mikan 28 Rebs: George Mikan 15 Asts: Slater Martin 9 |
Pts: Max Zaslofsky 23 Rebs: Harry Gallatin 13 Asts: Ernie Vandeweghe 7 | |
| Series tied, 3–3 | ||
April 25
|
| New York Knicks 65, Minneapolis Lakers 82 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 12–18, 17–18, 8–13, 28–33 | ||
| Pts: Max Zaslofsky 21 Rebs: Nat Clifton 10 Asts: Nat Clifton 3 |
Pts: George Mikan 22 Rebs: George Mikan 19 Asts: Slater Martin 6 | |
| Minneapolis wins series, 4–3 | ||
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.[6]