The 1952 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1952 NBA playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1951–52 season. The Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers faced the Eastern Division champion New York Knickerbockers in a best-of-seven series with Minneapolis having home-court advantage.
Minneapolis won game one and the teams thereafter alternated victories, Minneapolis winning the decisive game by a 17-point margin at home on Friday, April 25.
All but Game 7 were played in the teams' secondary arenas: the Lakers played at the Saint Paul Auditorium, while the Barnum circus bumped the Knickerbockers from Madison Square Garden to the 69th Regiment Armory.
The seven games were played in fourteen days, beginning Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13, in Minneapolis/St. Paul and returning to Minneapolis/St. Paul for games five and seven on the following Saturday and Friday. Meanwhile, three Wednesday or Friday games were played in New York City. The entire postseason tournament spanned 39 days in which Minneapolis played 13 games and New York 14.
Series summary Game Date Home team Result Road team Game 1 April 12 Minneapolis Lakers 83–79 (OT) (1–0) New York Knickerbockers Game 2 April 13 Minneapolis Lakers 72–80 (1–1) New York Knickerbockers Game 3 April 16 New York Knickerbockers 77–82 (1–2) Minneapolis Lakers Game 4 April 18 New York Knickerbockers 90–89 (OT) (2–2) Minneapolis Lakers Game 5 April 20 Minneapolis Lakers 102–89 (3–2) New York Knickerbockers Game 6 April 23 New York Knickerbockers 76–68 (3–3) Minneapolis Lakers Game 7 April 25 Minneapolis Lakers 82–65 (4–3) New York Knickerbockers Lakers win series 4–3
Team rosters
Minneapolis Lakers
New York Knickerbockers
Game summaries
This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.
References
External links 1952 Finals at NBA.com 1952 NBA Playoffs at Basketball-Reference.com