1953–54 Minneapolis Lakers season

The 1953–54 Minneapolis Lakers season was the sixth season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Lakers won the Western Division with a 46–26 record. George Mikan was hampered by knee troubles as he averaged only 18.1 points per game. The Lakers signed a promising rookie named Clyde Lovellette, who was able to alleviate the pressure on Mikan.[1] In the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers won three straight to face the Rochester Royals in the Western Finals. The Lakers beat the Royals to qualify for the NBA Finals. In the Finals, the Lakers and Syracuse Nationals alternated wins. In the end, the Lakers emerged with their third straight title, and fifth overall in the franchise's first six seasons in the NBA. They became the first NBA team to win three consecutive NBA championships.[2] In the seventh and final game, the Lakers won by a score of 87–80, for the franchise's final NBA title before their relocation to Los Angeles in 1960. Following the season, Mikan announced his retirement.[1]

1953–54 Minneapolis Lakers season
NBA champions
Division champions
Head coachJohn Kundla
ArenaMinneapolis Auditorium
Results
Record46–26 (.639)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Western)
Playoff finishNBA Champions
(Defeated Nationals 4–3)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
RadioWLOL

The Lakers would not win another NBA championship until 1972.

NBA draft
Main article: 1953 NBA draft

Roster
1953–54 Minneapolis Lakers roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
PF Fritsche, Jim 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1931-12-10 Hamline
G 16 Harrison, Bob 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1927-08-12 Michigan
SF 12 Holstein, Jim 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1930-09-24 Cincinnati
C 34−89 Lovellette, Clyde 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 234 lb (106 kg) 1929-09-07 Kansas
PG 22 Martin, Slater 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1925-10-22 Texas
C 99 Mikan, George 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1924-06-18 DePaul
PF 19 Mikkelsen, Vern 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1928-10-21 Hamline
SF 17 Pollard, Jim 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1922-07-09 Stanford
SG 18 Saul, Pep 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1924-02-16 Seton Hall
SF 15−24 Schnittker, Dick 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1928-05-27 Ohio State
SG 20 Skoog, Whitey 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1926-11-02 Minnesota
Head coach

John Kundla

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster
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Regular season

Season standings
Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Minneapolis Lakers4626.639–20–413–1513–719–13
x-Rochester Royals4428.611218–1012–1514–322–10
x-Fort Wayne Pistons4032.556619–811–1710–717–15
Milwaukee Hawks2151.2922511–145–176–206–26

Record vs. opponents
1953–54 NBA records
Team BAL BOS FWP MIL MIN NYK PHI ROC SYR
Baltimore —1–90–82–62–63–74–61–73–7
Boston 9–1—4–46–23–55–56–44–45–5
Fort Wayne 8–04–4—9–25–53–56–23–82–6
Milwaukee 6–22–62–9—3–83–53–51–91–7
Minneapolis 6–25–35–58–3—5–36–26–55–3
New York 7–35–55–35–33–5—7–37–15–5
Philadelphia 6–44–62–65–32–63–7—1–76–4
Rochester 7–14–48–39–15–61–77–1—3–5
Syracuse 7–35–56–27–13–55–54–65–3—

Game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 30@ Milwaukee59–69George Mikan (12)0–1
2October 31@ New York67–91George Mikan (16)0–2
3November 1@ Boston84–79Jim Pollard (20)1–2
4November 4@ Baltimore77–75George Mikan (24)2–2
5November 5@ Syracuse77–65Slater Martin (20)3–2
6November 7New York62–70George Mikan (22)4–2
7November 10N Fort Wayne62–78Slater Martin (12)4–3
8November 13@ Milwaukee92–84George Mikan (26)5–3
9November 14@ Rochester91–98 (3OT)George Mikan (30)5–4
10November 15N Boston89–74Jim Pollard (17)6–4
11November 17N Fort Wayne83–66Clyde Lovellette (19)7–4
12November 19@ Philadelphia107–79Vern Mikkelsen (24)8–4
13November 21Rochester70–76George Mikan (36)9–4
14November 22@ Milwaukee57–55George Mikan (24)10–4
15November 26Philadelphia80–88George Mikan (23)11–4
16November 29Boston82–95George Mikan (28)12–4
17December 3N Syracuse74–87George Mikan (27)13–4
18December 5Syracuse80–90George Mikan (18)14–4
19December 12New York67–71Martin, Mikkelsen (14)15–4
20December 13N Rochester87–70Frank Saul (16)15–5
21December 15@ New York79–80 (OT)George Mikan (17)15–6
22December 16N Milwaukee69–63 (OT)George Mikan (21)16–6
23December 17@ Baltimore64–75George Mikan (18)16–7
24December 19@ Rochester91–78Slater Martin (20)17–7
25December 20@ Syracuse76–81Slater Martin (17)17–8
26December 25N Baltimore78–88Vern Mikkelsen (15)17–9
27December 26Fort Wayne71–77George Mikan (16)18–9
28December 27@ Fort Wayne79–75George Mikan (21)19–9
29December 30Fort Wayne97–80George Mikan (17)19–10
30January 2New York74–78George Mikan (26)20–10
31January 4N Rochester85–84George Mikan (32)20–11
32January 7Rochester71–89Mikan, Mikkelsen (20)21–11
33January 9@ Milwaukee78–67Lovellette, Mikan (17)22–11
34January 10Boston85–99Mikan, Pollard (16)23–11
35January 13@ Boston84–88George Mikan (21)23–12
36January 14@ Syracuse71–96George Mikan (19)23–13
37January 16Milwaukee64–58Clyde Lovellette (12)23–14
38January 17@ Fort Wayne83–86Vern Mikkelsen (24)23–15
39January 18N Milwaukee91–72Vern Mikkelsen (18)24–15
40January 23Fort Wayne72–75George Mikan (16)25–15
41January 26@ Milwaukee84–69Lovellette, Martin (14)26–15
42January 27Baltimore73–76Jim Pollard (24)27–15
43January 28N Baltimore104–82George Mikan (24)28–15
44January 30Milwaukee64–80Jim Pollard (13)29–15
45January 31Boston67–82Jim Pollard (22)30–15
46February 2@ Rochester87–78George Mikan (23)31–15
47February 3N New York79–91Frank Saul (18)32–15
48February 4@ Baltimore82–70George Mikan (20)33–15
49February 6Philadelphia94–97George Mikan (26)34–15
50February 7@ Fort Wayne83–90Jim Pollard (18)34–16
51February 8N Philadelphia91–106George Mikan (20)35–16
52February 9N Philadelphia67–70George Mikan (23)36–16
53February 11Baltimore82–110Dick Schnittker (17)37–16
54February 12N Milwaukee62–71George Mikan (21)37–17
55February 13N Philadelphia77–86George Mikan (27)38–17
56February 14Rochester77–105George Mikan (16)39–17
57February 16N Rochester79–85Jim Pollard (24)40–17
58February 18Boston105–92George Mikan (17)40–18
59February 20Syracuse68–83George Mikan (14)41–18
60February 21@ Syracuse73–100Lovellette, Mikan, Skoog (14)41–19
61February 22N Philadelphia79–72Vern Mikkelsen (17)41–20
62February 23@ New York100–82Mikan, Mikkelsen (20)42–20
63February 25@ Philadelphia72–81Mikan, Mikkelsen (17)42–21
64February 27@ Baltimore95–85George Mikan (29)43–21
65February 28@ Fort Wayne77–94Lovellette, Mikan (15)43–22
66March 2Syracuse87–91George Mikan (27)44–22
67March 5@ Boston106–128George Mikan (30)44–23
68March 6@ Rochester59–74George Mikan (15)44–24
69March 7Milwaukee63–65Vern Mikkelsen (17)45–24
70March 9N Rochester70–61George Mikan (11)45–25
71March 10New York85–76Jim Pollard (17)45–26
72March 13Fort Wayne66–93Slater Martin (27)46–26

Playoffs
1954 playoff game log
Division Round Robin Semifinals: 3–0 (home: 2–0; road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsLocationRecord
1 March 17 Rochester W 109–88 Slater Martin (24) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–0
2 March 18 @ Fort Wayne W 90–85 George Mikan (28) War Memorial Coliseum 2–0
3 March 20 Fort Wayne W 78–73 George Mikan (21) Minneapolis Auditorium 3–0
Division Finals: 2–1 (home: 2–0; road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsLocationSeries
1 March 24 Rochester W 89–76 George Mikan (28) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–0
2 March 27 @ Rochester L 73–74 George Mikan (17) Edgerton Park Arena 1–1
3 March 28 Rochester W 82–72 George Mikan (17) Minneapolis Auditorium 2–1
NBA Finals: 4–3 (home: 2–2; road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 March 31 Syracuse W 79–68 Clyde Lovellette (16) George Mikan (10) Slater Martin (6) Minneapolis Auditorium
4,579		 1–0
2 April 3 Syracuse L 60–62 George Mikan (15) George Mikan (15) Vern Mikkelsen (3) Minneapolis Auditorium
6,277		 1–1
3 April 4 @ Syracuse W 81–67 George Mikan (30) George Mikan (15) Slater Martin (7) Onondaga War Memorial
8,719		 2–1
4 April 8 @ Syracuse L 69–80 Whitey Skoog (16) Jim Pollard (9) Slater Martin (6) Onondaga War Memorial
7,655		 2–2
5 April 10 @ Syracuse W 84–73 Vern Mikkelsen (21) Mikan, Lovellette (13) Slater Martin (7) Onondaga War Memorial
7,283		 3–2
6 April 11 Syracuse L 63–65 George Mikan (30) — — Minneapolis Auditorium
6,776		 3–3
7 April 12 Syracuse W 87–80 Jim Pollard (21) — — Minneapolis Auditorium
7,274		 4–3
1954 schedule

Awards and honors

References
  1. "Minneapolis Lakers – Sports Ecyclopedia".
  2. Ferraro, Michael X.; Veneziano, John (2007). Numbelievable!. Chicago: Triumph Books. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0.
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