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1952–53 New York Knicks season

Season of National Basketball Association team the New York Knicks From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1952–53 New York Knickerbockers season was the seventh season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] With a 47–23 record, the Knickerbockers won the regular season Eastern Division title by a half-game over the Syracuse Nationals and made the NBA Playoffs for the seventh consecutive year.[1][2]

Head coachJoe Lapchick
General managerNed Irish
ArenaMadison Square Garden
Record47–23 (.671)
Quick facts New York Knicks season, Head coach ...
1952–53 New York Knicks season
Division champions
Head coachJoe Lapchick
General managerNed Irish
ArenaMadison Square Garden
Results
Record47–23 (.671)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishNBA Finals
(lost to Lakers 1–4)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
TelevisionWPIX
RadioWMGM
< 1951–52 1953–54 >
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In the first round of the 1953 NBA Playoffs, the Knickerbockers swept the Baltimore Bullets 2–0 in a best-of-three series to advance to the Eastern Division finals. There, New York defeated the Boston Celtics 3–1 to make the NBA Finals for the third straight year.[2][1] In the Finals, the Knickerbockers lost to the Minneapolis Lakers, four games to one.[2] The club would wait another 17 years to make an NBA championship final, winning it in 1970.[1]

NBA draft

Main article: 1952 NBA draft

Note: This is not an extensive list; it only covers the first and second rounds, and any other players picked by the franchise that played at least one game in the league.[3]

More information Round, Pick ...
Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team
1 5 Ralph Polson F/C  United States Whitworth
– – Dick Bunt G  United States NYU
– – Bert Cook G/F  United States Utah State
– – Dick Surhoff F  United States Long Island
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Roster

More information Players, Coaches ...
1952–53 New York Knicks roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
SF 12 Vince Boryla 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1927-03-11 Denver
SG 4 Carl Braun 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1927-09-25 Colgate
PG 3 Dick Bunt 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1930-07-13 NYU
PF 8 Nat Clifton 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1922-10-13 Xavier (LA)
G/F Jerry Fleishman 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1922-02-14 NYU
PF 11 Harry Gallatin 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1927-04-26 Truman State
SG 7 Ray Lumpp 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 1923-07-11 NYU
PG 3, 16 Al McGuire 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1928-09-07 St. John's
PG 15 Dick McGuire 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1926-01-25 St. John's
PF 6 Ralph Polson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1929-10-26 Whitworth
G 5 Sherwin Raiken 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1928-10-29 Villanova
C 18 Connie Simmons 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 222 lb (101 kg) 1925-03-15 Flushing High School
SF 14, 17 Dick Surhoff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1929-11-16 Long Island
SF 9 Ernie Vandeweghe 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1928-09-12 Colgate
SG 10 Max Zaslofsky 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1925-12-07 St. John's
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster

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Regular season

Season standings

More information W, L ...
Eastern Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-New York Knicks4723.671-22-415-1410-530-10
x-Syracuse Nationals4724.6620.532-210-205-226-15
x-Boston Celtics4625.6481.521-311-1814-428-13
x-Baltimore Bullets1654.2293111-201–194-1510-30
Philadelphia Warriors1257.17434.55-121–286-177-33
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x – clinched playoff spot

Game log

1952–53 game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1November 1Baltimore53–69Nathaniel Clifton (20)1–0
2November 8@ Baltimore92–62Nathaniel Clifton (22)2–0
3November 11@ Rochester94–104Carl Braun (19)2–1
4November 13Minneapolis91–100Ernie Vandeweghe (21)3–1
5November 15Boston68–79Carl Braun (17)4–1
6November 16@ Fort Wayne83–112Connie Simmons (17)4–2
7November 18Indianapolis90–100Vince Boryla (22)4–3
8November 20N Indianapolis72–67Harry Gallatin (16)5–3
9November 22Syracuse68–98Max Zaslofsky (22)6–3
10November 23@ Syracuse73–76Harry Gallatin (13)6–4
11November 26@ Baltimore94–92Connie Simmons (20)7–4
12November 27N Baltimore104–92Nathaniel Clifton (19)8–4
13November 29Indianapolis72–94Ernie Vandeweghe (16)9–4
14December 2@ Philadelphia89–82 (OT)Carl Braun (24)10–4
15December 3N Philadelphia75–100Vince Boryla (21)11–4
16December 4Minneapolis81–71Connie Simmons (20)11–5
17December 6@ Minneapolis78–85 (OT)Carl Braun (25)11–6
18December 7@ Fort Wayne91–102Carl Braun (16)11–7
19December 9Rochester77–75Max Zaslofsky (21)11–8
20December 13@ Rochester99–97 (OT)Carl Braun (25)12–8
21December 14@ Milwaukee74–69Gallatin, Simmons (14)13–8
22December 16Syracuse93–98 (OT)Max Zaslofsky (22)14–8
23December 20@ Baltimore102–99 (OT)Carl Braun (28)15–8
24December 21Baltimore77–102Connie Simmons (17)16–8
25December 22N Milwaukee80–75Nathaniel Clifton (18)17–8
26December 25Boston84–97Ernie Vandeweghe (21)18–8
27December 27N Fort Wayne91–92Connie Simmons (20)18–9
28December 28Philadelphia54–72Ernie Vandeweghe (15)19–9
29January 1@ Philadelphia108–82Ernie Vandeweghe (26)20–9
30January 3Syracuse77–85 (OT)Connie Simmons (22)21–9
31January 4@ Boston100–103Carl Braun (22)21–10
32January 7N Syracuse114–93Carl Braun (25)21–11
33January 8Milwaukee68–81Carl Braun (22)22–11
34January 9@ Indianapolis58–54Carl Braun (16)23–11
35January 11@ Minneapolis79–85Ernie Vandeweghe (21)23–12
36January 17Philadelphia76–84Ernie Vandeweghe (20)24–12
37January 18@ Boston83–99Harry Gallatin (20)24–13
38January 21N Milwaukee70–72Nathaniel Clifton (14)24–14
39January 22N Boston112–89Max Zaslofsky (26)25–14
40January 24Fort Wayne76–82Carl Braun (20)26–14
41January 25@ Syracuse97–62Harry Gallatin (22)27–14
42January 27@ Rochester74–72Harry Gallatin (15)28–14
43January 29@ Philadelphia72–61Clifton, Gallatin (18)29–14
44January 31Boston69–76Braun, Clifton (21)30–14
45February 1N Philadelphia85–90Harry Gallatin (21)31–14
46February 3N Milwaukee76–69Nathaniel Clifton (18)32–14
47February 5@ Minneapolis73–81Connie Simmons (17)32–15
48February 6@ Indianapolis84–73Nathaniel Clifton (21)33–15
49February 7Philadelphia63–86Harry Gallatin (23)34–15
50February 8@ Boston79–87Nathaniel Clifton (15)34–16
51February 11@ Baltimore86–80Carl Braun (18)35–16
52February 13N Baltimore106–96Vince Boryla (23)36–16
53February 14Indianapolis79–91Vince Boryla (22)37–16
54February 15@ Syracuse85–81Carl Braun (21)38–16
55February 17Milwaukee67–86Harry Gallatin (21)39–16
56February 18N Boston66–69Ernie Vandeweghe (18)39–17
57February 21Philadelphia69–85Carl Braun (18)40–17
58February 22@ Boston83–87 (OT)Connie Simmons (20)40–18
59February 24Minneapolis63–79Carl Braun (15)41–18
60February 25N Rochester79–71 (OT)Carl Braun (25)41–19
61February 28Fort Wayne74–85Ernie Vandeweghe (29)42–19
62March 1@ Syracuse64–79Connie Simmons (19)42–20
63March 3Rochester88–109Harry Gallatin (25)43–20
64March 5N Baltimore80–69Nathaniel Clifton (17)44–20
65March 6Syracuse66–75Vince Boryla (22)45–20
66March 8Boston89–78Harry Gallatin (17)45–21
67March 11N Baltimore113–107 (3OT)Carl Braun (24)46–21
68March 12@ Philadelphia90–85Connie Simmons (29)47–21
69March 14Syracuse95–81Nathaniel Clifton (18)47–22
70March 15@ Fort Wayne69–81Harry Gallatin (30)47–23

Playoffs

More information 1953 playoff game log, Game ...
1953 playoff game log
Division semifinals: 2–0 (home: 1–0; road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsLocationSeries
1 March 17 Baltimore W 80–62 Connie Simmons (25) Madison Square Garden III 1–0
2 March 20 @ Baltimore W 90–81 Vince Boryla (20) Baltimore Coliseum 2–0
Division finals: 3–1 (home: 2–0; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh assistsLocationSeries
1 March 25 Boston W 95–91 Connie Simmons (18) Dick McGuire (8) Madison Square Garden III 1–0
2 March 26 @ Boston L 70–86 Harry Gallatin (17) Carl Braun (7) Boston Garden 1–1
3 March 28 Boston W 101–82 Harry Gallatin (23) Dick McGuire (11) Madison Square Garden III 2–1
4 March 29 @ Boston W 82–75 Carl Braun (18) Nat Clifton (9) Boston Garden 3–1
NBA Finals: 1–4 (home: 0–3; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 4 @ Minneapolis W 96–88 Carl Braun (21) — Minneapolis Auditorium
5,000		 1–0
2 April 5 @ Minneapolis L 71–73 Connie Simmons (17) — Minneapolis Auditorium
4,848		 1–1
3 April 7 Minneapolis L 75–90 Connie Simmons (18) — 69th Regiment Armory
5,100		 1–2
4 April 8 Minneapolis L 69–71 Connie Simmons (17) — 69th Regiment Armory
5,200		 1–3
5 April 10 Minneapolis L 84–91 Carl Braun (19) Ernie Vandeweghe (4) 69th Regiment Armory
5,200		 1–4
1953 schedule
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