1951–52 NBA season

The 1951–52 NBA season was the sixth season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.

1951–52 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	November 1, 1951 – March 16, 1952 March 18 – April 8, 1952 (Playoffs) April 12–25, 1952 (Finals)
Number of games	66
Number of teams	10
Draft
Top draft pick	Gene Melchiorre
Picked by	Baltimore Bullets
Regular season
Top seed	Rochester Royals
Top scorer	Paul Arizin (Philadelphia)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	New York Knicks
Eastern runners-up	Syracuse Nationals
Western champions	Minneapolis Lakers
Western runners-up	Rochester Royals
Finals
Venue	69th Regiment Armory, Manhattan, New York Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota St. Paul Auditorium, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Champions	Minneapolis Lakers
Runners-up	New York Knicks

Notable occurrences

• The Tri-Cities Blackhawks relocated from the "Tri-Cities" area (Moline, Illinois, Rock Island, Illinois & Davenport, Iowa) to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and became the Milwaukee Hawks.
• The 1952 NBA All-Star Game was played in Boston, Massachusetts, with the East beating the West 108–91. Paul Arizin of the Philadelphia Warriors won the game's MVP award.

Coaching changes

Offseason
Team	1950–51 coach	1951–52 coach
Baltimore Bullets	Walt Budko	Fred Scolari
Fort Wayne Pistons	Murray Mendenhall	Paul Birch
Indianapolis Olympians	Wally Jones	Herm Schaefer
In-season
Team	Outgoing coach	Incoming coach
Baltimore Bullets	Fred Scolari	Chick Reiser

Final standings

Eastern Division

Eastern Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Syracuse Nationals	40	26	.606	–	26–7	12–18	2–1	21–15
x-Boston Celtics	39	27	.591	1	22–7	10–19	7–1	22–14
x-New York Knicks	37	29	.561	3	21–4	12–22	4–3	23–13
x-Philadelphia Warriors	33	33	.500	7	24–7	6–25	3–1	14–22
Baltimore Bullets	20	46	.303	20	17–15	2–22	1–9	10–26

Western Division

Western Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Rochester Royals	41	25	.621	–	28–5	12–18	1–2	22–14
x-Minneapolis Lakers	40	26	.606	1	21–5	13–20	6–1	24–12
x-Indianapolis Olympians	34	32	.515	7	25–6	4–24	5–2	18–18
x-Fort Wayne Pistons	29	37	.439	12	22–11	6–24	1–2	17–19
Milwaukee Hawks	17	49	.258	24	8–13	3–22	6–14	9–27

x – Clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Main article: 1952 NBA playoffs

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

• * Division winner
• Bold Series winner
• Italic Team with home-court advantage in NBA Finals

Statistics leaders

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points	Paul Arizin	Philadelphia Warriors	1,674
Rebounds	Larry Foust Mel Hutchins	Fort Wayne Pistons Milwaukee Hawks	880
Assists	Andy Phillip	Philadelphia Warriors	539
FG%	Paul Arizin	Philadelphia Warriors	.448
FT%	Bobby Wanzer	Rochester Royals	.904

Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points, rebounds, and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.

NBA awards

• All-NBA First Team:
  • Paul Arizin, Philadelphia Warriors
  • Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics
  • Ed Macauley, Boston Celtics
  • Bob Davies, Rochester Royals
  • Dolph Schayes, Syracuse Nationals
  • George Mikan, Minneapolis Lakers
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • Larry Foust, Fort Wayne Pistons
  • Vern Mikkelsen, Minneapolis Lakers
  • Andy Phillip, Philadelphia Warriors
  • Jim Pollard, Minneapolis Lakers
  • Bobby Wanzer, Rochester Royals

See also

• List of NBA regular season records