1952–53 New York Knicks season

The 1952–53 New York Knicks season was the seventh season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[1] With a 47–23 record, the Knicks 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]

1952–53 New York Knicks season
Division champions
Head coach	Joe Lapchick
General manager	Ned Irish
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Results
Record	47–23 (.671)
Place	Division: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	NBA Finals (lost to Lakers 1–4)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	WPIX
Radio	WMGM
< 1951–52 1953–54 >

In the first round of the 1953 NBA Playoffs, the Knicks 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 Knicks 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]

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

Roster

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 Joe Lapchick Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-New York Knicks	47	23	.671	-	22-4	15-14	10-5	30-10
x-Syracuse Nationals	47	24	.662	0.5	32-2	10-20	5-2	26-15
x-Boston Celtics	46	25	.648	1.5	21-3	11-18	14-4	28-13
x-Baltimore Bullets	16	54	.229	31	11-20	1–19	4-15	10-30
Philadelphia Warriors	12	57	.174	34.5	5-12	1–28	6-17	7-33

x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1952–53 NBA records
Team	BAL	BOS	FWP	IND	MIL	MIN	NYK	PHI	ROC	SYR
Baltimore	—	2–8	0–6	2–4	3–3	1–5	0–10	6–4	0–6	2–8
Boston	8–2	—	4–2	4–2	5–1	1–5	6–4	9–1	4–2	5–6
Fort Wayne	6–0	2–4	—	7–3	7–3	1–9	4–2	5–0	3–7	1–5
Indianapolis	4–2	2–4	3–7	—	5–6	4–6	1–5	5–1	3–7	1–5
Milwaukee	3–3	1–5	3–7	6–5	—	3–7	1–5	4–2	3–7	3–3
Minneapolis	5–1	5–1	9–1	6–4	7–3	—	4–2	6–0	4–6	2–4
New York	10–0	4–6	2–4	5–1	5–1	2–4	—	10–0	3–3	6–4
Philadelphia	4–6	1–9	0–5	1–5	2–4	0–6	0–10	—	2–4	2–8
Rochester	6–0	2–4	7–3	7–3	7–3	6–4	3–3	4–2	—	2–4
Syracuse	8–2	6–5	5–1	5–1	3–3	4–2	4–6	8–2	4–2	—

Game log

1952–53 game log
#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	November 1	Baltimore	53–69	Nathaniel Clifton (20)	1–0
2	November 8	@ Baltimore	92–62	Nathaniel Clifton (22)	2–0
3	November 11	@ Rochester	94–104	Carl Braun (19)	2–1
4	November 13	Minneapolis	91–100	Ernie Vandeweghe (21)	3–1
5	November 15	Boston	68–79	Carl Braun (17)	4–1
6	November 16	@ Fort Wayne	83–112	Connie Simmons (17)	4–2
7	November 18	Indianapolis	90–100	Vince Boryla (22)	4–3
8	November 20	N Indianapolis	72–67	Harry Gallatin (16)	5–3
9	November 22	Syracuse	68–98	Max Zaslofsky (22)	6–3
10	November 23	@ Syracuse	73–76	Harry Gallatin (13)	6–4
11	November 26	@ Baltimore	94–92	Connie Simmons (20)	7–4
12	November 27	N Baltimore	104–92	Nathaniel Clifton (19)	8–4
13	November 29	Indianapolis	72–94	Ernie Vandeweghe (16)	9–4
14	December 2	@ Philadelphia	89–82 (OT)	Carl Braun (24)	10–4
15	December 3	N Philadelphia	75–100	Vince Boryla (21)	11–4
16	December 4	Minneapolis	81–71	Connie Simmons (20)	11–5
17	December 6	@ Minneapolis	78–85 (OT)	Carl Braun (25)	11–6
18	December 7	@ Fort Wayne	91–102	Carl Braun (16)	11–7
19	December 9	Rochester	77–75	Max Zaslofsky (21)	11–8
20	December 13	@ Rochester	99–97 (OT)	Carl Braun (25)	12–8
21	December 14	@ Milwaukee	74–69	Gallatin, Simmons (14)	13–8
22	December 16	Syracuse	93–98 (OT)	Max Zaslofsky (22)	14–8
23	December 20	@ Baltimore	102–99 (OT)	Carl Braun (28)	15–8
24	December 21	Baltimore	77–102	Connie Simmons (17)	16–8
25	December 22	N Milwaukee	80–75	Nathaniel Clifton (18)	17–8
26	December 25	Boston	84–97	Ernie Vandeweghe (21)	18–8
27	December 27	N Fort Wayne	91–92	Connie Simmons (20)	18–9
28	December 28	Philadelphia	54–72	Ernie Vandeweghe (15)	19–9
29	January 1	@ Philadelphia	108–82	Ernie Vandeweghe (26)	20–9
30	January 3	Syracuse	77–85 (OT)	Connie Simmons (22)	21–9
31	January 4	@ Boston	100–103	Carl Braun (22)	21–10
32	January 7	N Syracuse	114–93	Carl Braun (25)	21–11
33	January 8	Milwaukee	68–81	Carl Braun (22)	22–11
34	January 9	@ Indianapolis	58–54	Carl Braun (16)	23–11
35	January 11	@ Minneapolis	79–85	Ernie Vandeweghe (21)	23–12
36	January 17	Philadelphia	76–84	Ernie Vandeweghe (20)	24–12
37	January 18	@ Boston	83–99	Harry Gallatin (20)	24–13
38	January 21	N Milwaukee	70–72	Nathaniel Clifton (14)	24–14
39	January 22	N Boston	112–89	Max Zaslofsky (26)	25–14
40	January 24	Fort Wayne	76–82	Carl Braun (20)	26–14
41	January 25	@ Syracuse	97–62	Harry Gallatin (22)	27–14
42	January 27	@ Rochester	74–72	Harry Gallatin (15)	28–14
43	January 29	@ Philadelphia	72–61	Clifton, Gallatin (18)	29–14
44	January 31	Boston	69–76	Braun, Clifton (21)	30–14
45	February 1	N Philadelphia	85–90	Harry Gallatin (21)	31–14
46	February 3	N Milwaukee	76–69	Nathaniel Clifton (18)	32–14
47	February 5	@ Minneapolis	73–81	Connie Simmons (17)	32–15
48	February 6	@ Indianapolis	84–73	Nathaniel Clifton (21)	33–15
49	February 7	Philadelphia	63–86	Harry Gallatin (23)	34–15
50	February 8	@ Boston	79–87	Nathaniel Clifton (15)	34–16
51	February 11	@ Baltimore	86–80	Carl Braun (18)	35–16
52	February 13	N Baltimore	106–96	Vince Boryla (23)	36–16
53	February 14	Indianapolis	79–91	Vince Boryla (22)	37–16
54	February 15	@ Syracuse	85–81	Carl Braun (21)	38–16
55	February 17	Milwaukee	67–86	Harry Gallatin (21)	39–16
56	February 18	N Boston	66–69	Ernie Vandeweghe (18)	39–17
57	February 21	Philadelphia	69–85	Carl Braun (18)	40–17
58	February 22	@ Boston	83–87 (OT)	Connie Simmons (20)	40–18
59	February 24	Minneapolis	63–79	Carl Braun (15)	41–18
60	February 25	N Rochester	79–71 (OT)	Carl Braun (25)	41–19
61	February 28	Fort Wayne	74–85	Ernie Vandeweghe (29)	42–19
62	March 1	@ Syracuse	64–79	Connie Simmons (19)	42–20
63	March 3	Rochester	88–109	Harry Gallatin (25)	43–20
64	March 5	N Baltimore	80–69	Nathaniel Clifton (17)	44–20
65	March 6	Syracuse	66–75	Vince Boryla (22)	45–20
66	March 8	Boston	89–78	Harry Gallatin (17)	45–21
67	March 11	N Baltimore	113–107 (3OT)	Carl Braun (24)	46–21
68	March 12	@ Philadelphia	90–85	Connie Simmons (29)	47–21
69	March 14	Syracuse	95–81	Nathaniel Clifton (18)	47–22
70	March 15	@ Fort Wayne	69–81	Harry Gallatin (30)	47–23

Playoffs

1953 playoff game log
Division semifinals: 2–0 (home: 1–0; road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points Location Series 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) Game Date Team Score High points High assists Location Series 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) Game Date Team Score High points High assists Location 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

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Transactions

See also

• 1952–53 NBA season