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1953–54 Minneapolis Lakers season

Pro basketball team season (won NBA championship)

(Defeated Nationals 4–3) 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. 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. 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.

The Lakers would not win another NBA championship until 1972.

NBA draft

Main article: 1953 NBA draft

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Game log

72	March 13	Fort Wayne	66–93	Slater Martin (27)	46–26

Playoffs

3–0
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
1
March 24
Rochester
W 89–76
George Mikan (28)
Minneapolis Auditorium
1–0
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
2
March 27
@ Rochester
L 73–74
George Mikan (17)
Edgerton Park Arena
1–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
3
March 28
Rochester
W 82–72
George Mikan (17)
Minneapolis Auditorium
2–1
-
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
1
March 31
Syracuse
W 79–68
Clyde Lovellette (16)
George Mikan (10)
Slater Martin (6)
Minneapolis Auditorium
4,579
1–0
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
2
April 3
Syracuse
L 60–62
George Mikan (15)
George Mikan (15)
Vern Mikkelsen (3)
Minneapolis Auditorium
6,277
1–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
3
April 4
@ Syracuse
W 81–67
George Mikan (30)
George Mikan (15)
Slater Martin (7)
Onondaga War Memorial
8,719
2–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
4
April 8
@ Syracuse
L 69–80
Whitey Skoog (16)
Jim Pollard (9)
Slater Martin (6)
Onondaga War Memorial
7,655
2–2
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
5
April 10
@ Syracuse
W 84–73
Vern Mikkelsen (21)
Mikan, Lovellette (13)
Slater Martin (7)
Onondaga War Memorial
7,283
3–2
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
6
April 11
Syracuse
L 63–65
George Mikan (30)
—
—
Minneapolis Auditorium
6,776
3–3
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
7
April 12
Syracuse
W 87–80
Jim Pollard (21)
—
—
Minneapolis Auditorium
7,274
4–3
-

Awards and honors

George Mikan, All-NBA First Team
Jim Pollard, All-NBA Second Team
George Mikan, NBA All-Star Game
Jim Pollard, NBA All-Star Game
Slater Martin, NBA All-Star Game

References

"Minneapolis Lakers – Sports Ecyclopedia".
(2007). "Numbelievable!". Triumph Books.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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