1950–51 NBA season
| 1950–51 NBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | Rochester Royals |
| Runners-up | New York Knicks |
The 1950–51 NBA season was the fifth season of the
Rochester Royals winning the NBA Championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals
.
Notable occurrences
- The NBA began recording rebounds.
- The NBA contracted, losing six teams (St. Louis Bombers folded) and shrank from 17 teams to 11 before the season started. Midway through the season, the Washington Capitols folded as well, bringing the number of teams in the league down to ten. Washington, D.C. would not have another professional basketball team until the American Basketball Association’s Oakland Oaks relocated there for one season in 1969–70. Washington’s next NBA team would not be established until a future reformed version of the Baltimore Bullets relocated there in 1973.
- Nat "Sweetwater" Cliftonof the New York Knicks also played in their teams' openers within a few days.
- The lowest scoring game in NBA history occurred on November 22, 1950, where the Fort Wayne Pistons would defeat the Minneapolis Lakers by the final score of 19–18. It would be a catalyst for the NBA to implement the shot clock a few seasons later.
- The longest game in NBA history (by playing time) took place on January 6, 1951, between the Rochester Royals. The game, held in Rochester at Edgerton Park Arena, ended 75–73 after 78 minutes, including six overtimes.[2] The overtimes saw only 18 points scored between the two teams, so this game also became a factor in the introduction of the shot clock.[1]
- During the month of January 1951, it was discovered by New York District Attorney Frank Hogan that Sol Levy, a referee that has been a part of the NBA for three seasons, had arranged to fix the outcomes of six different NBA games under an accomplice of his.[3] Levy would later be suspended, arrested, and subsequently permanently banned from the NBA for his role in fixing NBA games, becoming the first official to be banned in such a case.[4] Baltimore Bullets rookie Norm Mager would subsequently be the first official NBA player to be permanently banned afterward when it was discovered he was involved in the CCNY point-shaving scandal back when he was a senior there.
- The first annual received the first NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award.
| Offseason | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | 1949–50 coach | 1950–51 coach |
| Boston Celtics | Doggie Julian | Red Auerbach |
Tri-Cities Blackhawks
|
Red Auerbach | Dave MacMillan |
| Washington Capitols | Bob Feerick | Bones McKinney |
| In-season | ||
| Team | Outgoing coach | Incoming coach |
Baltimore Bullets
|
Buddy Jeannette | Walt Budko |
| Indianapolis Olympians | Cliff Barker | Wally Jones |
Tri-Cities Blackhawks
|
Dave MacMillan | Johnny Logan Mike Todorovich |
Final standings
Eastern Division
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x-Philadelphia Warriors | 40 | 26 | .606 | – | 28–4 | 11–21 | 1–1 | 22–14 |
| x-Boston Celtics | 39 | 30 | .565 | 1 | 25–5 | 10–23 | 4–2 | 21–19 |
| x-New York Knicks | 36 | 30 | .545 | 4 | 22–5 | 10–25 | 4–0 | 21–15 |
| x-Syracuse Nationals | 32 | 34 | .485 | 8 | 23–10 | 9–24 | – | 19–17 |
| Baltimore Bullets | 24 | 42 | .364 | 16 | 20–12 | 4–24 | 0–6 | 12–24 |
| Washington Capitols | 10 | 25 | .286 | 30 | 7–12 | 3–12 | 0–1 | 6–12 |
Western Division
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x-Minneapolis Lakers | 44 | 24 | .647 | – | 29–3 | 12–21 | 3–0 | 24–12 |
| x-Rochester Royals | 41 | 27 | .603 | 3 | 29–5 | 12–22 | – | 18–15 |
| x-Fort Wayne Pistons | 32 | 36 | .471 | 12 | 27–7 | 5–27 | 0–2 | 18–6 |
| x-Indianapolis Olympians | 31 | 37 | .456 | 13 | 19–12 | 10–24 | 2–1 | 15–20 |
| Tri-Cities Blackhawks | 25 | 43 | .368 | 19 | 22–13 | 2–28 | 1–2 | 12–24 |
- x – Clinched playoff spot
Playoffs
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Philadelphia* | 0 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Syracuse | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | Syracuse | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Division | ||||||||||||||
| E3 | New York | 3 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | New York | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Boston | 0 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | New York | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Rochester | 4 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minneapolis* | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Indianapolis | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minneapolis* | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Western Division | ||||||||||||||
| W2 | Rochester | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Fort Wayne | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Rochester | 2 | ||||||||||||
- * Division winner
- Bold Series winner
- Italic Team with home-court advantage in NBA Finals
Statistics leaders
| Category | Player | Team | Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | George Mikan | Minneapolis Lakers |
1,932 |
| Rebounds | Dolph Schayes | Syracuse Nationals |
1,080 |
| Assists | Andy Phillip | Philadelphia Warriors |
414 |
| FG% | Alex Groza | Indianapolis Olympians | .470 |
| FT% | Joe Fulks | Philadelphia Warriors | .855 |
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:
- Alex Groza, Indianapolis Olympians
- Ralph Beard, Indianapolis Olympians
- Rochester Royals
- Minneapolis Lakers
- Ed Macauley, Boston Celtics
- All-NBA Second Team:
- Tri-Cities Blackhawks
- Philadelphia Warriors
- Dick McGuire, New York Knicks
- Vern Mikkelsen, Minneapolis Lakers
- Syracuse Nationals
See also
References
- ^ a b Maiorana, Sal. "Remembering the Royals". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York: USA Today Network. pp. 1A, 6A. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ "Longest NBA basketball game". Guinness World Records. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
- ^ https://www.espn.com/classic/s/basketball_scandals_explosion.html
- ^ https://www.espn.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/3690/when-an-nba-referee-was-convicted-of-shaving-points
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