1953–54 NBA season
| 1953–54 NBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | October 30, 1953 – March 14, 1954 March 16–28, 1954 (Playoffs) March 31 – April 12, 1954 (Finals) |
| Number of games | 72 |
| Number of teams | 9 |
| TV partner(s) | DuMont |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Ray Felix |
| Picked by | Baltimore Bullets |
| Regular season | |
| Top seed | Minneapolis Lakers |
| Top scorer | Neil Johnston (Philadelphia) |
| Playoffs | |
| Eastern champions | Syracuse Nationals |
| Eastern runners-up | Boston Celtics |
| Western champions | Minneapolis Lakers |
| Western runners-up | Rochester Royals |
| Finals | |
| Venue |
|
| Champions | Minneapolis Lakers |
| Runners-up | Syracuse Nationals |
The 1953–54 NBA season was the eighth season of the
Syracuse Nationals 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. It was also the final time the Lakers would win an NBA Championship before the franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1960
.
Notable occurrences
- The NBA-ABA merger.
- The 1954 NBA All-Star Game was played in New York City, with the East beating the West 98–93 in overtime. Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics won the game's MVP award.
- This marked the first year the NBA had a national television contract. The contract had the DuMont Television Network televising 13 games, paying 39,000 dollars for the rights.
| Offseason | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | 1952–53 coach | 1953–54 coach |
| N/A | ||
| In-season | ||
| Team | Outgoing coach | Incoming coach |
Milwaukee Hawks
|
Andrew Levane | Red Holzman |
Teams
| 1953-54 National Basketball Association | ||||
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern | Baltimore Bullets
|
Baltimore, Maryland
|
Baltimore Coliseum | 4,500 |
| Boston Celtics | Boston, Massachusetts
|
Boston Garden | 13,909 | |
| New York Knicks | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 18,496 | |
Philadelphia Warriors
|
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|
Municipal Auditorium
|
12,000 | |
Syracuse Nationals
|
Syracuse, New York | Onondaga War Memorial
|
6,230 | |
| Western | Fort Wayne Pistons
|
Fort Wayne, Indiana | War Memorial Coliseum
|
10,000 |
Milwaukee Hawks
|
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
|
Milwaukee Arena
|
10,783 | |
Minneapolis Lakers
|
Minneapolis, Minnesota
|
Minneapolis Auditorium | 10,000 | |
Rochester Royals
|
Rochester, New York | Edgerton Park Arena | 4,200 | |
Map of teams
Final standings
Eastern Division
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x-New York Knicks | 44 | 28 | .611 | – | 18–8 | 15–13 | 11–7 | 24–16 |
| x-Boston Celtics | 42 | 30 | .583 | 2 | 17–6 | 10–19 | 15–5 | 25–15 |
| x-Syracuse Nationals | 42 | 30 | .583 | 2 | 26–6 | 11–17 | 5–7 | 21–19 |
| Philadelphia Warriors | 29 | 43 | .403 | 15 | 10–9 | 6–16 | 13–18 | 19–21 |
| Baltimore Bullets | 16 | 56 | .222 | 28 | 12–18 | 0–22 | 4–16 | 11–29 |
Western Division
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x-Minneapolis Lakers | 46 | 26 | .639 | – | 20–4 | 13–15 | 13–7 | 19–13 |
| x-Rochester Royals | 44 | 28 | .611 | 2 | 18–10 | 12–15 | 14–3 | 22–10 |
| x-Fort Wayne Pistons | 40 | 32 | .556 | 6 | 19–8 | 11–17 | 10–7 | 17–15 |
| Milwaukee Hawks | 21 | 51 | .292 | 25 | 11–14 | 5–17 | 6–20 | 6–26 |
x – clinched playoff spot
Playoffs
| Division Round Robin Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||
| Eastern Division | |||||||||||||
| E1 | New York* | 0–4 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Syracuse | 2 | |||||||||||
| E2 | Boston | 2–2 | |||||||||||
| E2 | Boston | 0 | |||||||||||
| E3 | Syracuse | 4–0 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Syracuse | 3 | |||||||||||
| Western Division | W1 | Minneapolis* | 4 | ||||||||||
| W1 | Minneapolis* | 3–0 | |||||||||||
| W1 | Minneapolis* | 2 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Rochester | 2–1 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Rochester | 1 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Fort Wayne | 0–4 | |||||||||||
- * Division winner
- Bold Series winner (Division Round Robin Semifinals: top 2 advanced)
- Italic Team with home-court advantage in NBA Finals
Statistics leaders
| Category | Player | Team | Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Neil Johnston | Philadelphia Warriors |
1,759 |
| Rebounds | Harry Gallatin | New York Knicks | 1,098 |
| Assists | Bob Cousy | Boston Celtics | 518 |
| FG% | Ed Macauley | Boston Celtics | .486 |
| FT% | Bill Sharman | Boston Celtics | .844 |
Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points, rebounds, and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.
NBA awards
- Baltimore Bullets
- All-NBA First Team:
- Minneapolis Lakers
- Harry Gallatin, New York Knicks
- Syracuse Nationals
- Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics
- Philadelphia Warriors
- All-NBA Second Team:
- Carl Braun, New York Knicks
- Ed Macauley, Boston Celtics
- Jim Pollard, Minneapolis Lakers
- Paul Seymour, Syracuse Nationals
- Bobby Wanzer, Rochester Royals
See also
References
- 1953–54 NBA Season Summary basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 10, 2010
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