Tournament details | |
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Dates | March 16–April 12, 1954 |
Season | 1953–54 |
Teams | 6 |
Final positions | |
Champions | Minneapolis Lakers (5th title) |
Runner-up | Syracuse Nationals |
Semifinalists |
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← 1953
1955 →
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The 1954 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1953–54 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Syracuse Nationals 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.
For the Lakers, it was their third straight NBA title, and fifth in the last six years.
With the folding of the Indianapolis Olympians after the previous year's playoffs, leaving the NBA with nine teams, they resorted to a round-robin playoff format in 1954 for the only time in league history.
Although the Minneapolis Lakers, Fort Wayne Pistons, Rochester Royals and Syracuse Nationals all play in different cities now (Los Angeles, Detroit, Sacramento and Philadelphia respectively), this is the earliest NBA playoff in which every team that participated still exists today.
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 | |||||||||||
Within each division, the top three teams in the season standings played a double round robin, comprising one home game in each city for each pair of teams, in order to eliminate one of the three participants. A three-way tie with two wins each would have secured home-court advantage in the Division Finals for New York or Minneapolis, who finished first in the season standings, against an opponent to be determined by one further game played with the season runner-up as host.[1] In the event, neither round-robin generated even a two-way tie, so no seventh game was required in either Division. Two of three teams (shaded green) advanced to the Division Finals. The second game between Minneapolis and Rochester—the sixth and final Western Division game scheduled—was not played because both teams had qualified for the Division Final and Minneapolis had secured home-court advantage in that series. The sixth and final Eastern Division game scheduled, Boston at Syracuse, was played because home-court advantage in their subsequent Division Final hadn't been determined. Both teams had won 42 season games and Boston had won by coin flip the edge in case of a tie in the round-robin stage.[1]
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March 16 |
Boston Celtics 93, New York Knicks71 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 16–15, 32–12, 24–19, 21–25 | ||
Pts: Cousy, Sharman 22 each Asts: Bob Cousy10 |
Pts: Carl Braun18 Asts: Simmons, Baechtold 3 each |
Madison Square Garden III, Manhattan, New York |
March 17 |
Syracuse Nationals 96, Boston Celtics 95 (OT) | ||
Scoring by quarter: 15–17, 18–15, 26–24, 22–25, Overtime: 15–14 | ||
Pts: Dolph Schayes20 Rebs: Dolph Schayes13 Asts: Earl Lloyd8 |
Pts: Bob Cousy32 Rebs: three players 10 each Asts: Jack Nichols10 |
March 18 |
New York Knicks 68, Syracuse Nationals 75 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 15–16, 20–25, 14–19, 19–15 | ||
Pts: Harry Gallatin15 Rebs: Harry Gallatin20 Asts: Jim Baechtold5 |
Pts: Dolph Schayes23 Rebs: Dolph Schayes16 Asts: Paul Seymour6 |
March 20 |
New York Knicks 78, Boston Celtics 79 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 17–15, 24–21, 16–19, 21–24 | ||
Pts: Harry Gallatin15 Asts: Braun, Simmons 3 each |
Pts: Bill Sharman26 Asts: Cousy, Nichols 6 each | |
Syracuse & Boston clinch berth to Division Finals, New York eliminated |
March 21 |
Syracuse Nationals 103, New York Knicks99 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 22–25, 15–19, 32–26, 34–29 | ||
Pts: Dolph Schayes36 Rebs: Dolph Schayes21 Asts: Paul Seymour6 |
Pts: Carl Braun32 Rebs: Nat Clifton16 Asts: Carl Braun6 |
Madison Square Garden III, Manhattan, New York |
March 22 |
Boston Celtics 85, Syracuse Nationals 98 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 19–27, 23–18, 21–26, 22–27 | ||
Pts: Bob Cousy25 Rebs: Jack Nichols12 Asts: Bob Cousy8 |
Pts: Dolph Schayes25 Rebs: Dolph Schayes16 Asts: Paul Seymour7 | |
Syracuse finishes as East's #1 seed in Division Finals, Boston finishes as the East's #2 seed |
This was the fourth playoff meeting between the Celtics and Knicks, with the Knicks winning two of the first three meetings.
New York leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||
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This was the second playoff meeting between the Celtics and Nationals, with the Celtics winning the first meeting.
Boston leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series | ||||||
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This was the fourth playoff meeting between the Knicks and Nationals, with the Knicks winning two of the first three meetings.
New York leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||
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March 16 |
Fort Wayne Pistons 75, Rochester Royals 82 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 13–19, 15–21, 23–14, 24–28 | ||
Pts: George Yardley20 | Pts: Bobby Wanzer18 |
March 17 |
Rochester Royals 88, Minneapolis Lakers 109 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 21–29, 17–34, 23–22, 27–24 | ||
Pts: Arnie Risen21 | Pts: Slater Martin24 |
Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
March 18 |
Minneapolis Lakers 90, Fort Wayne Pistons85 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 22–21, 19–20, 27–20, 22–24 | ||
Pts: George Mikan28 | Pts: Frankie Brian20 | |
Minneapolis clinches berth to Division Finals |
March 20 |
Fort Wayne Pistons 73, Minneapolis Lakers 78 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 19–21, 15–22, 15–15, 24–20 | ||
Pts: Max Zaslofsky15 | Pts: George Mikan21 | |
Minneapolis finishes as the West's #1 seed in Division Finals |
Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
March 21 |
Rochester Royals 89, Fort Wayne Pistons71 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 19–14, 17–14, 26–15, 27–28 | ||
Pts: Bobby Wanzer14 | Pts: George Yardley16 | |
Rochester finishes as the West's #2 seed in Division Finals, Fort Wayne eliminated |
This was the fourth playoff meeting between the Lakers and Royals, with the Lakers winning two of the first three meetings.
Minneapolis leads 2–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||
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This was the fifth playoff meeting between the Royals and Pistons, with both teams splitting the first four meetings.
Tied 2–2 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This was the third playoff meeting between the Pistons and Lakers, with the Lakers winning the first two meetings.
Minneapolis leads 2–0 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||
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March 25 |
Boston Celtics 94, Syracuse Nationals 109 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 30–25, 14–28, 22–27, 28–29 | ||
Pts: Jack Nichols28 Rebs: Jack Nichols9 Asts: Bill Sharman5 |
Pts: Dolph Schayes27 Rebs: Dolph Schayes21 Asts: Bill Gabor6 | |
Syracuse leads series, 1–0 |
March 27 |
Syracuse Nationals 83, Boston Celtics76 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 21–21, 19–29, 24–16, 19–10 | ||
Pts: Wally Osterkorn16 Asts: George King8 |
Pts: Bill Sharman20 Asts: Bob Cousy6 | |
Syracuse wins series, 2–0 |
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams following the round-robin, with both teams splitting the first two meetings.
Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||
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March 24 |
Rochester Royals 76, Minneapolis Lakers 89 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 17–20, 16–20, 24–24, 19–25 | ||
Pts: Wanzer, Coleman 17 each | Pts: George Mikan28 | |
Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 |
Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
March 27 |
Minneapolis Lakers 73, Rochester Royals 74 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 12–16, 16–20, 24–17, 21–21 | ||
Pts: George Mikan17 | Pts: Bobby Wanzer16 | |
Series tied, 1–1 |
March 28 |
Rochester Royals 72, Minneapolis Lakers 82 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 21–23, 16–22, 20–20, 15–17 | ||
Pts: Arnie Risen24 | Pts: George Mikan17 | |
Minneapolis wins series, 2–1 |
Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams following the round-robin, with the Lakers winning three of the first four meetings.
Minneapolis leads 3–1 in all-time playoff series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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March 31 |
Syracuse Nationals 68, Minneapolis Lakers 79 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 13–10, 18–24, 19–22, 18–23 | ||
Pts: Bob Lavoy15 Rebs: Wally Osterkorn8 Asts: Paul Seymour6 |
Pts: Clyde Lovellette16 Rebs: George Mikan10 Asts: Slater Martin6 | |
Minneapolis leads series, 1–0 |
Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
April 3 |
Syracuse Nationals 62, Minneapolis Lakers60 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 15–15, 13–12, 20–11, 14–22 | ||
Pts: Wally Osterkorn20 Rebs: Wally Osterkorn17 Asts: Lavoy, Seymour 3 each |
Pts: George Mikan15 Rebs: George Mikan15 Asts: Vern Mikkelsen3 | |
Series tied, 1–1 |
Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
April 4 |
Minneapolis Lakers 81, Syracuse Nationals67 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 24–16, 14–17, 20–11, 23–23 | ||
Pts: George Mikan30 Rebs: George Mikan15 Asts: Slater Martin7 |
Pts: Bob Lavoy18 Rebs: Bob Lavoy15 Asts: Paul Seymour7 | |
Minneapolis leads series, 2–1 |
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York |
April 8 |
Minneapolis Lakers 69, Syracuse Nationals 80 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 14–18, 20–18, 18–21, 17–23 | ||
Pts: Whitey Skoog16 Rebs: Jim Pollard9 Asts: Slater Martin6 |
Pts: Paul Seymour25 Rebs: Bob Lavoy11 Asts: Paul Seymour6 | |
Series tied, 2–2 |
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York |
April 10 |
Minneapolis Lakers 84, Syracuse Nationals73 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 22–17, 19–14, 21–21, 22–21 | ||
Pts: Vern Mikkelsen21 Rebs: Mikan, Lovellette 13 each Asts: Slater Martin7 |
Pts: Dolph Schayes17 Rebs: Earl Lloyd8 Asts: Paul Seymour5 | |
Minneapolis leads series, 3–2 |
Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, New York |
April 11 |
Syracuse Nationals 65, Minneapolis Lakers63 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 19–27, 19–16, 16–6, 11–14 | ||
Pts: Paul Seymour16 | Pts: George Mikan30 | |
Series tied, 3–3 |
Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
April 12 |
Syracuse Nationals 80, Minneapolis Lakers 87 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 14–17, 18–21, 22–27, 26–22 | ||
Pts: Dolph Schayes18 | Pts: Jim Pollard21 | |
Minneapolis wins series, 4–3 |
Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first meeting.
Minneapolis leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series | ||||||
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