| ||||||||||
| Dates: | April 12–25 | |||||||||
| Eastern Finals: | Knicks defeated Nationals, 3–1 | |||||||||
| Western Finals: | Lakers defeated Royals, 3–1 | |||||||||
| NBA Finals | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ← 1951 | ||||||||||
| 1953 → | ||||||||||
The 1952 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1952 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1951–52 season. The Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers faced the Eastern Division champion New York Knicks in a best-of-seven series with Minneapolis having home-court advantage.
Minneapolis won game one and the teams thereafter alternated victories, Minneapolis winning the decisive game by a 17-point margin at home on Friday, April 25.
All but Game 7 were played in the teams' secondary arenas: the Lakers played at the Saint Paul Auditorium, while the Barnum circus bumped the Knicks from Madison Square Garden to the 69th Regiment Armory.
The seven games were played in fourteen days, beginning Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13, in Minneapolis/St. Paul and returning to Minneapolis/St. Paul for games five and seven on the following Saturday and Friday. Meanwhile, three Wednesday or Friday games were played in New York City. The entire postseason tournament spanned 39 days in which Minneapolis played 13 games and New York 14.
1952 NBA Playoffs[]
| Minneapolis Lakers (Western Division Champion) | New York Knicks (Eastern Division Champion) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40–26 (.606)
2nd Western, 1st Overall |
Regular season | 37–29 (.561)
3rd Eastern, 5th Overall | ||
| Defeated the (3) Indianapolis Olympians, 2–1 | Division Semifinals | Defeated the (2) Boston Celtics, 2–1 | ||
| Defeated the (1) Rochester Royals, 3–1 | Division Finals | Defeated the (1) Syracuse Nationals, 3–1 | ||
Series summary[]
| Game | Date | Away Team | Result | Home Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | April 12 | New York | 79–83 (OT) | Minneapolis |
| Game 2 | April 13 | New York | 80–72 | Minneapolis |
| Game 3 | April 16 | Minneapolis | 82–77 | New York |
| Game 4 | April 18 | Minneapolis | 89–90 (OT) | New York |
| Game 5 | April 20 | New York | 89–102 | Minneapolis |
| Game 6 | April 23 | Minneapolis | 68–76 | New York |
| Game 7 | April 25 | New York | 65–82 | Minneapolis |
| Preceded by 1951 |
NBA Finals 1952 |
Succeeded by 1953 |