The 1951–52 Minneapolis Lakers season was the fourth season for the franchise in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA).1951–52 Minneapolis Lakers
/ref> The NBA widened the foul lane before the 1951–52 season in an attempt to slow down

George Mikan George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (; June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed "Mr. Basketball", was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of ...

. Despite the change, it had little effect on Mikan. He still averaged 23.8 points per game, although he lost the scoring title to Paul Arizin, from the Philadelphia Warriors.LAKERS: Los Angeles Lakers History
/ref> The Lakers went into the campaign with essentially the same lineup. Rochester took first place in the Western Division by a game, but the Lakers ousted the Royals in four games in the division finals. The NBA Finals would have the Lakers oppose the New York Knickerbockers. Games 3 and 4 of the Finals were played at the 69th Regiment Armory instead of at Madison Square Garden. This was because of a famous circus being in town at the time. The teams split those games, as well as Games 5 and 6. Game 7 was dominated by Minneapolis. The Lakers pounded out an 82–65 win, at home, to claim their third NBA crown in their first four seasons.

HoopsHype HoopsHype is a website that focuses on basketball news, particularly about the National Basketball Association (NBA). History The website was founded by Jorge Sierra, who has operated it since 2002. * Sierra runs the site with Angel Marin and Ra ...

later ranked this squad as the team with the 14th easiest route to the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

championship.

Offseason

NBA draft

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player stats

''Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average''

Playoffs

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Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

W 78–70
,

(24) ,

Minneapolis Auditorium Minneapolis Auditorium was an indoor arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It hosted the National Basketball Association, NBA's Minneapolis Lakers from 1947 until they moved to the Minneapolis Armory in 1959. The arena held 10,000 people and was built ...

, 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , March 25 , @

W 94–87
,

(36) ,

Butler Fieldhouse Hinkle Fieldhouse (named Butler Fieldhouse from 1928 until 1966) is a basketball arena on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Completed in early 1928, it was the largest basketball arena in the United States until 1950. Th ...

, 2–0 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , March 29 , @ Rochester
L 78–88
,

(47) , Edgerton Park Arena , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , March 30 , @ Rochester
W 83–78 (OT)
,

Vern Mikkelsen Arild Verner Agerskov Mikkelsen (October 21, 1928 – November 21, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. One of the National Basketball Association's first power forwards in the 1950s, he was known for his tenacious defense and ...

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W 77–67
,

Jim Pollard James Clifford Pollard (July 9, 1922 – January 22, 1993) was an American professional basketball player and coach. As a player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Pollard was considered one of the best forwards in the 1950s and was k ...

(22) ,

, 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , April 6 , Rochester
W 82–80
,

Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...

Mikkelsen Mikkelsen is a Danish- Norwegian patronymic surname meaning "son of Mikkel" (equivalent of Michael). People with the name Mikkelsen include: People * Andreas Mikkelsen, Norwegian rally driver * Bård Mikkelsen, Norwegian businessperson * Brian M ...

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, 3–1 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , April 12 ,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

W 83–79 (OT)
,

(34) ,

(16) , Pollard,

Mikan ''Citrus unshiu'' is a semi-seedless and easy-peeling citrus species, also known as the satsuma mandarin or Japanese mandarin. During the Edo period of Japan, kishu mikans were more popular because there was a popular superstition that eating '' ...

(4) , St. Paul Auditorium
8,722 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , April 13 ,

L 72–80
,

(18) ,

(21) ,

Slater Martin Slater Nelson "Dugie" Martin Jr. (October 22, 1925 – October 18, 2012) was an American professional basketball player and coach who was a playmaking guard for 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A seven-time NBA All-S ...

(4) , St. Paul Auditorium , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , April 16 , @

W 82–77
,

(26) ,

(17) , Pep Saul (8) ,

69th Regiment Armory The 69th Regiment Armory (also known as the 165th Infantry Armory and the Lexington Avenue Armory) is a historic armory for the U.S. Army National Guard at 68 Lexington Avenue, between East 25th and 26th Streets, in the Rose Hill neighborho ...

4,500 , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , April 18 , @

L 89–90 (OT)
,

(32) ,

(17) , Pep Saul (5) ,

5,200 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , April 20 ,

W 102–89
,

(32) ,

(17) , Pep Saul (5) , St. Paul Auditorium
7,244 , 3–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 6 , April 23 , @

L 68–76
,

(28) ,

(15) ,

(9) ,

3,000 , 3–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 7 , April 25 ,

W 82–65
,

(22) ,

(19) ,

(6) ,

8,612 , 4–3 , -

Awards and honors

All-NBA First Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sel ...

All-NBA Second Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sel ...

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is the annual all-star game hosted each February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's All-star, star players. Since 2022, it was held on the third Sunday of ...

References

External links

Lakers on Database Basketball

{{DEFAULTSORT:1951-52 Minneapolis Lakers season Los Angeles Lakers seasons Minneapolis Lakers seasons NBA championship seasons Minnesota Lakers Minnesota Lakers