1950–51 New York Knicks season

1950–51 New York Knicks season
Eastern Division Champions
Head coach	Joe Lapchick
General manager	Ned Irish
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Results
Record	36–30 (.545)
Place	Division: 3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	NBA Finals (eliminated 3–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	WMGM

The 1950–51 New York Knicks season was the fifth season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the regular season, the Knicks finished in third place in the Eastern Division, and their 36–30 record gave them a berth in the NBA Playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.^[1]

New York faced the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Division playoffs, and won the best-of-three series 2–0 to advance to the division finals. In that series, the Knicks defeated the Syracuse Nationals 3–2 in a best-of-five series, earning the franchise's first trip to the NBA Finals. The Rochester Royals faced the Knicks in the Finals, and won the first three games of the best-of-seven series. New York won the next three games to even up the series, but Rochester won the seventh game by a score of 79–75.^[2]

NBA Draft

Note: This is not an extensive list; it only covers the first and second rounds, and any other players picked by the franchise that played at least one game in the league.^[3]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	6	Irwin Dambrot	F	United States	CCNY
2	18	Herb Scherer	C	United States	Long Island

Regular season

Season 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

x = clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

East Division Semifinals

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 2–0

• Game 1 @ Boston: New York 83, Boston 69
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 92, Boston 78

East Division Finals

(3) New York Knicks vs. (4) Syracuse Nationals: Knicks win series 3–2

• Game 1 @ New York: New York 103, Syracuse 92
• Game 2 @ Syracuse: Syracuse 102, New York 80
• Game 3 @ New York: New York 77, Syracuse 75 (OT)
• Game 4 @ Syracuse: Syracuse 90, New York 83
• Game 5 @ New York: New York 83, Syracuse 81

NBA Finals

(W2) Rochester Royals vs. (E3) New York Knicks: Royals win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Rochester: Rochester 92, New York 65
• Game 2 @ Rochester: Rochester 99, New York 84
• Game 3 @ New York: Rochester 78, New York 71
• Game 4 @ New York: New York 79, Rochester 73
• Game 5 @ Rochester: New York 92, Rochester 89
• Game 6 @ New York: New York 80, Rochester 73
• Game 7 @ Rochester: Rochester 79, New York 75

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Awards and records

• Dick McGuire, All-NBA Second Team^[4]

See also

• 1950–51 NBA season

References

1. "New York Knickerbockers Franchise Index". Basketball-Reference. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
2. "1951 NBA Playoff Summary". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
3. "1950 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
4. "All-NBA & All-ABA Teams". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved May 18, 2013.

External links

• 1950–51 New York Knickerbockers Statistics
• Royals Reign, Despite Knicks' Unlikely Comeback