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1951-52 NBA Season Summary

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League Champion: Minneapolis Lakers

PPG Leader: Paul Arizin (25.4)
RPG Leader: George Mikan (13.5)
APG Leader: Andy Phillip (8.2)
WS Leader: Paul Arizin (16.0)

League Standings

Playoff teams are marked with an asterisk (*)
Team W L W-L% GB PS/G PA/G SRS
Eastern Division              
Syracuse Nationals* 40 26 .606 — 86.7 82.2 3.94
Boston Celtics* 39 27 .591 1.0 91.3 87.2 3.61
New York Knicks* 37 29 .561 3.0 85.0 84.2 0.68
Philadelphia Warriors* 33 33 .500 7.0 86.5 87.8 -1.07
Baltimore Bullets 20 46 .303 20.0 81.5 89.0 -6.59
Western Division              
Rochester Royals* 41 25 .621 — 86.2 82.8 2.92
Minneapolis Lakers* 40 26 .606 1.0 85.6 79.5 5.28
Indianapolis Olympians* 34 32 .515 7.0 82.9 82.8 0.08
Fort Wayne Pistons* 29 37 .439 12.0 78.0 80.1 -1.82
Milwaukee Hawks 17 49 .258 24.0 73.2 81.2 -7.04

League Playoffs

Click series name to show/hide game results
Finals (4-3): Minneapolis Lakers over New York Knicks
 
Eastern Division Finals (3-1): New York Knicks over Syracuse Nationals
Western Division Finals (3-1): Minneapolis Lakers over Rochester Royals
 
Eastern Division Semifinals (2-1): New York Knicks over Boston Celtics
Eastern Division Semifinals (2-1): Syracuse Nationals over Philadelphia Warriors
Western Division Semifinals (2-0): Minneapolis Lakers over Indianapolis Olympians
Western Division Semifinals (2-0): Rochester Royals over Fort Wayne Pistons

Team Stats

Playoff teams are marked with an asterisk (*)
Rk Team G MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS PTS/G
1 Boston Celtics* 66 2131 5510 .387 1765 2406 .734 3750 1606 1734 6027 91.3
2 Syracuse Nationals* 66 1894 5207 .364 1933 2589 .747 3603 1373 1970 5721 86.7
3 Philadelphia Warriors* 66 2039 5367 .380 1634 2143 .762 3647 1593 1806 5712 86.5
4 Rochester Royals* 66 2014 5172 .389 1661 2150 .773 3373 1590 1804 5689 86.2
5 Minneapolis Lakers* 66 2106 5733 .367 1436 1921 .748 3543 1389 1763 5648 85.6
6 New York Knicks* 66 2022 5282 .383 1565 2185 .716 3834 1567 1770 5609 85.0
7 Indianapolis Olympians* 66 2026 5513 .367 1422 1965 .724 3288 1290 1586 5474 82.9
8 Baltimore Bullets 66 1882 5495 .342 1614 2211 .730 3780 1417 1719 5378 81.5
9 Fort Wayne Pistons* 66 1771 5013 .353 1609 2194 .733 3619 1403 1751 5151 78.0
10 Milwaukee Hawks 66 1674 5055 .331 1485 2177 .682 3540 1229 1848 4833 73.2
League Average 66 1956 5335 .367 1612 2194 .735 3598 1446 1775 5524 83.7

Opponent Stats

Playoff teams are marked with an asterisk (*)
Rk Team G MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS PTS/G
1 Minneapolis Lakers* 66 5250 79.5
2 Fort Wayne Pistons* 66 5286 80.1
3 Milwaukee Hawks 66 5357 81.2
4 Syracuse Nationals* 66 5427 82.2
5 Indianapolis Olympians* 66 5466 82.8
6 Rochester Royals* 66 5468 82.8
7 New York Knicks* 66 5560 84.2
8 Boston Celtics* 66 5758 87.2
9 Philadelphia Warriors* 66 5795 87.8
10 Baltimore Bullets 66 5873 89.0
League Average 66 5524 83.7

Miscellaneous Stats

Playoff teams are marked with an asterisk (*)
Offense Four Factors Defense Four Factors
Rk Team Age PW PL MOV SOS SRS ORtg DRtg Pace eFG% TOV% ORB% FT/FGA eFG% TOV% DRB% FT/FGA Arena Attendance
1 Minneapolis Lakers* 25.8 49 17 6.03 -0.75 5.28 .367 .250 Minneapolis Auditorium
2 Syracuse Nationals* 25.8 45 21 4.45 -0.51 3.94 .364 .371 Onondaga War Memorial
3 Boston Celtics* 25.0 43 23 4.08 -0.47 3.61 .387 .320 Boston Garden 160,167
4 Rochester Royals* 28.9 42 24 3.35 -0.43 2.92 .389 .321 Edgerton Park Arena
5 New York Knicks* 25.5 35 31 0.74 -0.07 0.68 .383 .296 Madison Square Garden (III) 140,746
6 Indianapolis Olympians* 24.6 33 33 0.12 -0.04 0.08 .367 .258 Hinkle Fieldhouse
7 Philadelphia Warriors* 26.6 30 36 -1.26 0.17 -1.07 .380 .304 Philadelphia Arena 96,578
8 Fort Wayne Pistons* 26.5 27 39 -2.05 0.22 -1.82 .353 .321 North Side High School Gym
9 Baltimore Bullets 27.2 15 51 -7.50 0.92 -6.59 .342 .294 Baltimore Coliseum
10 Milwaukee Hawks 26.6 13 53 -7.94 0.93 -7.04 .331 .294 Milwaukee Arena
League Average 26.3 33 33 0.00 0.00 0.00 .367 .302 132,497

League Leaders

Rate statistic requirements
Minutes Played
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW 2939
2. Andy Phillip*-PHW 2933
3. Bob Cousy*-BOS 2681
4. Frankie Brian-FTW 2672
5. Ed Macauley*-BOS 2631
Field Goals
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW 548
2. George Mikan*-MNL 545
3. Bob Cousy*-BOS 512
4. Jim Pollard*-MNL 411
5. Larry Foust-FTW 390
Field Goal Attempts
1. George Mikan*-MNL 1414
2. Bob Cousy*-BOS 1388
3. Paul Arizin*-PHW 1222
4. Jim Pollard*-MNL 1155
5. Joe Fulks*-PHW 1078
Free Throws
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW 578
2. Ed Macauley*-BOS 496
3. George Mikan*-MNL 433
4. Bob Cousy*-BOS 409
5. Bobby Wanzer*-ROC 377
Free Throw Attempts
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW 707
2. Ed Macauley*-BOS 621
3. George Mikan*-MNL 555
4. Bob Cousy*-BOS 506
5. Frankie Brian-FTW 433
Total Rebounds
1. Larry Foust-FTW 880
  Mel Hutchins-MLH 880
3. George Mikan*-MNL 866
4. Arnie Risen*-ROC 841
5. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 773
Assists
1. Andy Phillip*-PHW 539
2. Bob Cousy*-BOS 441
3. Bob Davies*-ROC 390
4. Dick McGuire*-NYK 388
5. Fred Scolari-BLB 303
Personal Fouls
1. George Mikan*-MNL 286
2. Vern Mikkelsen*-MNL 282
3. Alex Hannum-TOT 271
  Don Boven-MLH 271
5. Bob Davies*-ROC 269
Points
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW 1674
2. George Mikan*-MNL 1523
3. Bob Cousy*-BOS 1433
4. Ed Macauley*-BOS 1264
5. Bob Davies*-ROC 1052
Field Goal Pct
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW .448
2. Harry Gallatin*-NYK .442
3. Ed Macauley*-BOS .432
4. Bobby Wanzer*-ROC .425
5. Vern Mikkelsen*-MNL .419
Free Throw Pct
1. Bobby Wanzer*-ROC .904
2. Al Cervi*-SYR .883
3. Bill Sharman*-BOS .859
4. Frankie Brian-FTW .848
5. Fred Scolari-BLB .835
Minutes Per Game
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW 44.5
2. Andy Phillip*-PHW 44.4
3. Fred Schaus-FTW 41.6
4. Bob Cousy*-BOS 40.6
5. Frankie Brian-FTW 40.5
Points Per Game
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW 25.4
2. George Mikan*-MNL 23.8
3. Bob Cousy*-BOS 21.7
4. Ed Macauley*-BOS 19.2
5. Bob Davies*-ROC 16.2
Rebounds Per Game
1. George Mikan*-MNL 13.5
2. Mel Hutchins-MLH 13.3
  Larry Foust-FTW 13.3
4. Arnie Risen*-ROC 12.7
5. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 12.3
Assists Per Game
1. Andy Phillip*-PHW 8.2
2. Bob Cousy*-BOS 6.7
3. Dick McGuire*-NYK 6.1
4. Bob Davies*-ROC 6.0
5. George Senesky-PHW 4.9
Player Efficiency Rating
1. George Mikan*-MNL 26.5
2. Paul Arizin*-PHW 25.5
3. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 23.7
4. Ed Macauley*-BOS 22.6
5. Harry Gallatin*-NYK 22.0
True Shooting Pct
1. Arnie Johnson-ROC .565
2. Harry Gallatin*-NYK .547
3. Paul Arizin*-PHW .546
4. Ed Macauley*-BOS .544
5. Bobby Wanzer*-ROC .541
Effective Field Goal Pct
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW .448
2. Harry Gallatin*-NYK .442
3. Ed Macauley*-BOS .432
4. Bobby Wanzer*-ROC .425
5. Vern Mikkelsen*-MNL .419
Offensive Win Shares
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW 14.8
2. Ed Macauley*-BOS 11.3
3. Bobby Wanzer*-ROC 9.7
4. Arnie Johnson-ROC 7.1
5. Harry Gallatin*-NYK 7.0
Defensive Win Shares
1. George Mikan*-MNL 8.0
2. Vern Mikkelsen*-MNL 6.6
3. Jim Pollard*-MNL 6.6
4. Slater Martin*-MNL 4.5
5. Dolph Schayes*-SYR 4.0
Win Shares
1. Paul Arizin*-PHW 16.0
2. George Mikan*-MNL 14.4
3. Ed Macauley*-BOS 13.8
4. Vern Mikkelsen*-MNL 13.2
5. Bobby Wanzer*-ROC 11.4
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes
1. Vern Mikkelsen*-MNL .270
2. George Mikan*-MNL .268
3. Paul Arizin*-PHW .261
4. Ed Macauley*-BOS .252
5. Harry Gallatin*-NYK .221
   

All-Star Game Rosters

East
Paul Arizin*
Bob Cousy*
Joe Fulks*
Harry Gallatin*
Ed Macauley*
Dick McGuire*
Andy Phillip*
Red Rocha
Dolph Schayes* (1)
Fred Scolari
Max Zaslofsky
 West
Leo Barnhorst
Frankie Brian
Bob Davies*
Dike Eddleman
Larry Foust (2)
George Mikan*
Vern Mikkelsen*
Jim Pollard*
Arnie Risen*
Paul Walther
Bobby Wanzer*
(1) Did not play due to injury; replaced by Harry Gallatin.
(2) Did not play due to injury; replaced by Arnie Risen.