1952 NBA playoffs
The 1952 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1951-52 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Minneapolis Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.
The first great NBA dynasty, the Lakers won their third NBA title in the last 4 years and what would become their first of 3 titles in a row. If not for their division finals loss to the Rochester Royals the previous season, Minneapolis would have won 6 straight titles.
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBA Finals | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Rochester | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Fort Wayne | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Rochester | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Western Division | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Minneapolis | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Indianapolis | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Minneapolis | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Minneapolis | 4 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | New York | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Syracuse | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Philadelphia | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Syracuse | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Division | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | New York | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | New York | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Boston | 1 | ||||||||||||
Western Division
Champion: Minneapolis Lakers
Division Semifinals
(1) Rochester Royals vs. (4) Fort Wayne Pistons: Royals win series 2-0
- Game 1 @ Rochester: Rochester 95, Fort Wayne 78
- Game 2 @ Fort Wayne: Rochester 92, Fort Wayne 86
(2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) Indianapolis Olympians: Lakers win series 2-0
- Game 1 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 78, Indianapolis 70
- Game 2 @ Indianapolis: Minneapolis 94, Indianapolis 87
Division Finals
(1) Rochester Royals vs. (2) Minneapolis Lakers: Lakers win series 3-1
- Game 1 @ Rochester: Rochester 88, Minneapolis 78
- Game 2 @ Rochester: Minneapolis 83, Rochester 78 (OT)
- Game 3 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 77, Rochester 67
- Game 4 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 82, Rochester 80
Eastern Division
Champion: New York Knicks
Division Semifinals
(1) Syracuse Nationals vs. (4) Philadelphia Warriors: Nationals win series 2-1
- Game 1 @ Syracuse: Syracuse 102, Philadelphia 83
- Game 2 @ Philadelphia: Philadelphia 100, Syracuse 95
- Game 3 @ Syracuse: Syracuse 84, Philadelphia 73
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 2-1
- Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 105, New York 94
- Game 2 @ New York: New York 101, Boston 97
- Game 3 @ Boston: New York 88, Boston 87 (2OT)
Division Finals
(1) Syracuse Nationals vs. (3) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 3-1
- Game 1 @ Syracuse: New York 87, Syracuse 85
- Game 2 @ Syracuse: Syracuse 102, New York 92
- Game 3 @ New York: New York 99, Syracuse 92
- Game 4 @ New York: New York 100, Syracuse 93
NBA Finals
(2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) New York Knicks: Lakers win series 4-3
- Game 1 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 83, New York 79 (OT)
- Game 2 @ Minneapolis: New York 80, Minneapolis 72
- Game 3 @ New York: Minneapolis 82, New York 77
- Game 4 @ New York: New York 90, Minneapolis 89 (OT)
- Game 5 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 102, New York 89
- Game 6 @ New York: New York 76, Minneapolis 68
- Game 7 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 82, New York 65