1950–51 New York Knicks season

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]

1950–51 New York Knicks season
Head coachJoe Lapchick
General managerNed Irish
ArenaMadison Square Garden
Results
Record36–30 (.545)
PlaceDivision: 3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finishNBA Finals
(lost to Royals 3–4)

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWPIX
RadioWMGM
< 1949–50 1951–52 >

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]

RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalitySchool/Club Team
16Irwin DambrotF  United StatesCCNY
218Herb SchererC  United StatesLong Island

Roster

New York Knicks 1950–51 roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHt.Wt.From
SF12Boryla, Vince6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)210 lb (95 kg)Denver
PF19Clifton, Nathaniel6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)220 lb (100 kg)Xavier (LA)
CEllefson, Ray6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)230 lb (104 kg)West Texas A&M
F/C11Gallatin, Harry6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)210 lb (95 kg)Truman State
F14James, Gene6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)180 lb (82 kg)Marshall
SF17Kaftan, George6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)190 lb (86 kg)Holy Cross
F6, 16Lavelli, Tony6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)185 lb (84 kg)Yale
G7Lumpp, Ray6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)178 lb (81 kg)NYU
PG15McGuire, Dick6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)180 lb (82 kg)St. John's
G/F10Ritter, Tex6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)185 lb (84 kg)Eastern Kentucky
F/C18Simmons, Connie6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)222 lb (101 kg)
G/F9Vandeweghe, Ernie6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)195 lb (88 kg)Colgate
SG5Zaslofsky, Max6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)170 lb (77 kg)St. John's
Head coach

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

Season standings

W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Philadelphia Warriors4026.60628–411–211–122–14
x-Boston Celtics3930.565125–510–234–221–19
x-New York Knicks3630.545422–510–254–021–15
x-Syracuse Nationals3234.485823–109–2419–17
Baltimore Bullets2442.3641620–124–240–612–24
Washington Capitols1025.286307–123–120–16–12
x = clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1950–51 NBA records
TeamBALBOSFWPINDMINNYKPHIROCSYRTCBWAS
Baltimore3–64–22–42–42–53–61–53–53–31–2
Boston6–35–14–13–34–44–42–42–54–24–3
Fort Wayne2–41–55–35–32–43–33–53–35–53–1
Indianapolis4–21–43–53–75–11–55–43–34–42–2
Minneapolis4–23–33–57–33–34–24–44–210–02–0
New York5–24–44–21–53–35–33–35–54–22–1
Philadelphia6–34–43–35–12–43–54–26–24–23–0
Rochester5–35–23–33–32–45–52–64–25–35–0
Syracuse5–35–23–33–32–45–52–62–43–32–0
Tri-Cities3–32–45–54–40–102–42–43–53–31–1
Washington2–13–41–32–20–21–20–30–50–21–1

Game log

1950–51 game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1November 4at Tri-Cities76–87Max Zaslofsky (17)0–1
2November 5at Tri-Cities95–98 (OT)Vince Boryla (35)0–2
3November 7at Indianapolis73–86Vince Boryla (18)0–3
4November 9Indianapolis73–85Ernie Vandeweghe (14)0–4
5November 11Syracuse74–72 (OT)Vince Boryla (19)1–4
6November 14at Washington92–87Vince Boryla (21)2–4
7November 16Minneapolis71–69Vince Boryla (25)3–4
8November 18Philadelphia93–87Max Zaslofsky (21)4–4
9November 19at Syracuse83–96Vince Boryla (22)4–5
10November 21Boston83–89Max Zaslofsky (17)4–6
11November 22at Baltimore87–73Vince Boryla (21)5–6
12November 23Washington109–78Max Zaslofsky (20)6–6
13November 26at Boston90–93 (2OT)Max Zaslofsky (17)6–7
14November 28Syracuse108–84Max Zaslofsky (17)7–7
15November 30Rochester79–74Harry Gallatin (13)8–7
16December 3at Tri-Cities100–92Vince Boryla (27)9–7
17December 5at Indianapolis89–95Nathaniel Clifton (16)9–8
18December 6at Minneapolis62–84Max Zaslofsky (15)9–9
19December 9at Washington84–91Ray Lumpp (18)9–10
20December 10Indianapolis106–84Harry Gallatin (25)10–10
21December 12at Philadelphia91–101Vince Boryla (26)10–11
22December 16Fort Wayne86–77Vince Boryla (19)11–11
23December 17at Syracuse86–95Nathaniel Clifton (20)11–12
24December 19vs Boston86–80Vince Boryla (23)12–12
25December 23Philadelphia83–79 (2OT)Boryla, Zaslofsky (15)13–12
26December 25at Philadelphia86–84 (OT)Harry Gallatin (25)14–12
27December 27at Philadelphia79–74Vince Boryla (18)15–12
28December 30Boston77–60Vince Boryla (20)16–12
29December 31at Boston90–100Max Zaslofsky (19)16–13
30January 1at Rochester88–91 (OT)Connie Simmons (20)16–14
31January 6Syracuse85–87 (OT)Max Zaslofsky (22)16–15
32January 7at Fort Wayne79–76Boryla, Lavelli (14)17–15
33January 8vs Fort Wayne75–70 (OT)Harry Gallatin (17)18–15
34January 10at Minneapolis65–70Vince Boryla (17)18–16
35January 13Baltimore92–79Harry Gallatin (20)19–16
36January 14at Baltimore91–93 (2OT)Harry Gallatin (25)19–17
37January 18Minneapolis95–78Vince Boryla (30)20–17
38January 21Rochester88–83 (OT)Max Zaslofsky (27)21–17
39January 23at Rochester92–102 (4OT)Vince Boryla (24)21–18
40January 24Tri-Cities95–85Max Zaslofsky (22)22–18
41January 27Boston76–75Max Zaslofsky (15)23–18
42January 31Baltimore89–77Harry Gallatin (23)24–18
43February 1at Syracuse93–90Boryla, Gallatin (21)25–18
44February 3at Baltimore83–72Harry Gallatin (19)26–18
45February 4Indianapolis83–105Boryla, Gallatin (17)26–19
46February 6vs Baltimore91–82Harry Gallatin (29)27–19
47February 8at Syracuse83–96Harry Gallatin (13)27–20
48February 10Fort Wayne73–62Vince Boryla (18)28–20
49February 11at Fort Wayne96–120Connie Simmons (21)28–21
50February 14Rochester81–65Max Zaslofsky (17)29–21
51February 15at Philadelphia98–93Harry Gallatin (22)30–21
52February 17Syracuse88–75Max Zaslofsky (13)31–21
53February 21at Boston85–87 (OT)Dick McGuire (16)31–22
54February 22Tri-Cities94–90Connie Simmons (24)32–22
55February 24Philadelphia64–70Clifton, Gallatin (13)32–23
56February 25at Syracuse93–98Vince Boryla (21)32–24
57February 27at Rochester90–100Max Zaslofsky (18)32–25
58March 1at Boston84–78Max Zaslofsky (18)33–25
59March 3Syracuse97–78Max Zaslofsky (22)34–25
60March 4at Fort Wayne98–105Vince Boryla (29)34–26
61March 6at Philadelphia76–96Vince Boryla (19)34–27
62March 8Minneapolis97–94 (OT)Vince Boryla (18)35–27
63March 11at Baltimore89–112Max Zaslofsky (18)35–28
64March 14at Tri-Cities92–91Harry Gallatin (24)36–28
65March 15at Indianapolis70–74Gallatin, Zaslofsky (14)36–29
66March 18at Minneapolis68–86George Kaftan (16)36–30

Playoffs

1951 playoff game log
Division semifinals: 2–0 (home: 1–0; road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh assistsLocationSeries
1March 20@ BostonW 83–69Vince Boryla (20)Boston Garden1–0
2March 22BostonW 92–78Max Zaslofsky (27)Dick McGuire (9)Madison Square Garden III2–0
Division finals: 3–2 (home: 3–0; road: 0–2)
NBA Finals: 3–4 (home: 2–1; road: 1–3)
1951 schedule

Player statistics

Legend
  GPGames 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

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

See also

References

External links