1950–51 Minneapolis Lakers season

1950–51 Minneapolis Lakers season
Division champions
Head coachJohn Kundla
ArenaMinneapolis Auditorium
Results
Record44–24 (.647)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Western)
Playoff finishDivision finals
(lost to Royals 1–3)
Stats at Basketball Reference
RadioWLOL

The 1950–51 Minneapolis Lakers season was the franchise's third season in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] In 1950–51, the NBA reduced the number of teams to 11. The two-time defending champion Lakers continued to dominate by winning the Western Division with a 44–24 record. However, one of their games played that season saw them be inadvertently involved in a failed rigging going on by NBA referee Sol Levy on November 4 (which became their first win of the season) by having Minneapolis beat the Washington Capitols (who would later fold operations altogether during the 1950–51 season, reducing the team pool to 10 during the season) in the first of six games of mixed results for Levy attempting to rig the season in his favor. Levy would later be arrested and then be tried as an accomplice in his involvement in the CCNY point-shaving scandal in 1951.[2][3] In addition to that failed fixed game, this season would also be notable for an infamous match played less than a month later on November 22, 1950 against the Fort Wayne Pistons, which saw the Pistons holding onto the ball for a vast majority of the match in order to not allow the Lakers' star center, George Mikan, a chance to dominate them in the paint, which worked too well in Fort Wayne's favor to the point where it resulted in the lowest-scoring match in NBA history with a 19–18 victory favoring the Pistons (and subsequently resulted in the Lakers breaking a record previously held by the Detroit Falcons for the lowest scoring effort in a BAA/NBA match, albeit by force instead of by accidental intention[4]), which resulted in spectators of the match feeling like they wouldn't be interested in the sport of basketball at all if that match was a reflection of what it truly was and subsequently led to the creation of the shot clock a few seasons later in order to help make sure the NBA never had another game like that ever again in its history.[5]

In the playoffs, the Lakers needed three games to eliminate the Indianapolis Olympians in the first round. In the Western Finals, the Lakers took Game 1, but were ultimately defeated for the championship by the Rochester Royals, who came back to win the next three games.[6] As a result, this became the first season where the Lakers failed to win a championship under the Lakers name.

Off-season

NBA draft

Main article: 1950 NBA draft

Roster

1950–51 Minneapolis Lakers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
F 12 Ed Beach 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1929-01-25 West Virginia
G/F 18 Arnie Ferrin 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1925-07-29 Utah
F 20 Bud Grant 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1927-05-20 Minnesota
G 16 Bob Harrison 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1927-08-12 Michigan
G 14 Joe Hutton 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1928-10-06 Hamline
G/F 13 Tony Jaros 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1920-02-22 Minnesota
G 22 Slater Martin 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1925-10-22 Texas
C 99 George Mikan 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1924-06-18 DePaul
F/C 19 Vern Mikkelsen 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1928-10-21 Hamline
G 15 Kevin O'Shea 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1925-07-10 Notre Dame
F/C 17 Jim Pollard 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1922-07-09 Stanford
Head coach

John Kundla

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

Roster

Regular season

Standings

Western Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Minneapolis Lakers 44 24 .647 – 29–3 12–21 3–0 24–12
x-Rochester Royals 41 27 .603 3 29–5 12–22 – 18–15
x-Fort Wayne Pistons 32 36 .471 12 27–7 5–27 0–2 18–6
x-Indianapolis Olympians 31 37 .456 13 19–12 10–24 2–1 15–20
Tri-Cities Blackhawks 25 43 .368 19 22–13 2–28 1–2 12–24

Game log

# Date Opponent Score High points Record
1 November 1 at Baltimore 71–81 George Mikan (34) 0–1
2 November 4 at Washington 91–85 George Mikan (27) 1–1
3 November 5 at Syracuse 87–90 George Mikan (29) 1–2
4 November 9 at Boston 71–76 George Mikan (24) 1–3
5 November 12 Philadelphia 70–83 George Mikan (25) 2–3
6 November 15 Syracuse 71–72 (OT) George Mikan (28) 3–3
7 November 16 at New York 69–71 George Mikan (27) 3–4
8 November 18 at Rochester 86–77 (2OT) George Mikan (47) 4–4
9 November 19 Rochester 77–90 George Mikan (23) 5–4
10 November 22 Fort Wayne 18–19 George Mikan (15) 5–5
11 November 23 at Fort Wayne 63–73 George Mikan (32) 5–6
12 November 26 Baltimore 71–85 George Mikan (23) 6–6
13 November 29 Tri-Cities 66–85 Slater Martin (19) 7–6
14 December 1 at Indianapolis 65–66 George Mikan (22) 7–7
15 December 3 Philadelphia 83–95 George Mikan (38) 8–7
16 December 6 New York 62–84 Jim Pollard (17) 9–7
17 December 9 at Tri-Cities 88–79 George Mikan (37) 10–7
18 December 10 Tri-Cities 101–114 George Mikan (29) 11–7
19 December 13 Rochester 82–72 George Mikan (43) 11–8
20 December 15 at Indianapolis 82–71 George Mikan (32) 12–8
21 December 16 at Tri-Cities 86–71 George Mikan (21) 13–8
22 December 17 Indianapolis 60–79 George Mikan (29) 14–8
23 December 19 at Philadelphia 67–71 George Mikan (25) 14–9
24 December 20 at Baltimore 84–91 George Mikan (39) 14–10
25 December 23 at Boston 81–87 George Mikan (31) 14–11
26 December 25 Washington 79–93 George Mikan (35) 15–11
27 December 27 Baltimore 63–81 George Mikan (19) 16–11
28 December 28 at Rochester 67–75 George Mikan (41) 16–12
29 December 31 Philadelphia 73–83 George Mikan (24) 17–12
30 January 1 at Fort Wayne 70–83 Vern Mikkelsen (20) 17–13
31 January 3 Fort Wayne 64–86 Vern Mikkelsen (23) 18–13
32 January 4 at Syracuse 80–77 George Mikan (27) 19–13
33 January 5 Boston 54–69 Vern Mikkelsen (17) 20–13
34 January 7 Rochester 57–69 Vern Mikkelsen (26) 21–13
35 January 10 New York 65–70 George Mikan (21) 22–13
36 January 11 at Tri-Cities 113–109 George Mikan (34) 23–13
37 January 14 Indianapolis 84–86 (OT) George Mikan (28) 24–13
38 January 16 at Indianapolis 68–82 George Mikan (21) 24–14
39 January 18 at New York 78–95 George Mikan (27) 24–15
40 January 20 N Fort Wayne 89–70 George Mikan (27) 25–15
41 January 21 Tri-Cities 82–89 George Mikan (31) 26–15
42 January 23 N Baltimore 89–79 Vern Mikkelsen (20) 27–15
43 January 25 at Philadelphia 90–71 George Mikan (24) 28–15
44 January 28 Indianapolis 75–101 George Mikan (34) 29–15
45 January 31 Tri-Cities 78–106 George Mikan (35) 30–15
46 February 3 at Indianapolis 89–84 George Mikan (29) 31–15
47 February 4 Boston 84–98 George Mikan (29) 32–15
48 February 7 at Fort Wayne 86–96 George Mikan (20) 32–16
49 February 8 Rochester 58–69 George Mikan (37) 33–16
50 February 11 Indianapolis 78–91 George Mikan (27) 34–16
51 February 14 Baltimore 71–99 George Mikan (28) 35–16
52 February 16 at Indianapolis 76–71 George Mikan (32) 36–16
53 February 17 at Rochester 82–87 George Mikan (30) 36–17
54 February 18 at Syracuse 80–91 George Mikan (25) 36–18
55 February 21 Syracuse 76–82 George Mikan (36) 37–18
56 February 24 Fort Wayne 78–95 George Mikan (32) 38–18
57 February 25 Indianapolis 75–73 Mikan, Pollard (20) 38–19
58 February 27 N Tri-Cities 77–83 George Mikan (33) 39–19
59 February 28 at Fort Wayne 73–77 George Mikan (39) 39–20
60 March 1 at Philadelphia 77–97 Jim Pollard (26) 39–21
61 March 4 at Boston 86–92 George Mikan (44) 39–22
62 March 6 at Rochester 79–90 George Mikan (18) 39–23
63 March 8 at New York 94–97 (OT) George Mikan (40) 39–24
64 March 10 at Tri-Cities 99–88 George Mikan (46) 40–24
65 March 11 Boston 96–98 (2OT) George Mikan (40) 41–24
66 March 14 Syracuse 76–100 George Mikan (40) 42–24
67 March 17 at Tri-Cities 92–91 (OT) George Mikan (38) 43–24
68 March 18 New York 68–86 Vern Mikkelsen (19) 44–24

Player stats

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

Player GP REB AST STL BLK PTS AVG

Playoffs

1951 playoff game log
Division semifinals: 2–1 (home: 2–0; road: 0–1)
Game Date Team Score High points Location Series
1 March 21 Indianapolis W 95–81 George Mikan (41) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–0
2 March 23 @ Indianapolis L 88–108 Vern Mikkelsen (30) Butler Fieldhouse 1–1
3 March 25 Indianapolis W 85–80 George Mikan (30) Minneapolis Auditorium 2–1
Division finals: 1–3 (home: 1–1; road: 0–2)
Game Date Team Score High points Location Series
1 March 29 Rochester W 76–73 Vern Mikkelsen (23) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–0
2 March 31 Rochester L 66–70 Jim Pollard (20) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–1
3 April 1 @ Rochester L 70–83 George Mikan (23) Edgerton Park Arena 1–2
4 April 3 @ Rochester L 75–80 George Mikan (32) Edgerton Park Arena 1–3
1951 schedule

Awards and honors

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ 1950–51 Minneapolis Lakers
  2. ^ Goldstein, Joe, "Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops" - ESPN - November 19, 2003
  3. ^ "When an NBA Referee Was Convicted of Shaving Points". July 24, 2007.
  4. ^ https://nbahoopsonline.com/History/Records/pointsfew.html
  5. ^ https://nbahoopsonline.com/Articles/History/LeoFerris.html
  6. ^ "Minneapolis Lakers – Sports Ecyclopedia".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.