The 1953–54 New York Knicks season was the eighth season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[1] New York won its second straight regular season Eastern Division title with a 44–28 record,[1] which placed them two games ahead of the Boston Celtics and Syracuse Nationals.[2] The first round of the 1954 NBA Playoffs consisted of round-robin tournaments, where the top three teams in each division played each other in home and away matchups. The Knicks went 0–4 against the Celtics and Nationals, and did not qualify for the Eastern Division Finals.[3]
1953–54 New York Knicks season | |
---|---|
Division champions | |
Head coach | Joe Lapchick |
General manager | Ned Irish |
Arena | Madison Square Garden |
Results | |
Record | 47–23 (.671) |
Place | Division: 1st (Eastern) |
Playoff finish | East Division Semifinals (Lost double Round Robin to Celtics and Nationals 0–4) |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Local media | |
Television | WPIX |
Radio | WMGM |
NBA draft
editNote: 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.[4]
Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club Team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
T | – | Walter Dukes | C | Seton Hall | |
2 | 8 | Don Ackerman | G | Long Island | |
2 | 14 | Nield Gordon | F | Furman | |
5 | – | Bob Santini | F | Iona | |
– | – | Richard Atha | G | Indiana State University | |
– | – | Joe Smyth | F | Niagara |
Regular season
editSeason standings
editW | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
x-New York Knicks | 44 | 28 | .611 | – | 18–8 | 15–13 | 11–7 | 24–16 |
x-Boston Celtics | 42 | 30 | .583 | 2 | 17–6 | 10–19 | 15–5 | 25–15 |
x-Syracuse Nationals | 42 | 30 | .583 | 2 | 26–6 | 11–17 | 5–7 | 21–19 |
Philadelphia Warriors | 29 | 43 | .403 | 15 | 10–9 | 6–16 | 13–18 | 19–21 |
Baltimore Bullets | 16 | 56 | .222 | 28 | 12–18 | 0–22 | 4–16 | 11–29 |
- x – clinched playoff spot
Record vs. opponents
edit1953-54 NBA Records | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | BAL | BOS | FWP | MIL | MIN | NYK | PHI | ROC | SYR |
Baltimore | — | 1–9 | 0–8 | 2–6 | 2–6 | 3–7 | 4–6 | 1–7 | 3–7 |
Boston | 9–1 | — | 4–4 | 6–2 | 3–5 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 4–4 | 5–5 |
Fort Wayne | 8–0 | 4–4 | — | 9–2 | 5–5 | 3–5 | 6–2 | 3–8 | 2–6 |
Milwaukee | 6–2 | 2–6 | 2–9 | — | 3–8 | 3–5 | 3–5 | 1–9 | 1–7 |
Minneapolis | 6–2 | 5–3 | 5–5 | 8–3 | — | 5–3 | 6–2 | 6–5 | 5–3 |
New York | 7–3 | 5–5 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 3–5 | — | 7–3 | 7–1 | 5–5 |
Philadelphia | 6–4 | 4–6 | 2–6 | 5–3 | 2–6 | 3–7 | — | 1–7 | 6–4 |
Rochester | 7–1 | 4–4 | 8–3 | 9–1 | 5–6 | 1–7 | 7–1 | — | 3–5 |
Syracuse | 7–3 | 5–5 | 6–2 | 7–1 | 3–5 | 5–5 | 4–6 | 5–3 | — |
Game log
edit1953–54 Game log | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Date | Opponent | Score | High points | Record | |||||
1 | October 31 | Minneapolis | 67–91 | Vince Boryla (15) | 1–0 | |||||
2 | November 4 | N Milwaukee | 73–67 | Vince Boryla (16) | 2–0 | |||||
3 | November 6 | @ Milwaukee | 80–68 | Carl Braun (21) | 3–0 | |||||
4 | November 7 | @ Minneapolis | 62–70 | Harry Gallatin (14) | 3–1 | |||||
5 | November 8 | @ Fort Wayne | 75–70 | Harry Gallatin (17) | 4–1 | |||||
6 | November 12 | Philadelphia | 65–81 | Harry Gallatin (21) | 5–1 | |||||
7 | November 14 | @ Baltimore | 83–88 | Carl Braun (16) | 5–2 | |||||
8 | November 15 | Baltimore | 79–91 | Connie Simmons (19) | 6–2 | |||||
9 | November 18 | N Philadelphia | 83–88 | Harry Gallatin (28) | 7–2 | |||||
10 | November 19 | N Baltimore | 96–85 | Carl Braun (28) | 8–2 | |||||
11 | November 21 | Syracuse | 67–68 | Nathaniel Clifton (20) | 9–2 | |||||
12 | November 22 | @ Syracuse | 84–80 (OT) | Connie Simmons (27) | 10–2 | |||||
13 | November 24 | N Boston | 103–92 | Vince Boryla (20) | 11–2 | |||||
14 | November 25 | @ Boston | 84–96 | Vince Boryla (20) | 11–3 | |||||
15 | November 28 | Rochester | 90–95 (OT) | Jim Baechtold (21) | 12–3 | |||||
16 | November 29 | @ Rochester | 69–64 | Harry Gallatin (18) | 13–3 | |||||
17 | December 3 | @ Philadelphia | 74–79 | Carl Braun (18) | 13–4 | |||||
18 | December 5 | Fort Wayne | 92–73 | Carl Braun (22) | 13–5 | |||||
19 | December 10 | Boston | 113–108 (2OT) | Harry Gallatin (30) | 13–6 | |||||
20 | December 11 | @ Milwaukee | 70–82 | Harry Gallatin (19) | 13–7 | |||||
21 | December 12 | @ Minneapolis | 67–71 | Nathaniel Clifton (19) | 13–8 | |||||
22 | December 13 | @ Fort Wayne | 69–68 | Vince Boryla (23) | 14–8 | |||||
23 | December 15 | Minneapolis | 79–80 (OT) | Carl Braun (29) | 15–8 | |||||
24 | December 19 | @ Baltimore | 65–63 | Harry Gallatin (15) | 16–8 | |||||
25 | December 20 | Baltimore | 67–75 | Carl Braun (19) | 17–8 | |||||
26 | December 25 | Syracuse | 80–89 | Carl Braun (21) | 18–8 | |||||
27 | December 26 | @ Rochester | 78–77 | Connie Simmons (18) | 19–8 | |||||
28 | December 27 | Philadelphia | 76–79 | Carl Braun (23) | 20–8 | |||||
29 | December 30 | @ Baltimore | 79–86 | Nathaniel Clifton (21) | 20–9 | |||||
30 | December 31 | Boston | 95–74 | Jim Baechtold (20) | 20–10 | |||||
31 | January 2 | @ Minneapolis | 74–78 | Carl Braun (18) | 20–11 | |||||
32 | January 3 | @ Fort Wayne | 74–72 | Boryla, Braun (18) | 21–11 | |||||
33 | January 7 | Baltimore | 70–82 | Jim Baechtold (23) | 22–11 | |||||
34 | January 9 | @ Rochester | 88–87 | Harry Gallatin (20) | 23–11 | |||||
35 | January 10 | Rochester | 69–81 | Harry Gallatin (21) | 24–11 | |||||
36 | January 13 | N Syracuse | 93–72 | Carl Braun (15) | 24–12 | |||||
37 | January 14 | @ Philadelphia | 83–71 | Carl Braun (20) | 25–12 | |||||
38 | January 16 | Fort Wayne | 82–88 (OT) | Carl Braun (28) | 26–12 | |||||
39 | January 17 | @ Boston | 87–84 (2OT) | Connie Simmons (23) | 27–12 | |||||
40 | January 19 | @ Milwaukee | 78–75 | Dick McGuire (16) | 28–12 | |||||
41 | January 22 | N Philadelphia | 82–84 | Harry Gallatin (16) | 29–12 | |||||
42 | January 23 | Milwaukee | 63–75 | Carl Braun (17) | 30–12 | |||||
43 | January 24 | N Milwaukee | 66–68 | Carl Braun (23) | 30–13 | |||||
44 | January 26 | N Rochester | 71–74 | Carl Braun (17) | 31–13 | |||||
45 | January 28 | @ Syracuse | 66–79 | Connie Simmons (18) | 31–14 | |||||
46 | January 30 | Syracuse | 65–66 | Nathaniel Clifton (22) | 32–14 | |||||
47 | January 31 | @ Syracuse | 70–114 | Baechtold, Braun, Clifton, McGuire (10) | 32–15 | |||||
48 | February 3 | N Minneapolis | 79–91 | Carl Braun (21) | 32–16 | |||||
49 | February 4 | N Syracuse | 90–82 | Carl Braun (35) | 32–17 | |||||
50 | February 6 | Baltimore | 83–98 | Carl Braun (19) | 33–17 | |||||
51 | February 7 | @ Boston | 87–78 | Harry Gallatin (19) | 34–17 | |||||
52 | February 10 | N Fort Wayne | 73–69 | Carl Braun (20) | 35–17 | |||||
53 | February 11 | N Boston | 81–84 (OT) | Harry Gallatin (20) | 35–18 | |||||
54 | February 13 | Fort Wayne | 79–73 | Braun, Clifton (17) | 35–19 | |||||
55 | February 14 | @ Boston | 89–103 | Fred Schaus (23) | 35–20 | |||||
56 | February 16 | Boston | 85–87 | Dick McGuire (21) | 36–20 | |||||
57 | February 17 | @ Baltimore | 80–84 | Carl Braun (19) | 36–21 | |||||
58 | February 18 | @ Philadelphia | 69–60 | Fred Schaus (17) | 37–21 | |||||
59 | February 20 | Philadelphia | 89–75 | Nathaniel Clifton (19) | 37–22 | |||||
60 | February 21 | N Baltimore | 85–76 | Jim Baechtold (22) | 38–22 | |||||
61 | February 23 | Minneapolis | 100–82 | Nathaniel Clifton (20) | 38–23 | |||||
62 | February 25 | N Fort Wayne | 62–82 | Connie Simmons (15) | 38–24 | |||||
63 | February 27 | Milwaukee | 58–57 | Carl Braun (13) | 38–25 | |||||
64 | February 28 | N Philadelphia | 83–78 | Harry Gallatin (19) | 38–26 | |||||
65 | March 2 | Boston | 71–86 | Nathaniel Clifton (21) | 39–26 | |||||
66 | March 3 | N Philadelphia | 79–88 | Harry Gallatin (20) | 40–26 | |||||
67 | March 5 | N Rochester | 66–70 | Harry Gallatin (17) | 41–26 | |||||
68 | March 7 | Rochester | 91–88 | Carl Braun (25) | 41–27 | |||||
69 | March 9 | N Milwaukee | 72–65 | Harry Gallatin (15) | 42–27 | |||||
70 | March 10 | @ Minneapolis | 85–76 | Connie Simmons (27) | 43–27 | |||||
71 | March 13 | Syracuse | 60–67 | Harry Gallatin (16) | 44–27 | |||||
72 | March 14 | @ Syracuse | 83–113 | Connie Simmons (23) | 44–28 |
Playoffs
edit1954 playoff game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Division Round Robin Semifinals: 0–4 (home: 0–2; road: 0–2)
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1954 schedule |
Awards and records
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "New York Knickerbockers Franchise Index". Basketball-Reference. Archived from the original on January 6, 2010. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
- ^ "1953–54 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
- ^ "1953–54 New York Knickerbockers Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
- ^ "1953 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
- ^ a b "All-NBA & All-ABA Teams". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved June 8, 2013.