1952 Overview

From Hoopedia

1951-52 NBA Season

Slowed during the 1951 playoffs by an ankle injury, George Mikan returned to the game in the fall and found it much changed. The lane had been widened, from six to 12 feet, by rules makers who thought it would diminish his dominance.

Mikan’s scoring averaged dipped, from 28.4 to 23.8 points per game, which allowed the Philadelphia Warriors' Paul Arizin to move ahead of him in the scoring race at 25.4.

What was even more eye-opening basketball aficionados was that Arizin, one of the game’s early jump shooters, also posted the top field goal percentage (.448).

Point-shaving scandals rocked college basketball in 1951, and the issue cost two young NBA stars their pro careers. Alex Groza and Ralph Beard, both of the Indianapolis Olympians, were implicated for misdeeds at the University of Kentucky and subsequently banned from the NBA.

For the first time since 1948-49, all NBA teams played the same number of games (66), and for the first time ever, all 10 teams that had finished the 1950-51 season started and completed the 1951-52 season. Mikan, Arizin and Boston’s Ed Macauley and Bob Cousy made the All-NBA First Team, with Rochester’ Bob Davies and Syracuse’s Dolph Schayes sharing the fifth spot.

The Knicks managed only a third-place finish in the East during the regular season but found their way through the playoffs to reach the Finals. The Western Division had its annual battle between the Royals and Minneapolis Lakers. Mikan’s team reasserted itself this time around after having watched the Royals take the title in ’51.

The Knicks fought to extend the NBA Finals to seven games, but the Lakers held home-court advantage and claimed Game 7 easily, 82-65.