1950–51 Rochester Royals season

1950–51 Rochester Royals season
NBA champions
Division champions
Head coach Lester Harrison
Arena Edgerton Park Arena
Results
Record 41–27 (.603)
Place Division: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish NBA Champions
(Defeated Knicks 4–3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio WHAM

The 1950-51 Rochester Royals season was the third season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Royals finished the season by winning their first NBA Championship. The Royals scored 84.6 points per game and allowed 81.7 points per game.[1] Rochester was led up front by Arnie Risen, a 6–9, 200-pound center nicknamed "Stilts", along with 6–5 Arnie Johnson and 6–7 Jack Coleman. The backcourt was manned by Bob Davies and Bobby Wanzer. Among the key reserves was a guard from City College of New York named William "Red" Holzman.[2]

Regular season

Standings

Western Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Minneapolis Lakers4424.647–29–312–213–024–12
x-Rochester Royals4127.603329–512–22–18–15
x-Fort Wayne Pistons3236.4711227–75–270–218–6
x-Indianapolis Olympians3137.4561319–1210–242–115–20
Tri-Cities Blackhawks2543.3681922–132–281–212–24

Record vs. opponents

1950-51 NBA Records
Team BAL BOS FWP IND MIN NYK PHI ROC SYR TCB WAS
Baltimore —3–64–22–42–42–53–61–53–53–31–2
Boston 6–3—5–14–13–34–44–42–42–54–24–3
Fort Wayne 2–41–5—5–35–32–43–33–53–35–53–1
Indianapolis 4–21–43–5—3–75–11–55–43–34–42–2
Minneapolis 4–23–33–57–3—3–34–24–44–210–02–0
New York 5–24–44–21–53–3—5–33–35–54–22–1
Philadelphia 6–34–43–35–12–43–5—4–26–24–23–0
Rochester 5–35–23–33–32–45–52–6—4–25–35–0
Syracuse 5–35–23–33–32–45–52–62–4—3–32–0
Tri-Cities 3–32–45–54–40–102–42–43–53–3—1–1
Washington 2–13–41–32–20–21–20–30–50–21–1—

Season Schedule

Roster

Playoffs

West Division Semifinals

(2) Rochester Royals vs. (3) Fort Wayne Pistons: Royals win series 2–1

  • Game 1 @ Rochester: Rochester 110, Fort Wayne 81
  • Game 2 @ Fort Wayne: Fort Wayne 83, Rochester 78
  • Game 3 @ Rochester: Rochester 97, Fort Wayne 78

West Division Finals

(1) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (2) Rochester Royals: Royals win series 3–1

  • Game 1 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 76, Rochester 73
  • Game 2 @ Minneapolis: Rochester 70, Minneapolis 66
  • Game 3 @ Rochester: Rochester 83, Minneapolis 70
  • Game 4 @ Rochester: Rochester 80, Minneapolis 75

NBA Finals

The Royals took Game 1 easily, 92–65, as Risen and Wanzer recorded 24 and 19 points. Rochester won Game 2 99–84, behind 24 points from Davies and 28 rebounds from Coleman.[2] Three nights later, the finals shifted to the 69th Regiment Armory in New York, but the result was no different. The Royals defeated the Knicks 78–71 and took a 3–0 series lead, thanks to 27 points and 18 rebounds from Risen. The Knicks rebounded in Game 4 by a score of 79–73. The Knicks key player was Harry Gallatin who scored 22 points and 14 rebounds. Game 5 took place in Rochester and the Knicks won 92–89. Connie Simmons had 26 points; and then tied the series by taking Game 6 back in New York 80–73. Max Zaslofsky led the way with 23 points.[2] The seventh and deciding game was held on April 21 back in Rochester. The Royals jumped to an early 14-point lead, but the Knicks came back. With 44 seconds left and the score tied at 75, Davies was fouled by the Knicks’ Dick McGuire and sunk two free throws. Rochester would go on to win the seventh game and the NBA Championship. Davies finished the game with 20 points, and Risen scored 24 points and 13 rebounds in the deciding game.[2] Risen finished the series with averages of 21.7 points and 14.3 rebounds, Davies averaged 17 points and 5.3 assists, Wanzer 12.4 points and Coleman 13.1 rebounds. The Knicks remain the only time in NBA history a team has bounced back from a 3–0 deficit to force a Game 7.[2]

GameDateHome TeamResultRoad Team
Game 1April 7Rochester92–65New York
Game 2April 8Rochester99–84New York
Game 3April 11New York71–78Rochester
Game 4April 13New York79–73Rochester
Game 5April 15Rochester89–92New York
Game 6April 18New York80–73Rochester
Game 7April 21Rochester79-75New York

[3]

  • Won NBA Finals (4–3) over New York Knickerbockers

Awards and honors

References

  1. ↑ 1950–51 Rochester Royals Statistics – Basketball-Reference.com
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 NBA.com: Their Royal Highnesses
  3. ↑ 1951 NBA Playoff Summary – Basketball-Reference.com
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.