1950 NBA Finals

1950 NBA Finals
TeamCoachWins
Minneapolis Lakers John Kundla 4
Syracuse Nationals Al Cervi 2
Dates April 8−23
Radio network WLOL (MPLS)
WSYR (SYR)
Hall of Famers George Mikan (1959)
Dolph Schayes (1973)
Eastern Finals Nationals defeated Knicks, 2–1
Western Finals Not the Western final (see text). Central champion Lakers defeated Western champion Packers, 2–0

The 1950 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the inaugural National Basketball Association 1949–50 season. The Central Division champion Minneapolis Lakers faced the Eastern Division champion Syracuse Nationals in a best-of-seven series with Syracuse having home-court advantage.

The NBA recognizes three preceding Basketball Association of America (BAA) seasons as part of its own history, and thus presents the 1950 Finals as its fourth championship series.[1] Minneapolis had won the 1949 BAA Finals and its 1950 win over Syracuse is officially the Lakers second of five titles in Minneapolis.

In the event, six games were played in sixteen days, beginning Saturday and Sunday, April 8 and 9, in Syracuse and incorporating two subsequent Sunday games in Minneapolis. Counting a Central Division tiebreaker played on Monday, March 20, the entire postseason tournament spanned five full weeks to Sunday, April 23.[2]

The NBA was arranged in three divisions (for its first season only) and the first two rounds of the 1950 NBA Playoffs generated three Division champions. With the league's best regular season record, Syracuse had earned a place in the Finals by winning the Eastern Division title on the preceding Sunday, and had been five days idle while the Central and Western champions had played a best-of-three series mid-week.[2]

In Game 1, The Lakers won on a buzzer beating shot by sub Bob "Tiger" Harrison, the first known case of a buzzer beater in the Finals. 6'8" Dolph Schayes of Syracuse led his team out to the finals after a 16.8 ppg average during the regular season. George Mikan, however, averaged 27.4 ppg and led the league. Mikan would lead the Lakers past Syracuse in six games.

Series summary

GameDateHome TeamResultRoad Team
Game 1April 8Syracuse Nationals66−68 (0−1)Minneapolis Lakers
Game 2April 9Syracuse Nationals91−85 (1−1)Minneapolis Lakers
Game 3April 14Minneapolis Lakers91−77 (2−1)Syracuse Nationals
Game 4April 16Minneapolis Lakers77−69 (3−1)Syracuse Nationals
Game 5April 20Syracuse Nationals83−76 (2−3)Minneapolis Lakers
Game 6April 23Minneapolis Lakers110−95 (4−2)Syracuse Nationals

Lakers win series 4−2

Team rosters

Minneapolis Lakers

Syracuse Nationals

References

  1. ↑ "NBA Season Recaps". NBA History (nba.com/history). July 1, 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
  2. 1 2 "1949–50 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
      Select "Previous Season" from the heading for 1948–49 BAA, and so on. Select "Finals" from League Playoffs for the daily schedule of the final series, and so on.
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