# 1951–52 New York Knicks season

The 1951–52 New York Knicks season was the sixth season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Knicks finished third in the Eastern Division with a 37–29 record, and advanced to the NBA Playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.
In the first round of the Eastern Division playoffs, the Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics in a best-of-three series, two games to one, to move on to the Eastern Division finals. New York won 3–1 in a best-of-five series with the Syracuse Nationals to reach its second straight NBA Finals. In the Finals, the Knicks lost to the Minneapolis Lakers in seven games. The Knicks became the first NBA team to erase a 3–0 deficit in a best-of-seven series and force a deciding game 7.

## NBA draft

Note: 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.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 6 | Ed Smith | F | United States | Harvard |
| 2 | 15 | Roland Minson | G | United States | Brigham Young |
| 6 | 55 | Al McGuire | G/F | United States | St. John's |

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Eastern Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-Syracuse Nationals | 40 | 26 | .606 | – | 26–7 | 12–18 | 2–1 | 21–15 |
| x-Boston Celtics | 39 | 27 | .591 | 1 | 22–7 | 10–19 | 7–1 | 22–14 |
| x-New York Knicks | 37 | 29 | .561 | 3 | 21–4 | 12–22 | 4–3 | 23–13 |
| x-Philadelphia Warriors | 33 | 33 | .500 | 7 | 24–7 | 6–25 | 3–1 | 14–22 |
| Baltimore Bullets | 20 | 46 | .303 | 20 | 17–15 | 2–22 | 1–9 | 10–26 |
    x = clinched playoff spot

### Record vs. opponents

1951–52 NBA records :
| Team | BAL | BOS | FWP | IND | MIL | MIN | NYK | PHI | ROC | SYR |
| Baltimore | — | 1–8 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 0–6 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 2–4 | 3–6 |
| Boston | 8–1 | — | 3–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 3–3 | 4–5 |
| Fort Wayne | 4–2 | 3–3 | — | 5–4 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 3–6 | 0–6 |
| Indianapolis | 4–2 | 3–3 | 4–5 | — | 7–2 | 4–5 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 3–6 | 4–2 |
| Milwaukee | 2–4 | 1–5 | 5–4 | 2–7 | — | 1–8 | 2–4 | 1–5 | 1–8 | 2–4 |
| Minneapolis | 6–0 | 3–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 8–1 | — | 4–2 | 2–4 | 7–2 | 1–5 |
| New York | 7–2 | 5–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–4 | — | 6–3 | 2–4 | 5–4 |
| Philadelphia | 5–4 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 5–1 | 4–2 | 3–6 | — | 2–4 | 3–6 |
| Rochester | 4–2 | 3–3 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 8–1 | 2–7 | 4–2 | 4–2 | — | 4–2 |
| Syracuse | 6–3 | 5–4 | 6–0 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 5–1 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 2–4 | — |

### Game log
## Playoffs

1952 playoff game log :
Division semifinals: 2–1 (home: 1–0; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh assistsLocationSeries
1
March 19
@ Boston
L 94–105
Max Zaslofsky (20)
Dick McGuire (7)
Boston Garden
0–1
2
March 23
Boston
W 101–97
Connie Simmons (22)
Dick McGuire (7)
Madison Square Garden III
1–1
3
March 26
@ Boston
W 88–87 (2OT)
Max Zaslofsky (21)
Dick McGuire (9)
Boston Garden
2–1 :
Division finals: 3–1 (home: 2–0; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsLocationSeries
1
April 2
@ Syracuse
W 87–85
Max Zaslofsky (26)
Onondaga War Memorial
1–0
2
April 3
@ Syracuse
L 92–102
Harry Gallatin (16)
Onondaga War Memorial
1–1
3
April 5
Syracuse
W 99–92
Max Zaslofsky (20)
Madison Square Garden III
2–1
4
April 6
Syracuse
W 100–93
Max Zaslofsky (20)
Madison Square Garden III
3–1 :
NBA Finals: 3–4 (home: 2–1; road: 1–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 12
@ Minneapolis
L 79–83 (OT)
Simmons, McGuire (15)
Nat Clifton (12)
Dick McGuire (5)
St. Paul Auditorium 8,722
0–1
2
April 13
@ Minneapolis
W 80–72
Harry Gallatin (18)
Harry Gallatin (11)
Dick McGuire (5)
St. Paul Auditorium
1–1
3
April 16
Minneapolis
L 77–82
Max Zaslofsky (17)
Nat Clifton (10)
Dick McGuire (10)
69th Regiment Armory 4,500
1–2
4
April 18
Minneapolis
W 90–89 (OT)
Connie Simmons (30)
Nat Clifton (12)
Dick McGuire (6)
69th Regiment Armory 5,200
2–2
5
April 20
@ Minneapolis
L 89–102
Nat Clifton (17)
Clifton, Gallatin (8)
six players tied (1)
St. Paul Auditorium 7,244
2–3
6
April 23
Minneapolis
W 76–68
Max Zaslofsky (23)
Harry Gallatin (13)
Ernie Vandeweghe (7)
69th Regiment Armory 3,000
3–3
7
April 25
@ Minneapolis
L 65–82
Max Zaslofsky (21)
Nat Clifton (10)
Nat Clifton (3)
Minneapolis Auditorium 8,612
3–4 :
1952 schedule :