# 1952–53 New York Knicks season

The 1952–53 New York Knicks season was the seventh season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). With a 47–23 record, the Knicks won the regular season Eastern Division title by a half-game over the Syracuse Nationals and made the NBA Playoffs for the seventh consecutive year.
In the first round of the 1953 NBA Playoffs, the Knicks swept the Baltimore Bullets 2–0 in a best-of-three series to advance to the Eastern Division finals. There, New York defeated the Boston Celtics 3–1 to make the NBA Finals for the third straight year. In the Finals, the Knicks lost to the Minneapolis Lakers, four games to one. The club would wait another 17 years to make an NBA championship final, winning it in 1970.

## 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 | 5 | Ralph Polson | F/C | United States | Whitworth |
| – | – | Dick Bunt | G | United States | NYU |
| – | – | Bert Cook | G/F | United States | Utah State |
| – | – | Dick Surhoff | F | United States | Long Island |

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Eastern Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-New York Knicks | 47 | 23 | .671 | - | 22-4 | 15-14 | 10-5 | 30-10 |
| x-Syracuse Nationals | 47 | 24 | .662 | 0.5 | 32-2 | 10-20 | 5-2 | 26-15 |
| x-Boston Celtics | 46 | 25 | .648 | 1.5 | 21-3 | 11-18 | 14-4 | 28-13 |
| x-Baltimore Bullets | 16 | 54 | .229 | 31 | 11-20 | 1–19 | 4-15 | 10-30 |
| Philadelphia Warriors | 12 | 57 | .174 | 34.5 | 5-12 | 1–28 | 6-17 | 7-33 |
    x – clinched playoff spot

### Record vs. opponents

1952–53 NBA records :
| Team | BAL | BOS | FWP | IND | MIL | MIN | NYK | PHI | ROC | SYR |
| Baltimore | — | 2–8 | 0–6 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 0–10 | 6–4 | 0–6 | 2–8 |
| Boston | 8–2 | — | 4–2 | 4–2 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 6–4 | 9–1 | 4–2 | 5–6 |
| Fort Wayne | 6–0 | 2–4 | — | 7–3 | 7–3 | 1–9 | 4–2 | 5–0 | 3–7 | 1–5 |
| Indianapolis | 4–2 | 2–4 | 3–7 | — | 5–6 | 4–6 | 1–5 | 5–1 | 3–7 | 1–5 |
| Milwaukee | 3–3 | 1–5 | 3–7 | 6–5 | — | 3–7 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 3–7 | 3–3 |
| Minneapolis | 5–1 | 5–1 | 9–1 | 6–4 | 7–3 | — | 4–2 | 6–0 | 4–6 | 2–4 |
| New York | 10–0 | 4–6 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 2–4 | — | 10–0 | 3–3 | 6–4 |
| Philadelphia | 4–6 | 1–9 | 0–5 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 0–10 | — | 2–4 | 2–8 |
| Rochester | 6–0 | 2–4 | 7–3 | 7–3 | 7–3 | 6–4 | 3–3 | 4–2 | — | 2–4 |
| Syracuse | 8–2 | 6–5 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–6 | 8–2 | 4–2 | — |

### Game log
## Playoffs

1953 playoff game log :
Division semifinals: 2–0 (home: 1–0; road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsLocationSeries
1
March 17
Baltimore
W 80–62
Connie Simmons (25)
Madison Square Garden III
1–0
2
March 20
@ Baltimore
W 90–81
Vince Boryla (20)
Baltimore Coliseum
2–0 :
Division finals: 3–1 (home: 2–0; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh assistsLocationSeries
1
March 25
Boston
W 95–91
Connie Simmons (18)
Dick McGuire (8)
Madison Square Garden III
1–0
2
March 26
@ Boston
L 70–86
Harry Gallatin (17)
Carl Braun (7)
Boston Garden
1–1
3
March 28
Boston
W 101–82
Harry Gallatin (23)
Dick McGuire (11)
Madison Square Garden III
2–1
4
March 29
@ Boston
W 82–75
Carl Braun (18)
Nat Clifton (9)
Boston Garden
3–1 :
NBA Finals: 1–4 (home: 0–3; road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
April 4
@ Minneapolis
W 96–88
Carl Braun (21)
Minneapolis Auditorium 5,000
1–0
2
April 5
@ Minneapolis
L 71–73
Connie Simmons (17)
Minneapolis Auditorium 4,848
1–1
3
April 7
Minneapolis
L 75–90
Connie Simmons (18)
69th Regiment Armory 5,100
1–2
4
April 8
Minneapolis
L 69–71
Connie Simmons (17)
69th Regiment Armory 5,200
1–3
5
April 10
Minneapolis
L 84–91
Carl Braun (19)
Ernie Vandeweghe (4)
69th Regiment Armory 5,200
1–4 :
1953 schedule :