# 1953–54 Syracuse Nationals season

The 1953–54 Syracuse Nationals season was the 5th season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the Eastern Division Finals, the Nationals swept the Boston Celtics 2–0 to make it to the NBA Finals. The Nationals would go on to lose the Finals in 7 games to the Minneapolis Lakers.

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Eastern Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-New York Knicks | 44 | 28 | .611 | – | 18–8 | 15–13 | 11–7 | 24–16 |
| x-Boston Celtics | 42 | 30 | .583 | 2 | 17–6 | 10–19 | 15–5 | 25–15 |
| x-Syracuse Nationals | 42 | 30 | .583 | 2 | 26–6 | 11–17 | 5–7 | 21–19 |
| Philadelphia Warriors | 29 | 43 | .403 | 15 | 10–9 | 6–16 | 13–18 | 19–21 |
| Baltimore Bullets | 16 | 56 | .222 | 28 | 12–18 | 0–22 | 4–16 | 11–29 |
    x – clinched playoff spot

### Record vs. opponents

1953-54 NBA Records :
| Team | BAL | BOS | FWP | MIL | MIN | NYK | PHI | ROC | SYR |
| Baltimore | — | 1–9 | 0–8 | 2–6 | 2–6 | 3–7 | 4–6 | 1–7 | 3–7 |
| Boston | 9–1 | — | 4–4 | 6–2 | 3–5 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 4–4 | 5–5 |
| Fort Wayne | 8–0 | 4–4 | — | 9–2 | 5–5 | 3–5 | 6–2 | 3–8 | 2–6 |
| Milwaukee | 6–2 | 2–6 | 2–9 | — | 3–8 | 3–5 | 3–5 | 1–9 | 1–7 |
| Minneapolis | 6–2 | 5–3 | 5–5 | 8–3 | — | 5–3 | 6–2 | 6–5 | 5–3 |
| New York | 7–3 | 5–5 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 3–5 | — | 7–3 | 7–1 | 5–5 |
| Philadelphia | 6–4 | 4–6 | 2–6 | 5–3 | 2–6 | 3–7 | — | 1–7 | 6–4 |
| Rochester | 7–1 | 4–4 | 8–3 | 9–1 | 5–6 | 1–7 | 7–1 | — | 3–5 |
| Syracuse | 7–3 | 5–5 | 6–2 | 7–1 | 3–5 | 5–5 | 4–6 | 5–3 | — |

### Game log
## Playoffs

1954 playoff game log :
Division Round Robin Semifinals: 4–0 (home: 2–0; road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
1
March 17
@ Boston
W 96–95 (OT)
Dolph Schayes (20)
Dolph Schayes (13)
Earl Lloyd (8)
Boston Garden
1–0
2
March 18
New York
W 75–68
Dolph Schayes (23)
Dolph Schayes (16)
Paul Seymour (6)
Onondaga War Memorial
2–0
3
March 21
@ New York
W 103–99
Dolph Schayes (36)
Dolph Schayes (21)
Paul Seymour (6)
Madison Square Garden III
3–0
4
March 22
Boston
W 98–85
Dolph Schayes (25)
Dolph Schayes (16)
Paul Seymour (7)
Onondaga War Memorial
4–0 :
Division Finals: 2–0 (home: 1–0; road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationSeries
1
March 25
Boston
W 109–94
Dolph Schayes (27)
Dolph Schayes (21)
Bill Gabor (6)
Onondaga War Memorial
1–0
2
March 27
@ Boston
W 83–76
Wally Osterkorn (16)
George King (8)
Boston Garden
2–0 :
NBA Finals: 3–4 (home: 1–2; road: 2–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
March 31
@ Minneapolis
L 68–79
Bob Lavoy (15)
Wally Osterkorn (8)
Paul Seymour (6)
Minneapolis Auditorium 4,579
0–1
2
April 3
@ Minneapolis
W 62–60
Wally Osterkorn (20)
Wally Osterkorn (17)
Lavoy, Seymour (3)
Minneapolis Auditorium 6,277
1–1
3
April 4
Minneapolis
L 67–81
Bob Lavoy (18)
Bob Lavoy (15)
Paul Seymour (7)
Onondaga War Memorial 8,719
1–2
4
April 8
Minneapolis
W 80–69
Paul Seymour (25)
Bob Lavoy (11)
Paul Seymour (6)
Onondaga War Memorial 7,655
2–2
5
April 10
Minneapolis
L 73–84
Dolph Schayes (17)
Earl Lloyd (8)
Wally Osterkorn (5)
Onondaga War Memorial 7,283
2–3
6
April 11
@ Minneapolis
W 65–63
Paul Seymour (16)
Minneapolis Auditorium 6,776
3–3
7
April 12
@ Minneapolis
L 80–87
Dolph Schayes (18)
Minneapolis Auditorium 7,274
3–4 :
1954 schedule :

## Awards and records

* Dolph Schayes, All-NBA First Team
* Paul Seymour, All-NBA Second Team