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| Dates | April 4–10 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hall of Famers | Lakers: George Mikan (1959) Jim Pollard (1978) Slater Martin (1982) Vern Mikkelsen (1995) Knicks: Harry Gallatin (1991) Al McGuire (1992, coach) Dick McGuire (1993) Nat Clifton (2014) Carl Braun (2019) Coaches: Joe Lapchick (1966, player) John Kundla (1995) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Knicks defeated Celtics, 3–1 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Lakers defeated Pistons, 3–2 | |||||||||
The 1953 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1953 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1952–53 season. The Western Division champion Minneapolis Lakers faced the Eastern Division champion New York Knicks in a best-of-seven series with Minneapolis having home-court advantage.[1] By winning four games to one, the Lakers won their fifth title in six years dating from 1948, the club's final season in the National Basketball League.
The five games were played in seven days, beginning Saturday and Sunday, April 4 and 5, in Minneapolis and concluding there on the following Friday. Meanwhile, two mid-week games were played in New York City. The entire postseason tournament spanned 25 days in which Minneapolis played 12 games, New York 11.[1]