1950–51 Minneapolis Lakers season

1950–51 Minneapolis Lakers season
Division champions
Head coach	John Kundla
Arena	Minneapolis Auditorium
Results
Record	44–24 (.647)
Place	Division: 1st (Western)
Playoff finish	Division finals (lost to Royals 1–3)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	WLOL

The 1950–51 Minneapolis Lakers season was the franchise's third season in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 1950–51, the NBA reduced the number of teams to 11. The two-time defending champion Lakers continued to dominate by winning the Western Division with a 44–24 record. In the playoffs, the Lakers needed three games to eliminate the Indianapolis Olympians in the first round. In the Western Finals, the Lakers took Game 1, but were ultimately defeated for the championship by the Rochester Royals, who came back to win the next three games.

Off-season

NBA draft

Main article: 1950 NBA draft

Regular season

Standings

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Minneapolis Lakers	44	24	.647	–	29–3	12–21	3–0	24–12
x-Rochester Royals	41	27	.603	3	29–5	12–22	–	18–15
x-Fort Wayne Pistons	32	36	.471	12	27–7	5–27	0–2	18–6
x-Indianapolis Olympians	31	37	.456	13	19–12	10–24	2–1	15–20
Tri-Cities Blackhawks	25	43	.368	19	22–13	2–28	1–2	12–24

Record vs. opponents

1950-51 NBA Records
Team	BAL	BOS	FWP	IND	MIN	NYK	PHI	ROC	SYR	TCB	WAS
Baltimore	—	3–6	4–2	2–4	2–4	2–5	3–6	1–5	3–5	3–3	1–2
Boston	6–3	—	5–1	4–1	3–3	4–4	4–4	2–4	2–5	4–2	4–3
Fort Wayne	2–4	1–5	—	5–3	5–3	2–4	3–3	3–5	3–3	5–5	3–1
Indianapolis	4–2	1–4	3–5	—	3–7	5–1	1–5	5–4	3–3	4–4	2–2
Minneapolis	4–2	3–3	3–5	7–3	—	3–3	4–2	4–4	4–2	10–0	2–0
New York	5–2	4–4	4–2	1–5	3–3	—	5–3	3–3	5–5	4–2	2–1
Philadelphia	6–3	4–4	3–3	5–1	2–4	3–5	—	4–2	6–2	4–2	3–0
Rochester	5–3	5–2	3–3	3–3	2–4	5–5	2–6	—	4–2	5–3	5–0
Syracuse	5–3	5–2	3–3	3–3	2–4	5–5	2–6	2–4	—	3–3	2–0
Tri-Cities	3–3	2–4	5–5	4–4	0–10	2–4	2–4	3–5	3–3	—	1–1
Washington	2–1	3–4	1–3	2–2	0–2	1–2	0–3	0–5	0–2	1–1	—

Game log

#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	November 1	at Baltimore	71–81	George Mikan (34)	0–1
2	November 4	at Washington	91–85	George Mikan (27)	1–1
3	November 5	at Syracuse	87–90	George Mikan (29)	1–2
4	November 9	at Boston	71–76	George Mikan (24)	1–3
5	November 12	Philadelphia	70–83	George Mikan (25)	2–3
6	November 15	Syracuse	71–72 (OT)	George Mikan (28)	3–3
7	November 16	at New York	69–71	George Mikan (27)	3–4
8	November 18	at Rochester	86–77 (2OT)	George Mikan (47)	4–4
9	November 19	Rochester	77–90	George Mikan (23)	5–4
10	November 22	Fort Wayne	18–19	George Mikan (15)	5–5
11	November 23	at Fort Wayne	63–73	George Mikan (32)	5–6
12	November 26	Baltimore	71–85	George Mikan (23)	6–6
13	November 29	Tri-Cities	66–85	Slater Martin (19)	7–6
14	December 1	at Indianapolis	65–66	George Mikan (22)	7–7
15	December 3	Philadelphia	83–95	George Mikan (38)	8–7
16	December 6	New York	62–84	Jim Pollard (17)	9–7
17	December 9	at Tri-Cities	88–79	George Mikan (37)	10–7
18	December 10	Tri-Cities	101–114	George Mikan (29)	11–7
19	December 13	Rochester	82–72	George Mikan (43)	11–8
20	December 15	at Indianapolis	82–71	George Mikan (32)	12–8
21	December 16	at Tri-Cities	86–71	George Mikan (21)	13–8
22	December 17	Indianapolis	60–79	George Mikan (29)	14–8
23	December 19	at Philadelphia	67–71	George Mikan (25)	14–9
24	December 20	at Baltimore	84–91	George Mikan (39)	14–10
25	December 23	at Boston	81–87	George Mikan (31)	14–11
26	December 25	Washington	79–93	George Mikan (35)	15–11
27	December 27	Baltimore	63–81	George Mikan (19)	16–11
28	December 28	at Rochester	67–75	George Mikan (41)	16–12
29	December 31	Philadelphia	73–83	George Mikan (24)	17–12
30	January 1	at Fort Wayne	70–83	Vern Mikkelsen (20)	17–13
31	January 3	Fort Wayne	64–86	Vern Mikkelsen (23)	18–13
32	January 4	at Syracuse	80–77	George Mikan (27)	19–13
33	January 5	Boston	54–69	Vern Mikkelsen (17)	20–13
34	January 7	Rochester	57–69	Vern Mikkelsen (26)	21–13
35	January 10	New York	65–70	George Mikan (21)	22–13
36	January 11	at Tri-Cities	113–109	George Mikan (34)	23–13
37	January 14	Indianapolis	84–86 (OT)	George Mikan (28)	24–13
38	January 16	at Indianapolis	68–82	George Mikan (21)	24–14
39	January 18	at New York	78–95	George Mikan (27)	24–15
40	January 20	N Fort Wayne	89–70	George Mikan (27)	25–15
41	January 21	Tri-Cities	82–89	George Mikan (31)	26–15
42	January 23	N Baltimore	89–79	Vern Mikkelsen (20)	27–15
43	January 25	at Philadelphia	90–71	George Mikan (24)	28–15
44	January 28	Indianapolis	75–101	George Mikan (34)	29–15
45	January 31	Tri-Cities	78–106	George Mikan (35)	30–15
46	February 3	at Indianapolis	89–84	George Mikan (29)	31–15
47	February 4	Boston	84–98	George Mikan (29)	32–15
48	February 7	at Fort Wayne	86–96	George Mikan (20)	32–16
49	February 8	Rochester	58–69	George Mikan (37)	33–16
50	February 11	Indianapolis	78–91	George Mikan (27)	34–16
51	February 14	Baltimore	71–99	George Mikan (28)	35–16
52	February 16	at Indianapolis	76–71	George Mikan (32)	36–16
53	February 17	at Rochester	82–87	George Mikan (30)	36–17
54	February 18	at Syracuse	80–91	George Mikan (25)	36–18
55	February 21	Syracuse	76–82	George Mikan (36)	37–18
56	February 24	Fort Wayne	78–95	George Mikan (32)	38–18
57	February 25	Indianapolis	75–73	Mikan, Pollard (20)	38–19
58	February 27	N Tri-Cities	77–83	George Mikan (33)	39–19
59	February 28	at Fort Wayne	73–77	George Mikan (39)	39–20
60	March 1	at Philadelphia	77–97	Jim Pollard (26)	39–21
61	March 4	at Boston	86–92	George Mikan (44)	39–22
62	March 6	at Rochester	79–90	George Mikan (18)	39–23
63	March 8	at New York	94–97 (OT)	George Mikan (40)	39–24
64	March 10	at Tri-Cities	99–88	George Mikan (46)	40–24
65	March 11	Boston	96–98 (2OT)	George Mikan (40)	41–24
66	March 14	Syracuse	76–100	George Mikan (40)	42–24
67	March 17	at Tri-Cities	92–91 (OT)	George Mikan (38)	43–24
68	March 18	New York	68–86	Vern Mikkelsen (19)	44–24

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average

Player	GP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	AVG

Playoffs

1951 playoff game log
Division semifinals: 2–1 (home: 2–0; road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points Location Series 1 March 21 Indianapolis W 95–81 George Mikan (41) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–0 2 March 23 @ Indianapolis L 88–108 Vern Mikkelsen (30) Butler Fieldhouse 1–1 3 March 25 Indianapolis W 85–80 George Mikan (30) Minneapolis Auditorium 2–1
Division finals: 1–3 (home: 1–1; road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points Location Series 1 March 29 Rochester W 76–73 Vern Mikkelsen (23) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–0 2 March 31 Rochester L 66–70 Jim Pollard (20) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–1 3 April 1 @ Rochester L 70–83 George Mikan (23) Edgerton Park Arena 1–2 4 April 3 @ Rochester L 75–80 George Mikan (32) Edgerton Park Arena 1–3
1951 schedule

Awards and honors

• George Mikan, All-NBA First Team
• Vern Mikkelsen, All-NBA Second Team
• George Mikan, NBA All-Star Game
• Vern Mikkelsen, NBA All-Star Game
• Jim Pollard, NBA All-Star Game

References

General

• Lakers on Database Basketball
• Lakers on Basketball Reference

Specific