NBA team season
NBA professional basketball team season
The1952–53 Fort Wayne Pistons season NBA and 12th season as a franchise.[ 1]
The Pistons finished the season above .500 at 36-33 (.522), 3rd in the Western Division. The team advanced to the playoffs, defeating theRochester Royals 2–1 in the opening series, including a 67–65 home nail-biter to take the series, but lost in the division finals 3–2 to theMinneapolis Lakers as each team won at home in the 5-game series. The Pistons were led on the season by center-forwardLarry Foust (14.3 ppg, 11.5 rpg, NBA All-Star), guardAndy Phillip (10.0 ppg, 5.0 apg, NBA All-Star) andDon Meineke (10.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg), who would win the inauguralNBA Rookie of the Year Award .[ 2] Dick Groat (11.9 ppg) would play for the Pistons while finishing his degree atDuke University , left the team in February 1953 to serve in theUnited States Army and returned to sports in 1955 to pursue abaseball career. Groat became one of 13 players to play in both theNBA andMajor League Baseball .[ 3] [ 4]
x – clinched playoff spot1952–53 Game log # Date Opponent Score High points Record 1 November 1 @Rochester 82–94 Frank Brian (15)0–1 2 November 2 Minneapolis 81–69 Larry Foust (19)0–2 3 November 6 Rochester 84–64 Frank Brian (20) 0–3 4 November 9 Indianapolis 71–74 Frank Brian (18) 1–3 5 November 11 @ Indianapolis 63–78 Larry Foust (16) 1–4 6 November 15 @Milwaukee 68–71 Frank Brian (22) 1–5 7 November 16 New York 83–112 Dick Groat (25)2–5 8 November 20 Minneapolis 89–81 Fred Schaus (24)2–6 9 November 22 @ Minneapolis 89–96 Larry Foust (21) 2–7 10 November 23 Philadelphia 80–92 Fred Schaus (22) 3–7 11 November 26 @ Milwaukee 80–72 Don Meineke (19)4–7 12 November 27 Milwaukee 87–95 (OT) Dwight Eddleman (24)5–7 13 November 29 NBoston 71–78 Frank Brian (17) 5–8 14 November 30 Baltimore 95–100 (2OT) Dwight Eddleman (27) 6–8 15 December 4 Syracuse 78–70 Dwight Eddleman (21) 6–9 16 December 5 @ Indianapolis 74–84 Larry Foust (27) 6–10 17 December 6 @ Baltimore 103–91 Fred Schaus (21) 7–10 18 December 7 New York 91–102 Don Meineke (27) 8–10 19 December 11 Milwaukee 70–71 (OT) Larry Foust (22) 9–10 20 December 14 Indianapolis 71–86 Larry Foust (27) 10–10 21 December 16 N Philadelphia 64–95 Foust, Groat (18) 11–10 22 December 18 @ Philadelphia 86–79 Larry Foust (22) 12–10 23 December 20 @ Rochester 89–92 Larry Foust (23) 12–11 24 December 21 Philadelphia 71–74 Don Meineke (16) 13–11 25 December 23 @ Indianapolis 59–72 Fred Schaus (14) 13–12 26 December 25 Milwaukee 69–71 (2OT) Larry Foust (14) 14–12 27 December 27 N New York 91–92 Dick Groat (17) 15–12 28 December 28 Boston 89–66 Frank Brian (19) 15–13 29 December 31 Indianapolis 85–91 Larry Foust (25) 16–13 30 January 1 @ Syracuse 78–92 Larry Foust (22) 16–14 31 January 3 @ Rochester 101–106 Brian, Eddleman, Foust, Groat (13) 16–15 32 January 4 Philadelphia 68–79 Andy Phillip (25)17–15 33 January 6 @ Milwaukee 71–73 Brian, Foust (17) 17–16 34 January 10 N Minneapolis 84–79 Fred Schaus (20) 17–17 35 January 11 Indianapolis 68–72 Larry Foust (17) 18–17 36 January 15 Boston 85–91 Dwight Eddleman (28) 19–17 37 January 16 N Indianapolis 68–75 Larry Foust (15) 20–17 38 January 18 Rochester 87–90 Dick Groat (22) 21–17 39 January 21 @ Boston 84–94 Frank Brian (21) 21–18 40 January 22 @ Syracuse 75–87 Larry Foust (15) 21–19 41 January 24 @ New York 76–82 Larry Foust (22) 21–20 42 January 25 Milwaukee 62–65 Don Meineke (15) 22–20 43 January 27 N Minneapolis 96–76 Andy Phillip (17) 22–21 44 January 29 Boston 98–111 Larry Foust (21) 23–21 45 January 30 N Rochester 70–68 (OT) Phillip, Schaus (15) 23–22 46 January 31 @ Minneapolis 80–87 Dick Groat (19) 23–23 47 February 1 Minneapolis 92–76 Frank Brian (16) 23–24 48 February 5 Indianapolis 63–68 Andy Phillip (19) 24–24 49 February 8 Baltimore 78–89 Andy Phillip (19) 25–24 50 February 11 Syracuse 78–96 Frank Brian (20) 26–24 51 February 14 @ Baltimore 102–88 Fred Schaus (20) 27–24 52 February 15 Rochester 84–72 Chuck Share (17)27–25 53 February 17 @ Rochester 88–78 Andy Phillip (19) 28–25 54 February 19 Baltimore 79–83 (OT) Fred Scolari (17)29–25 55 February 21 @ Minneapolis 75–85 Andy Phillip (15) 29–26 56 February 22 Minneapolis 78–90 Andy Phillip (20) 30–26 57 February 24 @ Rochester 91–80 Don Meineke (19) 31–26 58 February 26 @ Syracuse 77–89 Don Meineke (20) 31–27 59 February 28 @ New York 74–85 Larry Foust (20) 31–28 60 March 1 Milwaukee 74–76 Fred Scolari (24) 32–28 61 March 3 N Minneapolis 86–68 Larry Foust (18) 32–29 62 March 4 Syracuse 75–73 (2OT) Larry Foust (20) 32–30 63 March 6 @ Indianapolis 73–64 Andy Phillip (23) 33–30 64 March 7 @ Baltimore 83–81 (OT) Brian, Foust, Schaus (15) 34–30 65 March 8 Rochester 71–69 Foust, Phillip, Scolari (13) 34–31 66 March 9 Milwaukee 74–94 Fred Schaus (17) 35–31 67 March 11 @ Boston 92–98 Fred Scolari (26) 35–32 68 March 15 New York 69–81 Fred Schaus (18) 36–32 69 March 17 @ Milwaukee 61–87 Larry Foust (12) 36–33
1953 playoff game log Division Semifinals: 2–1 (home: 0–1; road: 2–0)
Division Finals: 2–3 (home: 2–0; road: 0–3)
1953 schedule
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