1950 NBA Finals

The 1950 NBA World Championship Series represented the concluding championship round of the NBA's first season following the 1949 merger between the NBL and the Basketball Association of America (BAA). This best-of-seven contest featured the Central Division winners, the Minneapolis Lakers, against the Eastern Division champions, the Syracuse Nationals, with Syracuse enjoying home-court advantage.

Over a span of 16 days, six games were contested, commencing on April 8 and 9 in Syracuse and including two Sunday matchups held in Minneapolis. The postseason extended across five weeks, concluding on April 23, when factoring in a Central Division tiebreaker played on March 20.

During its inaugural campaign, the NBA was divided into three divisions. The Syracuse Nationals secured their place in the Finals by capturing the Eastern Division title with the best regular-season record in the league. They then rested for five days while the Central and Western Division champions engaged in a best-of-three series to determine who would advance.

The opening game saw the Lakers clinch victory thanks to a buzzer-beater from reserve player Bob "Tiger" Harrison, which is recognized as the first buzzer-beating shot recorded in Finals history. While Syracuse's standout player Dolph Schayes posted an average of 16.8 points per game during the regular season, Minneapolis’ leading scorer George Mikan averaged 27.4 points per contest. Mikan’s performance was instrumental in guiding Minneapolis to a six-game triumph.

This championship marked the Lakers' third straight professional basketball title, having previously won championships in both the NBL (1948) and BAA (1949).

Although regarded as a new entity at that time, the NBA later integrated the three prior BAA seasons into its official records, thereby recognizing this 1950 Finals as its fourth overall championship series.

Series summary

Game	Date	Home team	Result	Road team
Game 1	April 8	Syracuse Nationals	66−68 (0−1)	Minneapolis Lakers
Game 2	April 9	Syracuse Nationals	91−85 (1−1)	Minneapolis Lakers
Game 3	April 14	Minneapolis Lakers	91−77 (2−1)	Syracuse Nationals
Game 4	April 16	Minneapolis Lakers	77−69 (3−1)	Syracuse Nationals
Game 5	April 20	Syracuse Nationals	83−76 (2−3)	Minneapolis Lakers
Game 6	April 23	Minneapolis Lakers	110−95 (4−2)	Syracuse Nationals

Series concluded with Lakers winning four games to two

Rosters

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Alfred Cervi

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Box scores

Bob Harrison secured victory with a buzzer-beating shot from approximately 40 feet.

External links