Misplaced Pages

1950–51 Rochester Royals season

Article snapshot taken from[REDACTED] with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from 1950-51 Rochester Royals season) NBA professional basketball team season (won championship)

NBA professional basketball team season
1950–51 Rochester Royals season
NBA champions
Head coachLes Harrison
OwnersJack Harrison
Les Harrison
ArenaEdgerton Park Arena
Results
Record41–27 (.603)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finishNBA Champions
(Defeated Knicks 4–3)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWHAM 8
RadioWHAM
< 1949–50 1951–52 >

The 1950–51 Rochester Royals season was the third season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Royals finished the season by winning their first NBA Championship. The Royals scored 84.6 points per game and allowed 81.7 points per game. Rochester was led up front by Arnie Risen, a 6–9, 200-pound center nicknamed "Stilts", along with 6–5 Arnie Johnson and 6–7 Jack Coleman. The backcourt was manned by Bob Davies and Bobby Wanzer. Among the key reserves was a guard from City College of New York named William "Red" Holzman. HoopsHype would later rank this squad as the team with the ninth-easiest route to win the NBA Finals due to the records of both their first round opponent and their championship opponent in the Fort Wayne Pistons and New York Knicks respectively. The Royals (now currently going by the Sacramento Kings) would since have the longest NBA drought between championship teams following their sole NBA Finals championship this season.

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

1950–51 Game log
# Date Opponent Score High points Record
1 October 31 Washington 70–78 Arnie Risen (20) 1–0
2 November 4 Fort Wayne 71–95 Bobby Wanzer (18) 2–0
3 November 11 Tri-Cities 77–86 Davies, Risen (18) 3–0
4 November 12 at Tri-Cities 79–82 (OT) Bobby Wanzer (17) 3–1
5 November 15 at Fort Wayne 85–89 Jack Coleman (22) 3–2
6 November 18 Minneapolis 86–77 (2OT) Bob Davies (21) 3–3
7 November 19 at Minneapolis 77–90 Coleman, Davies (15) 3–4
8 November 21 at Indianapolis 79–91 Arnie Risen (16) 3–5
9 November 23 at Philadelphia 71–89 Jack Coleman (15) 3–6
10 November 25 Boston 82–90 Risen, Saul (17) 4–6
11 November 28 Washington 71–87 Davies, Johnson (15) 5–6
12 November 29 at Washington 72–71 Bob Davies (14) 6–6
13 November 30 at New York 74–79 Davies, Risen (14) 6–7
14 December 2 Indianapolis 72–94 Arnie Risen (22) 7–7
15 December 3 at Fort Wayne 79–80 Arnie Risen (16) 7–8
16 December 6 at Baltimore 74–70 Bob Davies (18) 8–8
17 December 7 at Syracuse 76–69 Bob Davies (18) 9–8
18 December 10 Philadelphia 84–99 Jack Coleman (23) 10–8
19 December 12 Baltimore 87–102 Bobby Wanzer (24) 11–8
20 December 13 at Minneapolis 82–72 Bob Davies (28) 12–8
21 December 16 Syracuse 79–75 (OT) Arnie Risen (19) 12–9
22 December 17 at Boston 75–88 Bob Davies (17) 12–10
23 December 20 at Washington 94–76 Arnie Risen (23) 13–10
24 December 23 Fort Wayne 65–77 Bill Calhoun (15) 14–10
25 December 25 Boston 77–90 Bobby Wanzer (25) 15–10
26 December 27 at Fort Wayne 74–68 Red Holzman (18) 16–10
27 December 28 Minneapolis 67–75 Arnie Risen (17) 17–10
28 December 30 Washington 77–91 Bobby Wanzer (21) 18–10
29 January 1 New York 88–91 (OT) Arnie Risen (28) 19–10
30 January 6 Indianapolis 75–73 (6OT) Arnie Risen (26) 19–11
31 January 7 at Minneapolis 57–69 Jack Coleman (16) 19–12
32 January 9 at Indianapolis 77–59 Arnie Risen (19) 20–12
33 January 10 at Baltimore 80–78 (OT) Arnie Johnson (17) 21–12
34 January 11 at Philadelphia 79–82 Jack Coleman (24) 21–13
35 January 13 Fort Wayne 78–99 Frank Saul (14) 22–13
36 January 14 at Syracuse 63–92 Jack Coleman (14) 22–14
37 January 16 Tri-Cities 89–97 Arnie Risen (20) 23–14
38 January 18 at Syracuse 96–87 Johnson, Risen (16) 24–14
39 January 20 Philadelphia 101–87 Davies, Risen (19) 24–15
40 January 21 at New York 83–88 (OT) Arnie Risen (20) 24–16
41 January 23 New York 92–102 (4OT) Arnie Risen (26) 25–16
42 January 27 Syracuse 83–85 Arnie Risen (20) 26–16
43 January 28 at Fort Wayne 88–93 Arnie Risen (22) 26–17
44 January 30 Baltimore 90–95 Bob Davies (28) 27–17
45 January 31 at Indianapolis 63–68 Arnie Risen (21) 27–18
46 February 3 Philadelphia 61–65 Arnie Risen (24) 28–18
47 February 4 at Tri-Cities 81–84 Arnie Risen (24) 28–19
48 February 6 at Indianapolis 76–78 Arnie Risen (24) 28–20
49 February 8 at Minneapolis 58–69 Calhoun, Davies, Risen (11) 28–21
50 February 10 Tri-Cities 90–98 Bob Davies (25) 29–21
51 February 11 at Boston 77–93 Bob Davies (24) 29–22
52 February 14 at New York 65–81 Red Holzman (13) 29–23
53 February 17 Minneapolis 82–87 Bob Davies (28) 30–23
54 February 18 at Tri-Cities 83–89 Bob Davies (18) 30–24
55 February 20 Baltimore 89–105 Bobby Wanzer (27) 31–24
56 February 22 at Philadelphia 90–98 Arnie Risen (23) 31–25
57 February 24 Tri-Cities 89–99 Bob Davies (17) 32–25
58 February 25 at Tri-Cities 82–78 Bob Davies (14) 33–25
59 February 27 New York 90–100 Bob Davies (19) 34–25
60 March 3 Fort Wayne 79–89 Arnie Risen (24) 35–25
61 March 6 Minneapolis 79–90 Arnie Risen (23) 36–25
62 March 9 at Indianapolis 91–84 Bobby Wanzer (22) 37–25
63 March 10 Syracuse 86–107 Bob Davies (25) 38–25
64 March 11 Indianapolis 95–88 Jack Coleman (23) 38–26
65 March 13 at Boston 111–107 (2OT) Jack Coleman (25) 39–26
66 March 15 at Baltimore 87–93 Arnie Risen (26) 39–27
67 March 17 Boston 89–114 Bobby Wanzer (29) 40–27
68 March 18 Indianapolis 79–91 Arnie Risen (25) 41–27

Roster

Rochester Royals 1950–51 NBA Champions

Calhoun | Coleman | Davies | Holzman | Johnson | McNamee | Noel | Risen | Saul | Wanzer | Coach Harrison

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 20 Fort Wayne W 110–81 Bob Davies (21) Edgerton Park Arena 1–0
2 March 22 @ Fort Wayne L 78–83 Risen, Davies (16) North Side High School Gym 1–1
3 March 24 Fort Wayne W 97–78 Bobby Wanzer (20) Edgerton Park Arena 2–1
Division Finals: 3–1 (home: 2–0; road: 1–1)
Game Date Team Score High points Location Series
1 March 29 @ Minneapolis L 73–76 Arnie Risen (24) Minneapolis Auditorium 0–1
2 March 31 @ Minneapolis W 70–66 Red Holzman (23) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–1
3 April 1 Minneapolis W 83–70 Johnson, Wanzer (20) Edgerton Park Arena 2–1
4 April 3 Minneapolis W 80–75 Arnie Risen (26) Edgerton Park Arena 3–1
NBA Finals: 4–3 (home: 3–1; road: 1–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 April 7 New York W 92–65 Arnie Risen (24) Arnie Risen (15) Bobby Wanzer (9) Edgerton Park Arena
4,200 		1–0
2 April 8 New York W 99–84 Bob Davies (24) Jack Coleman (28) Jack Coleman (8) Edgerton Park Arena
4,200 		2–0
3 April 11 @ New York W 78–71 Arnie Risen (27) Arnie Risen (18) Bob Davies (8) 69th Regiment Armory
5,000 		3–0
4 April 13 @ New York L 73–79 Arnie Risen (26) Arnie Risen (20) Jack Coleman (9) 69th Regiment Armory
4,000 		3–1
5 April 15 New York L 89–92 Bobby Wanzer (21) Arnie Risen (14) Bob Davies (10) Edgerton Park Arena
4,200 		3–2
6 April 18 @ New York L 73–80 Arnie Johnson (27) Arnie Johnson (15) Jack Coleman (8) 69th Regiment Armory
4,500 		3–3
7 April 21 New York W 79–75 Arnie Risen (24) Arnie Risen (13) Jack Coleman (9) Edgerton Park Arena
4,200 		4–3
1951 schedule

NBA Finals

The Royals took Game 1 easily, 92–65, as Risen and Wanzer recorded 24 and 19 points. Rochester won Game 2 99–84, behind 24 points from Davies and 28 rebounds from Coleman. Three nights later, the finals shifted to the 69th Regiment Armory in New York, but the result was no different. The Royals defeated the Knicks 78–71 and took a 3–0 series lead, thanks to 27 points and 18 rebounds from Risen. The Knicks rebounded in Game 4 by a score of 79–73. The Knicks key player was Harry Gallatin who scored 22 points and 14 rebounds. Game 5 took place in Rochester and the Knicks won 92–89. Connie Simmons had 26 points; and then tied the series by taking Game 6 back in New York 80–73. Max Zaslofsky led the way with 23 points. The seventh and deciding game was held on April 21 back in Rochester. The Royals jumped to an early 14-point lead, but the Knicks came back. With 44 seconds left and the score tied at 75, Davies was fouled by the Knicks’ Dick McGuire and sunk two free throws. Rochester would go on to win the seventh game and the NBA Championship. Davies finished the game with 20 points, and Risen scored 24 points and 13 rebounds in the deciding game. Risen finished the series with averages of 21.7 points and 14.3 rebounds, Davies averaged 17 points and 5.3 assists, Wanzer 12.4 points and Coleman 13.1 rebounds. The Knicks remain the only time in NBA Finals history a team has bounced back from a 3–0 deficit to force a Game 7.

Awards and honors

References

  1. 1950–51 Rochester Royals Statistics – Basketball-Reference.com
  2. ^ NBA.com: Their Royal Highnesses
  3. "Ranking the easiest paths to an NBA title ever". June 18, 2024.
1950–51 NBA season
Eastern
Western
NBA champions
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Sacramento Kings seasons
1940s
1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49
1950s
1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59
1960s
1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69
1970s
1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79
1980s
1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89
1990s
1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99
2000s
1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09
2010s
2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
2020s
2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Bold indicates NBA Finals victory
Rochester Royals 1950–51 NBA champions
Categories:
1950–51 Rochester Royals season Add topic