The

1953–54 NBA season The 1953–54 NBA season was the eighth season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning their 5th NBA Championship in 6 years, beating the Syracuse Nationals 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. It wa ...

was the Pistons' sixth season in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

and 13th season as a franchise. The Pistons finished 40-32 (.556), 3rd in the Western Division. The team advanced to the playoffs, losing in a Western Division round-robin 4-0 to the

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, predating the formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Founded in 1947, the Lakers are one of the NBA's most famous and successful franchises. As of summer 2012, th ...

and the

Rochester Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. The team was led on the season by center

Larry Foust Laurence Michael Foust (June 24, 1928 – October 27, 1984) was an American basketball player who spent 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was an 8× All-Star. Career Foust attended South Catholic High School in Philade ...

(15.1 ppg, 13.4 rpg, NBA All-Star), guard

Andy Phillip Andrew Michael "Handy Andy" Phillip (March 7, 1922 – April 29, 2001) was an American professional basketball player.

(10.6 ppg, 6.3 apg, NBA All-Star), and first round draft choice

Jack Molinas Jacob Louis Molinas (October 31, 1931 – August 3, 1975) was an American professional basketball player and a key figure in one of the most wide-reaching point shaving scandals in college basketball. Early life Molinas grew up in Brooklyn ...

(11.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg, NBA All-Star). Molinas was named to the All-Star team, having played in 32 games before the league banned him for wagering on Pistons games. Molinas was then suspended at the time of the All-Star game and was replaced by teammate Andy Phillip. He later sued the NBA for $3 million, claiming the league's ban was an unreasonable restraint of trade. Judge

Irving Kaufman Irving Robert Kaufman (June 24, 1910 – February 1, 1992) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern Dist ...

ruled against him in the case. The Pistons had drafted future

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

George Yardley George Harry Yardley III (November 3, 1928 – August 12, 2004) was an American basketball player. He was the first player in NBA history to score 2,000 points in one season, breaking the 1,932-point record held by George Mikan. Yardley was ens ...

in 1950, but they didn’t sign him until 1953. Even then, it was a struggle, as Yardley reportedly hated training camp, rejected the initial Fort Wayne offer of $6,000, electing to playing beach volleyball in California. Yardley this became the first rookie to hold out, until accepting an offer of $9,500, and then averaging 9.0 ppg in his NBA rookie season.

Regular season

Season standings

:x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , March 16 , @

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

L 75–82
,

(20) ,

Edgerton Park Arena Edgerton Park Arena was an indoor arena in Rochester, New York. The building was originally constructed in 1892 as the drill hall for a training school for delinquent boys. When the school moved early in the 20th century, the building was turned ...

, 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , March 18 ,

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

L 85–90
,

Frankie Brian Frank Sands Brian (May 1, 1923 – May 14, 2017) was an American professional basketball player. Life and career A 6’1" guard from Louisiana State University, Brian signed with the Anderson Packers of the National Basketball League in 1947. ...

(20) ,

War Memorial Coliseum Allen County War Memorial Coliseum is a 13,000-seat multi-purpose arena located in Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west o ...

, 0–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , March 20 , @

L 73–78
,

Max Zaslofsky Max "Slats" Zaslofsky (December 7, 1925 – October 15, 1985) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He was first-team All-NBA in the league's first four seasons. In the 1947–48 BAA season, at 21 years of age, he led the BAA ...

(15) ,

Minneapolis Auditorium Minneapolis Auditorium was an indoor arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It hosted the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers from 1947 until they moved to the Minneapolis Armory in 1959. The arena held 10,000 people and was built in 1927. The building fell into ...

, 0–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , March 21 ,

L 71–89
,

(16) ,

, 0–4 , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1953-54 Fort Wayne Pistons Season Detroit Pistons seasons

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...