Every 1950-51 NBA playoff series, three ways: the season race carried on into the postseason, who beat their seeding, and the bracket.
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The same race these clubs ran all season, carried on through the postseason on one scale and on real dates.
Where each club finished the season against how far it went, ranked on record rather than seed.
Who played whom, round by round, which no line chart can say.
Rochester Royals won the 1950-51 title from a regular season record of 41-27. 8 teams reached the playoffs and the bracket ran 3 rounds. Every series below is taken from NBA.com; nothing on this page is estimated.
| Round | Won by | Result | Opponent | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals | Minneapolis Lakers | 2-1 in games | Indianapolis Olympians | March 21 to March 25, 1951 |
| Quarterfinals | Syracuse Nationals | 2-0 in games | Philadelphia Warriors | March 20 to March 22, 1951 |
| Quarterfinals | Rochester Royals | 2-1 in games | Fort Wayne Pistons | March 20 to March 24, 1951 |
| Quarterfinals | New York Knicks | 2-0 in games | Boston Celtics | March 20 to March 22, 1951 |
| Semifinals | Rochester Royals | 3-1 in games | Minneapolis Lakers | March 29 to April 3, 1951 |
| Semifinals | New York Knicks | 3-2 in games | Syracuse Nationals | March 28 to April 4, 1951 |
| The Finals | Rochester Royals | 4-3 in games | New York Knicks | April 7 to April 21, 1951 |
The left column ranks this field by regular season record, not by seed number: seeding rules differ by era, so this site uses records everywhere instead. The right column groups clubs by the round they went out in, which is not the same as the number of rounds they won, because a bye carries a club further without it winning anything. The figure beside a name is places moved between the two columns, and part of it is only where a club sat inside its band. Nothing here is a prediction. The data notes carry the whole method.