1981–82 NBA season

The 1981–82 NBA season was the 36th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.

1981–82 NBA season
LeagueNational Basketball Association
SportBasketball
DurationOctober 30, 1981 – April 18, 1982
April 20 – May 23, 1982 (Playoffs)
May 27 – June 8, 1982 (Finals)
Number of teams23
TV partner(s)CBS, USA
Draft
Top draft pickMark Aguirre
Picked byDallas Mavericks
Regular season
Top seedBoston Celtics
Season MVPMoses Malone (Houston)
Top scorerGeorge Gervin (San Antonio)
Playoffs
Eastern championsPhiladelphia 76ers
  Eastern runners-upBoston Celtics
Western championsLos Angeles Lakers
  Western runners-upSan Antonio Spurs
Finals
ChampionsLos Angeles Lakers
  Runners-upPhiladelphia 76ers
Finals MVPMagic Johnson (Los Angeles)

Notable occurrences

  • The regular-season ran until mid to late-April for the first time.
  • The 1982 NBA All-Star Game was played at the new Brendan Byrne Arena (now the Meadowlands Arena) in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with the East defeating the West 120–118. Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics wins the game's MVP award. This season also marked the New Jersey Nets first season in the new arena.
  • On March 6, 1982, San Antonio beat Milwaukee 171-166 in three overtime periods to set the record for most points by two teams in a game. The record was broken two seasons later.
  • Magic Johnson secures his second NBA Finals MVP award several months before his 23rd birthday.
  • The Los Angeles Lakers begin a string of nine consecutive seasons as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
  • The Denver Nuggets scored at least 100 points in every single game of the season, while also allowing 100 points in every game. It remains the only time this has occurred in NBA history.
  • After a few years of success in NCAA basketball, the breakaway rim became standardized equipment in the NBA.
  • This season marked Isiah Thomas' rookie season.
  • The three-to-make-two free throw rule, along with the two-to-make one rule (both used when a team exceeded five team fouls in a quarter), were both eliminated.
  • This season marked Bob Dandridge' final season.
Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 1980–81 coach 1981–82 coach
Atlanta Hawks Mike Fratello Kevin Loughery
Cleveland Cavaliers Don Delaney Bob Kloppenburg
New Jersey Nets Bob MacKinnon Larry Brown
In-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach
Chicago Bulls Jerry Sloan Phil Johnson
Phil Johnson Rod Thorn
Cleveland Cavaliers Bob Kloppenburg Chuck Daly
Chuck Daly Bill Musselman
Los Angeles Lakers Paul Westhead Pat Riley
Utah Jazz Tom Nissalke Frank Layden

Final standings

A ticket for an October 1981 pre-season game between the Dallas Mavericks and the season's eventual Eastern Conference champions Philadelphia 76ers.

By division

Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Boston Celtics6319.76835–628–1320–4
x-Philadelphia 76ers5824.7075.032–926–1516–8
x-New Jersey Nets4438.53719.025–1619–2212–12
x-Washington Bullets4339.52420.022–1921–207–17
New York Knicks3349.40230.019–2214–275–19
Central Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks5527.67131–1024–1724–6
x-Atlanta Hawks4240.51213.024–1718–2315–14
Detroit Pistons3943.47616.023–1816–2519–11
Indiana Pacers3547.42720.025–1610–3114–16
Chicago Bulls3448.41521.022–1912–2912–17
Cleveland Cavaliers1567.18340.09–326–355–25
Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-San Antonio Spurs4834.58529–1219–2220–10
x-Denver Nuggets4636.5612.029–1217–2419–11
x-Houston Rockets4636.5612.025–1621–2017–13
Kansas City Kings3052.36618.023–187–3411–19
Dallas Mavericks2854.34120.016–2512–2911–19
Utah Jazz2557.30523.018–237–349–21
Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers5725.69530–1127–1421–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics5230.6345.031–1021–2018–12
x-Phoenix Suns4636.56111.031–1015–2614–16
Golden State Warriors4537.54912.028–1317–2415–15
Portland Trail Blazers4240.51215.027–1415–2615–15
San Diego Clippers1765.20740.011–306–357–23

By conference

# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Boston Celtics6319.768
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks5527.6718
3 x-Philadelphia 76ers5824.7075
4 x-New Jersey Nets4438.53719
5 x-Washington Bullets4339.52420
6 x-Atlanta Hawks4240.51221
7 Detroit Pistons3943.47624
8 Indiana Pacers3547.42728
9 Chicago Bulls3448.41529
10 New York Knicks3349.40230
11 Cleveland Cavaliers1567.18348


# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Los Angeles Lakers5725.695
2 y-San Antonio Spurs4834.5859
3 x-Seattle SuperSonics5230.6345
4 x-Denver Nuggets4636.56111
5 x-Phoenix Suns4636.56111
6 x-Houston Rockets4636.56111
7 Golden State Warriors4537.54912
8 Portland Trail Blazers4240.51215
9 Kansas City Kings3052.36627
10 Dallas Mavericks2854.34129
11 Utah Jazz2557.30532
12 San Diego Clippers1765.20740


Notes

  • z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs and first round bye
  • c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs and first round bye
  • y – Clinched division title and first round bye
  • x – Clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.

  First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
                                     
E4 New Jersey 0 E1 Boston* 4  
E5 Washington 2 E5 Washington 1  
  E1 Boston* 3
Eastern Conference
  E3 Philadelphia 4  
E3 Philadelphia 2 E3 Philadelphia 4
E6 Atlanta 0 E2 Milwaukee* 2  
  E3 Philadelphia 2
  W1 Los Angeles* 4
W4 Denver 1 W1 Los Angeles* 4
W5 Phoenix 2 W5 Phoenix 0  
  W1 Los Angeles* 4
Western Conference
  W2 San Antonio* 0
W3 Seattle 2 W3 Seattle 1
W6 Houston 1 W2 San Antonio* 4

* Division winner
Bold Series winner
Italic Team with home-court advantage

Statistics leaders

CategoryPlayerTeamStat
Points per gameGeorge GervinSan Antonio Spurs32.3
Rebounds per gameMoses MaloneHouston Rockets14.7
Assists per gameJohnny MooreSan Antonio Spurs9.6
Steals per gameMagic JohnsonLos Angeles Lakers2.67
Blocks per gameGeorge JohnsonSan Antonio Spurs3.12
FG%Artis GilmoreChicago Bulls.652
FT%Kyle MacyPhoenix Suns.899
3FG%Campy RussellNew York Knicks.439

NBA awards

Note: All information on this page were obtained on the History section on NBA.com

References

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