1984–85 NBA season

The 1984–85 NBA season was the 39th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Boston Celtics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.

1984–85 NBA season
LeagueNational Basketball Association
SportBasketball
DurationOct 26, 1984 – Apr 14, 1985
Apr 17 – May 22, 1985 (Playoffs)
May 27 – Jun 9, 1985 (Finals)
Number of teams23
TV partner(s)CBS, TBS
Draft
Top draft pickAkeem Olajuwon
Picked byHouston Rockets
Regular season
Top seedBoston Celtics
Season MVPLarry Bird (Boston)
Top scorerBernard King (New York)
Playoffs
Eastern championsBoston Celtics
  Eastern runners-upPhiladelphia 76ers
Western championsLos Angeles Lakers
  Western runners-upDenver Nuggets
Finals
ChampionsLos Angeles Lakers
  Runners-upBoston Celtics
Finals MVPKareem Abdul-Jabbar (L.A. Lakers)

Notable occurrences

Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 1983–84 coach 1984–85 coach
Cleveland Cavaliers Tom Nissalke George Karl
Indiana Pacers Jack McKinney George Irvine
Kansas City Kings Cotton Fitzsimmons Jack McKinney
San Antonio Spurs Bob Bass Cotton Fitzsimmons
In-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach
Los Angeles Clippers Jim Lynam Don Chaney
Kansas City Kings Jack McKinney Phil Johnson
  • The 1985 NBA All-Star Game was played at Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, with the West defeating the East 140–129. Ralph Sampson of the Houston Rockets won the game's MVP award. Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks won the Slam Dunk Contest.
  • Michael Jordan became the only rookie in NBA history to lead a team in four statistics (points, assists, rebounds, steals).
  • The Clippers relocated from San Diego to Los Angeles. This created a distinction whereby two teams of the same host name (the other Los Angeles team are the Lakers) are in the same division (Pacific), similar to the one in the NHL where the Patrick Division (now succeeded by the Metropolitan Division) had two teams of the same host name which is New York (Islanders and Rangers). There was also a similar scenario which only existed in the 1976–77 season, in which the Atlantic Division had the Knicks and the Nets (who were based in New Jersey from 1977 to 2012 but are currently in Brooklyn).
  • Turner Broadcasting began a relationship with the NBA that continues today when TBS signed a two-year, $20 million deal with the NBA.
  • The Kings played their final game in Kansas City, Missouri, and moved their franchise to Sacramento the following season.
  • In one of their final home games, Knicks forward Bernard King, who finished the year as the scoring champion, ruptured his ACL in his right knee and was out of action for two whole seasons. King would come back in 1987–88, but would not return to the All-Star Game until 1990–91.
  • This season marked Michael Jordan's, Akeem Olajuwon's, Charles Barkley's and John Stockton's rookie seasons in the NBA.
  • Due to a roof collapse at the Pontiac Silverdome, the Pistons were forced to rent the Joe Louis Arena, home of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings, for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs. Both the Pistons and the Red Wings would move their home games to the Little Caesars Arena, starting in 2017.
  • At age 38, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the oldest player to win the honor of Finals MVP. Jabbar's team, the Lakers, became the first visiting team to win the NBA title at Boston Garden, beating their archrivals, the Boston Celtics, in six games.
  • The Finals adopted the 2-3-2 format which was used through the 2013 NBA Finals after which the league returned to the 2-2-1-1-1 format.
  • The Cleveland Cavaliers returned to the playoffs after a seven-year absence. They were eliminated by the Celtics in four games. They would not make the playoffs again until 1988. The Cavaliers were coached by George Karl, then making his NBA coaching debut.
  • At New Orleans' Lakefront Arena (where the Atlanta Hawks played 12 of 41 home games that season), Larry Bird scored a Celtics' franchise record 60 points in Boston's 126–115 victory over the Hawks on March 12. Bird broke the previous franchise record set by teammate Kevin McHale (56) nine days earlier at Boston Garden against the Pistons.
  • The Denver Nuggets made the Conference Finals for the first time since 1978, losing 4–1 to the Lakers. They would not make the Conference Finals again until 2009, which they lost to the Lakers again. The series marked the end of Dan Issel's playing career, having played 15 professional seasons and averaging 22.6 points and 9.1 rebounds in his career.
  • This was the last season of the backboard height set at 48 in (1.219 m). It would be shortened 6 in (15.2 cm) next season to the current 42 in (1.067 m). The NBA logo is added on the lower left hand corner of the backboard starting this season.

Final standings

By division

Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Boston Celtics 6319.76835–628–1319–5
x-Philadelphia 76ers 5824.707534–724–1715–9
x-New Jersey Nets 4240.5122127–1415–2613–11
x-Washington Bullets 4042.4882328–1312–2911–13
New York Knicks 2458.2933919–225–362–22
Central Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks 5923.72036–523–1820–10
x-Detroit Pistons 4636.5611326–1520–2121–8
x-Chicago Bulls 3844.4632126–1512–2913–17
x-Cleveland Cavaliers 3646.4392320–2116–2513–16
Atlanta Hawks 3448.4152519–2215–2615–15
Indiana Pacers 2260.2683716–256–357–23
Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Denver Nuggets 5230.63434–718–2317–13
x-Houston Rockets 4834.585429–1219–2220–10
x-Dallas Mavericks 4438.537824–1720–2114–16
x-Utah Jazz 4141.5001126–1515–2619–11
x- San Antonio Spurs 4141.500130–1111–3012–18
Kansas City Kings 3151.3782123–188–338–22
Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 6220.75636–526–1518–12
x-Portland Trail Blazers 4240.5122033–815–2617–13
x-Phoenix Suns 3646.4392632–910–3114–16
Seattle SuperSonics 3151.3783131–1010–3116–14
Los Angeles Clippers 3151.3783127–1410–3113–17
Golden State Warriors 2260.2684025–165–3612–18

By conference

# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Boston Celtics6319.768
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks5923.7204
3 x-Philadelphia 76ers5824.7075
4 x-Detroit Pistons4636.56117
5 x-New Jersey Nets4240.51221
6 x-Washington Bullets4042.48823
7 x-Chicago Bulls3844.46325
8 x-Cleveland Cavaliers3646.43927
9 Atlanta Hawks3448.41529
10 New York Knicks2458.29339
11 Indiana Pacers2260.26841


# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Los Angeles Lakers6220.756
2 y-Denver Nuggets5230.63410
3 x-Houston Rockets4834.58514
4 x-Dallas Mavericks4438.53718
5 x-Portland Trail Blazers4240.51220
6 x-Utah Jazz4141.50021
7 x-San Antonio Spurs4141.50021
8 x-Phoenix Suns3646.43926
9 Seattle SuperSonics3151.37831
10 Los Angeles Clippers3151.37831
11 Kansas City Kings3151.37831
12 Golden State Warriors2260.26840


Notes

  • z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
  • c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
  • y – Clinched division title
  • 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.

A ticket for Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Lakers and the Trail Blazers.






  First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
                                     
E1 Boston* 3  
E8 Cleveland 1  
  E1 Boston* 4  
  E4 Detroit 2  
E4 Detroit 3
E5 New Jersey 0  
  E1 Boston* 4  
Eastern Conference
  E3 Philadelphia 1  
E3 Philadelphia 3  
E6 Washington 1  
  E3 Philadelphia 4
  E2 Milwaukee* 0  
E2 Milwaukee* 3
E7 Chicago 1  
  E1 Boston* 2
  W1 LA Lakers* 4
W1 LA Lakers* 3  
W8 Phoenix 0  
  W1 LA Lakers* 4
  W5 Portland 1  
W4 Dallas 1
W5 Portland 3  
  W1 LA Lakers* 4
Western Conference
  W2 Denver* 1  
W3 Houston 2  
W6 Utah 3  
  W6 Utah 1
  W2 Denver* 4  
W2 Denver* 3
W7 San Antonio 2  


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

Statistics leaders

CategoryPlayerTeamStat
Points per gameBernard KingNew York Knicks32.9
Rebounds per gameMoses MalonePhiladelphia 76ers13.1
Assists per gameIsiah ThomasDetroit Pistons13.9
Steals per gameMicheal Ray RichardsonNew Jersey Nets2.96
Blocks per gameMark EatonUtah Jazz5.56
FG%James DonaldsonLos Angeles Clippers.637
FT%Kyle MacyPhoenix Suns.907
3FG%Byron ScottLos Angeles Lakers.433

NBA awards

Yearly awards

Note: All above information was obtained on the History section on NBA.com

Player of the week

The following players were named NBA Player of the Week.

Week Player
Oct. 26 – Nov. 4 Larry Nance (Phoenix Suns)
Nov. 5 – Nov. 11 Alex English (Denver Nuggets)
Nov. 12 – Nov. 18 Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers)
Nov. 19 – Nov. 25 Bernard King (New York Knicks)
Nov. 26 – Dec. 2 Jack Sikma (Seattle SuperSonics)
Dec. 3 – Dec. 9 Orlando Woolridge (Chicago Bulls)
Dec. 10 – Dec. 16 Derek Smith (Los Angeles Clippers)
Dec. 17 – Dec. 23 Terry Cummings (Milwaukee Bucks)
Dec. 25 – Dec. 30 Micheal Ray Richardson (New Jersey Nets)
Jan. 1 – Jan. 6 Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons)
Jan. 7 – Jan. 13 World B. Free (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Jan. 14 – Jan. 20 Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
Jan. 21 – Jan. 27 Tom McMillen (Washington Bullets)
Jan. 28 – Feb. 3 Dominique Wilkins (Atlanta Hawks)
Feb. 4 – Feb. 17 Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
Feb. 18 – Feb. 24 Mark Aguirre (Dallas Mavericks)
Feb. 25 – Mar. 3 Sleepy Floyd (Golden State Warriors)
Mar. 4 – Mar. 10 Darrell Griffith (Utah Jazz)
Mar. 11 – Mar. 17 Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
Mar. 18 – Mar. 24 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)
Mar. 25 – Mar. 31 Calvin Natt (Denver Nuggets)
Apr. 1 – Apr. 7 Derek Smith (Los Angeles Clippers)
Apr. 8 – Apr. 14 Micheal Ray Richardson (New Jersey Nets)

Player of the month

The following players were named NBA Player of the Month.

Month Player
November Alex English (Denver Nuggets)
December Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
January Terry Cummings (Milwaukee Bucks)
February Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
March Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)

Rookie of the month

The following players were named NBA Rookie of the Month.

Month Rookie
November Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
December Akeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
January Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
February Akeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
March (tie) Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
March (tie) Akeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)

Coach of the month

The following coaches were named NBA Coach of the Month.

Month Coach
November Doug Moe (Denver Nuggets)
December Don Nelson (Milwaukee Bucks)
January Chuck Daly (Detroit Pistons)
February George Karl (Cleveland Cavaliers)
March Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers)

References

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