| 1981–82 NBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | October 30, 1981 – April 18, 1982 April 20 – May 23, 1982 (Playoffs) May 27 – June 8, 1982 (Finals) |
| Number of teams | 23 |
| TV partner(s) | CBS, USA |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Mark Aguirre |
| Picked by | Dallas Mavericks |
| Regular season | |
| Top seed | Boston Celtics |
| Season MVP | Moses Malone (Houston) |
| Top scorer | George Gervin (San Antonio) |
| Playoffs | |
| Eastern champions | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Eastern runners-up | Boston Celtics |
| Western champions | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Western runners-up | San Antonio Spurs |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Runners-up | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Finals MVP | Magic Johnson (Los Angeles) |
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.
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 (later 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's final season.
| 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
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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
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Boston Celtics | 63 | 19 | .768 | – | 35–6 | 28–13 | 20–4 |
| x-Philadelphia 76ers | 58 | 24 | .707 | 5.0 | 32–9 | 26–15 | 16–8 |
| x-New Jersey Nets | 44 | 38 | .537 | 19.0 | 25–16 | 19–22 | 12–12 |
| x-Washington Bullets | 43 | 39 | .524 | 20.0 | 22–19 | 21–20 | 7–17 |
| New York Knicks | 33 | 49 | .402 | 30.0 | 19–22 | 14–27 | 5–19 |
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Milwaukee Bucks | 55 | 27 | .671 | – | 31–10 | 24–17 | 24–6 |
| x-Atlanta Hawks | 42 | 40 | .512 | 13.0 | 24–17 | 18–23 | 15–14 |
| Detroit Pistons | 39 | 43 | .476 | 16.0 | 23–18 | 16–25 | 19–11 |
| Indiana Pacers | 35 | 47 | .427 | 20.0 | 25–16 | 10–31 | 14–16 |
| Chicago Bulls | 34 | 48 | .415 | 21.0 | 22–19 | 12–29 | 12–17 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 15 | 67 | .183 | 40.0 | 9–32 | 6–35 | 5–25 |
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-San Antonio Spurs | 48 | 34 | .585 | – | 29–12 | 19–22 | 20–10 |
| x-Denver Nuggets | 46 | 36 | .561 | 2.0 | 29–12 | 17–24 | 19–11 |
| x-Houston Rockets | 46 | 36 | .561 | 2.0 | 25–16 | 21–20 | 17–13 |
| Kansas City Kings | 30 | 52 | .366 | 18.0 | 23–18 | 7–34 | 11–19 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 28 | 54 | .341 | 20.0 | 16–25 | 12–29 | 11–19 |
| Utah Jazz | 25 | 57 | .305 | 23.0 | 18–23 | 7–34 | 9–21 |
| W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Los Angeles Lakers | 57 | 25 | .695 | – | 30–11 | 27–14 | 21–9 |
| x-Seattle SuperSonics | 52 | 30 | .634 | 5.0 | 31–10 | 21–20 | 18–12 |
| x-Phoenix Suns | 46 | 36 | .561 | 11.0 | 31–10 | 15–26 | 14–16 |
| Golden State Warriors | 45 | 37 | .549 | 12.0 | 28–13 | 17–24 | 15–15 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 15.0 | 27–14 | 15–26 | 15–15 |
| San Diego Clippers | 17 | 65 | .207 | 40.0 | 11–30 | 6–35 | 7–23 |
By conference
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | z-Boston Celtics | 63 | 19 | .768 | – |
| 2 | y-Milwaukee Bucks | 55 | 27 | .671 | 8 |
| 3 | x-Philadelphia 76ers | 58 | 24 | .707 | 5 |
| 4 | x-New Jersey Nets | 44 | 38 | .537 | 19 |
| 5 | x-Washington Bullets | 43 | 39 | .524 | 20 |
| 6 | x-Atlanta Hawks | 42 | 40 | .512 | 21 |
| 7 | Detroit Pistons | 39 | 43 | .476 | 24 |
| 8 | Indiana Pacers | 35 | 47 | .427 | 28 |
| 9 | Chicago Bulls | 34 | 48 | .415 | 29 |
| 10 | New York Knicks | 33 | 49 | .402 | 30 |
| 11 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 15 | 67 | .183 | 48 |
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | c-Los Angeles Lakers | 57 | 25 | .695 | – |
| 2 | y-San Antonio Spurs | 48 | 34 | .585 | 9 |
| 3 | x-Seattle SuperSonics | 52 | 30 | .634 | 5 |
| 4 | x-Denver Nuggets | 46 | 36 | .561 | 11 |
| 5 | x-Phoenix Suns | 46 | 36 | .561 | 11 |
| 6 | x-Houston Rockets | 46 | 36 | .561 | 11 |
| 7 | Golden State Warriors | 45 | 37 | .549 | 12 |
| 8 | Portland Trail Blazers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 15 |
| 9 | Kansas City Kings | 30 | 52 | .366 | 27 |
| 10 | Dallas Mavericks | 28 | 54 | .341 | 29 |
| 11 | Utah Jazz | 25 | 57 | .305 | 32 |
| 12 | San Diego Clippers | 17 | 65 | .207 | 40 |
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 | ||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E4 | New Jersey | 0 | E5 | Washington | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| E5 | Washington | 2 | Eastern Conference | E1 | Boston* | 3 | |||||||||||||
| E3 | Philadelphia | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Philadelphia | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Philadelphia | 2 | E2 | Milwaukee* | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| E6 | Atlanta | 0 | E3 | Philadelphia | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| W1 | Los Angeles* | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Los Angeles* | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| W4 | Denver | 1 | W5 | Phoenix | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| W5 | Phoenix | 2 | Western Conference | W1 | Los Angeles* | 4 | |||||||||||||
| W2 | San Antonio* | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Seattle | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Seattle | 2 | W2 | San Antonio* | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| W6 | Houston | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
- * Division winner
- Bold Series winner
- Italic Team with home-court advantage
Statistics leaders
| Category | Player | Team | Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points per game | George Gervin | San Antonio Spurs | 32.3 |
| Rebounds per game | Moses Malone | Houston Rockets | 14.7 |
| Assists per game | Johnny Moore | San Antonio Spurs | 9.6 |
| Steals per game | Magic Johnson | Los Angeles Lakers | 2.67 |
| Blocks per game | George Johnson | San Antonio Spurs | 3.12 |
| FG% | Artis Gilmore | Chicago Bulls | .652 |
| FT% | Kyle Macy | Phoenix Suns | .899 |
| 3FG% | Campy Russell | New York Knicks | .439 |
NBA awards
- Most Valuable Player: Moses Malone, Houston Rockets
- Rookie of the Year: Buck Williams, New Jersey Nets
- Coach of the Year: Gene Shue, Washington Bullets
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See also
References
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