1982 NBA playoffs
The 1982 NBA playoffs were the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1981–82 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Magic Johnson was named NBA Finals MVP for the second time.
| Dates | April 20–June 8, 1982 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 1981–82 | ||
| Teams | 12 | ||
| Champions | Los Angeles Lakers (8th title) | ||
| Runners-up | Philadelphia 76ers (7th finals appearance) | ||
| Semifinalists | |||
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It was the second NBA Finals meeting in three years between the Lakers and Sixers, and ended with the same result—a 4–2 Lakers victory—as the previous confrontation. They met again in 1983, with Philadelphia getting revenge in a sweep. The Sixers beat the Celtics again in the Eastern Conference Finals, the second of their three series wins in a four-year stretch.
The Bullets' 2-0 sweep of the Nets was their last playoff series victory until 2005.
This was the third straight year the Bucks failed to advance to the third round with the #2 seed despite a first-round bye.
Bracket
| First Round | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | NBA Finals | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Los Angeles | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Phoenix | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Denver | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Phoenix | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Los Angeles | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | San Antonio | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Seattle | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Houston | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Seattle | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | San Antonio | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Los Angeles | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Philadelphia | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Boston | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Washington | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | New Jersey | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Washington | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Boston | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Philadelphia | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Philadelphia | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Atlanta | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Philadelphia | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Milwaukee | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
Western Conference
First Round
(1) Los Angeles Lakers and (2) San Antonio Spurs have 1st-round byes.
(3) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (6) Houston Rockets: SuperSonics win series 2-1
- Game 1 @ Seattle (April 21): Seattle 102, Houston 87
- Game 2 @ Houston (April 23): Houston 91, Seattle 70
- Game 3 @ Seattle (April 25): Seattle 104, Houston 83
| Seattle won 3–2 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This was the first playoff meeting between the Rockets and the SuperSonics.[1]
(4) Denver Nuggets vs. (5) Phoenix Suns: Suns win series 2-1
- Game 1 @ Denver (April 20): Denver 129, Phoenix 113
- Game 2 @ Phoenix (April 23): Phoenix 126, Denver 110
- Game 3 @ Denver (April 24): Phoenix 124, Denver 119
| Phoenix won 3–2 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This was the first playoff meeting between the Nuggets and the Suns.[2]
Conference Semifinals
(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (5) Phoenix Suns: Lakers win series 4-0
- Game 1 @ Los Angeles (April 27): Los Angeles 115, Phoenix 96
- Game 2 @ Los Angeles (April 28): Los Angeles 117, Phoenix 98
- Game 3 @ Phoenix (April 30): Los Angeles 114, Phoenix 106
- Game 4 @ Phoenix (May 2): Los Angeles 112, Phoenix 107
| Los Angeles won 4–2 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first two meetings.
| Los Angeles leads 2–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (3) Seattle SuperSonics: Spurs win series 4-1
- Game 1 @ Seattle (April 27): San Antonio 95, Seattle 93
- Game 2 @ Seattle (April 28): Seattle 114, San Antonio 99
- Game 3 @ San Antonio (April 30): San Antonio 99, Seattle 97
- Game 4 @ San Antonio (May 2): San Antonio 115, Seattle 113
- Game 5 @ Seattle (May 5): San Antonio 109, Seattle 103
| San Antonio won 4–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This was the first playoff meeting between the Spurs and the SuperSonics.[4]
Conference Finals
(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (2) San Antonio Spurs: Lakers win series 4-0
- Game 1 @ Los Angeles (May 9): Los Angeles 128, San Antonio 117
- Game 2 @ Los Angeles (May 11): Los Angeles 110, San Antonio 101
- Game 3 @ San Antonio (May 14): Los Angeles 118, San Antonio 108
- Game 4 @ San Antonio (May 15): Los Angeles 128, San Antonio 123
| San Antonio won 3–2 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This was the first playoff meeting between the Lakers and the Spurs.[5]
Eastern Conference
First Round
(1) Boston Celtics and (2) Milwaukee Bucks have first-round byes.
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Atlanta Hawks: 76ers win series 2-0
- Game 1 @ Philadelphia (April 21): Philadelphia 111, Atlanta 76
- Game 2 @ Atlanta (April 23): Philadelphia 98, Atlanta 95 (OT)
| Tied 3–3 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the 76ers winning the first meeting.
| Philadelphia leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
(4) New Jersey Nets vs. (5) Washington Bullets: Bullets win series 2-0
- Game 1 @ New Jersey (April 20): Washington 96, New Jersey 83
- Game 2 @ Washington (April 23): Washington 103, New Jersey 92
| New Jersey won 4–2 in the regular-season series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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This was the first playoff meeting between the Nets and the Bullets.[7]
Conference Semifinals
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (5) Washington Bullets: Celtics win series 4-1
- Game 1 @ Boston (April 25): Boston 109, Washington 91
- Game 2 @ Boston (April 28): Washington 103, Boston 102 (Frank Johnson hits the game-winning 3 pointer with 3 seconds left)
- Game 3 @ Washington (May 1): Boston 92, Washington 83
- Game 4 @ Washington (May 2): Boston 103, Washington 99 (OT)
- Game 5 @ Boston (May 5): Boston 131, Washington 126 (OT; Jeff Ruland hits the game-tying free throws with 24 seconds left to force OT)
| Boston won 6–0 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bullets winning the first meeting.
| Washington leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
(2) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (3) Philadelphia 76ers: 76ers win series 4-2
- Game 1 @ Philadelphia (April 25): Philadelphia 125, Milwaukee 122
- Game 2 @ Philadelphia (April 28): Philadelphia 120, Milwaukee 108
- Game 3 @ Milwaukee (May 1): Milwaukee 92, Philadelphia 91 (Sidney Moncrief hits the game-winning buzzer beater)
- Game 4 @ Milwaukee (May 2): Philadelphia 100, Milwaukee 93
- Game 5 @ Philadelphia (May 5): Milwaukee 110, Philadelphia 98
- Game 6 @ Milwaukee (May 7): Philadelphia 102, Milwaukee 90
| Milwaukee won 4–2 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece.
| Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
Conference Finals
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Philadelphia 76ers: 76ers win series 4-3
- Game 1 @ Boston (May 9): Boston 121, Philadelphia 81
- Game 2 @ Boston (May 12): Philadelphia 121, Boston 113
- Game 3 @ Philadelphia (May 15): Philadelphia 99, Boston 97
- Game 4 @ Philadelphia (May 16): Philadelphia 119, Boston 94
- Game 5 @ Boston (May 19): Boston 114, Philadelphia 85
- Game 6 @ Philadelphia (May 21): Boston 88, Philadelphia 75
- Game 7 @ Boston (May 23): Philadelphia 120, Boston 106
The Celtics were not able to overcome a 3–1 series deficit twice in a row, losing Game 7 at home. The Sixers became the 2nd team to ever beat the Celtics in a Game 7 in the Garden (after the New York Knicks did in 1973) and the 3rd NBA road team to win Game 7 after leading series 3–1. The Boston Garden crowd in Game 7 chanted "Beat LA! Beat LA!" to the victorious Sixers.
| Boston won 4–2 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This was the 17th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning nine of the first 16 meetings.
| Boston leads 9–7 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
NBA Finals
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (1) Los Angeles Lakers: Lakers win series 4-2
- Game 1 @ Philadelphia (May 27): Los Angeles 124, Philadelphia 117
- Game 2 @ Philadelphia (May 30): Philadelphia 110, Los Angeles 94
- Game 3 @ Los Angeles (June 1): Los Angeles 129, Philadelphia 108
- Game 4 @ Los Angeles (June 3): Los Angeles 111, Philadelphia 101
- Game 5 @ Philadelphia (June 6): Philadelphia 135, Los Angeles 102
- Game 6 @ Los Angeles (June 8): Los Angeles 114, Philadelphia 104
| Tied 1–1 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first three meetings.
| Los Angeles leads 3–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
References
- "Team Rivalry Finder — Houston Rockets versus Oklahoma City Thunder (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
- "Team Rivalry Finder — Denver Nuggets versus Phoenix Suns (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
- "Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus Phoenix Suns (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
- "Team Rivalry Finder — Oklahoma City Thunder versus San Antonio Spurs (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
- "Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus San Antonio Spurs (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
- "Team Rivalry Finder — Atlanta Hawks versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
- "Team Rivalry Finder — Brooklyn Nets versus Washington Wizards (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
- "Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Washington Wizards (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
- "Team Rivalry Finder — Milwaukee Bucks versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
- "Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
- "Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 23, 2015.