1980–81 NBA season

35th NBA season

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Sports season

1980–81 NBA season

League| National Basketball Association
Sport| Basketball
Duration| October 10, 1980 – March 29, 1981
March 31 – May 3, 1981 (Playoffs)
May 5–14, 1981 (Finals)
Number of teams| 23
TV partner(s)| CBS, USA
Draft
Top draft pick| Joe Barry Carroll
Picked by| Golden State Warriors
Regular season
Top seed| Boston Celtics
Season MVP| Julius Erving (Philadelphia)
Top scorer| Adrian Dantley (Utah)
Playoffs
Eastern champions| Boston Celtics
Eastern runners-up| Philadelphia 76ers
Western champions| Houston Rockets
Western runners-up| Kansas City Kings
Finals
Champions| Boston Celtics
Runners-up| Houston Rockets
Finals MVP| Cedric Maxwell (Boston)
NBA seasons

← 1979–80

1981–82 →

The 1980–81 NBA season was the 35th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Houston Rockets 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. As of 2023, this was the last time an NBA season (including postseason) had ended before Memorial Day.

## Notable occurrences

[edit]

* The Dallas Mavericks become the league's 23rd franchise. As a result, the NBA realigns four of its teams to better reflect their geographical locations (the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls move to the Eastern Conference and the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets to the Western Conference), finishing a process of geographic realignment that began in the 1978–79 season.
* The 1981 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Richfield Coliseum near Cleveland, Ohio, with the East defeating the West 123–120.[1] Nate Archibald of the Boston Celtics wins the game's MVP award.[1]
* To date, this was the final time that a regular-season had ended during the month of March.
* The Houston Rockets (40–42) become just the second team in NBA history (to date) to make the finals without posting a winning record during the regular season. The Kansas City Kings, their opponents in the Western Conference finals, also posted a 40–42 record.
* It was the final season for Hall of Famers Rudy Tomjanovich,[a] Wes Unseld, and Jo Jo White.

Coaching changes  Offseason

Team  | 1979–80 coach  | 1980–81 coach
Cleveland Cavaliers | Stan Albeck | Bill Musselman
Dallas Mavericks | Expansion | Dick Motta
Detroit Pistons | Richie Adubato | Scotty Robertson
Golden State Warriors | Johnny Bach | Al Attles
Indiana Pacers | Bobby Leonard | Jack McKinney
San Antonio Spurs | Bob Bass | Stan Albeck
San Diego Clippers | Gene Shue | Paul Silas
Washington Bullets | Dick Motta | Gene Shue
In-season
Team  | Outgoing coach  | Incoming coach
Atlanta Hawks | Hubie Brown | Mike Fratello
Cleveland Cavaliers | Bill Musselman | Don Delaney
Denver Nuggets | Donnie Walsh | Doug Moe
New Jersey Nets | Kevin Loughery | Bob MacKinnon

## Teams

[edit]

1980-81 National Basketball Association

Eastern Conference
Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity
Atlantic  | Boston Celtics | Boston, Massachusetts | Boston Garden | 15,320
New Jersey Nets | Piscataway, New Jersey | Rutgers Athletic Center | 8,500
New York Knicks | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 19,812
Philadelphia 76ers | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | The Spectrum | 18,176
Washington Bullets | Landover, Maryland | Capital Centre | 18,756
Central  | Atlanta Hawks | Atlanta, Georgia | Omni Coliseum | 16,378
Chicago Bulls | Chicago, Illinois | Chicago Stadium | 18,676
Cleveland Cavaliers | Richfield, Ohio | Richfield Coliseum | 20,900
Detroit Pistons | Pontiac, Michigan | Pontiac Silverdome | 33,000
Indiana Pacers | Indianapolis, Indiana | Market Square Arena | 17,171
Milwaukee Bucks | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | MECCA Arena | 10,783
Western Conference
Midwest  | Dallas Mavericks *  | Dallas, Texas | Reunion Arena | 18,293
Denver Nuggets | Denver, Colorado | McNichols Sports Arena | 17,171
Houston Rockets | Houston, Texas | The Summit | 16,285
Kansas City Kings | Kansas City, Missouri | Kemper Arena | 16,700
San Antonio Spurs | San Antonio, Texas | HemisFair Arena | 16,057
Utah Jazz | Salt Lake City, Utah | Salt Palace | 12,686
Pacific  | Golden State Warriors | Oakland, California | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena | 13,237
Los Angeles Lakers | Inglewood, California | The Forum | 17,505
Phoenix Suns | Phoenix, Arizona | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 14,870
Portland Trail Blazers | Portland, Oregon | Memorial Coliseum | 12,888
San Diego Clippers | San Diego, California | San Diego Sports Arena | 14,500
Seattle SuperSonics | Seattle, Washington | Kingdome | 59,166
Expansion team *

## Map of teams

[edit]

Celtics

Nets

Knicks

76ers

Bullets

Hawks

Bulls

Cavaliers

Pistons

Pacers

Bucks

Mavericks

Nuggets

Rockets

Kings

Spurs

Jazz

Warriors

Lakers

Suns

Blazers

Clippers

Sonics

Atlantic Division  Central Division  Midwest Division  Pacific Division

## Final standings

[edit]

A ticket for a March 1981 game between the Dallas Mavericks and the season's eventual champions Boston Celtics.

### By division

[edit]

Atlantic Division

* v
* t
* e

|  W  |  L  |  PCT  |  GB  |  Home  |  Road  |  Div

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y-Boston Celtics | 62 | 20 | .756 | – | 35–6 | 27–14 | 19–5
x-Philadelphia 76ers | 62 | 20 | .756 | – | 37–4 | 25–16 | 15–9
x-New York Knicks | 50 | 32 | .610 | 12.0 | 28–13 | 22–19 | 14–10
Washington Bullets | 39 | 43 | .476 | 23.0 | 26–15 | 13–28 | 8–16
New Jersey Nets | 24 | 58 | .293 | 38.0 | 16–25 | 8–33 | 8–16

Central Division

* v
* t
* e

|  W  |  L  |  PCT  |  GB  |  Home  |  Road  |  Div

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y-Milwaukee Bucks | 60 | 22 | .732 | – | 34–7 | 26–15 | 23–7
x-Chicago Bulls | 45 | 37 | .549 | 15.0 | 26–15 | 19–22 | 20–9
x-Indiana Pacers | 44 | 38 | .537 | 16.0 | 27–14 | 17–24 | 17–12
Atlanta Hawks | 31 | 51 | .378 | 29.0 | 20–21 | 11–30 | 9–21
Cleveland Cavaliers | 28 | 54 | .341 | 32.0 | 20–21 | 8–33 | 9–21
Detroit Pistons | 21 | 61 | .256 | 39.0 | 14–27 | 7–34 | 9–21

Midwest Division

* v
* t
* e

|  W  |  L  |  PCT  |  GB  |  Home  |  Road  |  Div

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y-San Antonio Spurs | 52 | 30 | .634 | – | 34–7 | 18–23 | 21–9
x-Kansas City Kings | 40 | 42 | .488 | 12.0 | 24–17 | 16–25 | 19–11
x-Houston Rockets | 40 | 42 | .488 | 12.0 | 25–16 | 15–26 | 19–11
Denver Nuggets | 37 | 45 | .451 | 15.0 | 23–18 | 14–27 | 13–17
Utah Jazz | 28 | 54 | .341 | 24.0 | 20–21 | 8–33 | 13–17
Dallas Mavericks | 15 | 67 | .183 | 37.0 | 11–30 | 4–37 | 5–25

Pacific Division

* v
* t
* e

|  W  |  L  |  PCT  |  GB  |  Home  |  Road  |  Div

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y-Phoenix Suns | 57 | 25 | .695 | – | 36–5 | 21–20 | 22–8
x-Los Angeles Lakers | 54 | 28 | .659 | 3.0 | 30–11 | 24–17 | 19–11
x-Portland Trail Blazers | 45 | 37 | .549 | 12.0 | 30–11 | 15–26 | 18–12
Golden State Warriors | 39 | 43 | .476 | 18.0 | 26–15 | 13–28 | 10–20
San Diego Clippers | 36 | 46 | .439 | 21.0 | 22–19 | 14–27 | 14–16
Seattle SuperSonics | 34 | 48 | .415 | 23.0 | 22–19 | 12–29 | 7–23

### By conference

[edit]

#  |

Eastern Conference

* v
* t
* e

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Team  |  W  |  L  |  PCT  |  GB
1  | z-Boston Celtics | 62 | 20 | .756 |  –
2  | y-Milwaukee Bucks | 60 | 22 | .732 | 2
3  | x-Philadelphia 76ers | 62 | 20 | .756 | –
4  | x-New York Knicks | 50 | 32 | .610 | 12
5  | x-Chicago Bulls | 45 | 37 | .549 | 17
6  | x-Indiana Pacers | 44 | 38 | .537 | 18
7  | Washington Bullets | 39 | 43 | .476 | 23
8  | Atlanta Hawks | 31 | 51 | .378 | 31
9  | Cleveland Cavaliers | 28 | 54 | .341 | 34
10  | New Jersey Nets | 24 | 58 | .293 | 38
11  | Detroit Pistons | 21 | 61 | .256 | 41
#  |

Western Conference

* v
* t
* e

|

Team  |  W  |  L  |  PCT  |  GB
1  | c-Phoenix Suns | 57 | 25 | .695 | –
2  | y-San Antonio Spurs | 52 | 30 | .634 | 5
3  | x-Los Angeles Lakers | 54 | 28 | .659 | 3
4  | x-Portland Trail Blazers | 45 | 37 | .549 | 12
5  | x-Kansas City Kings | 40 | 42 | .488 | 17
6  | x-Houston Rockets | 40 | 42 | .488 | 17
7  | Golden State Warriors | 39 | 43 | .476 | 18
8  | Denver Nuggets | 37 | 45 | .451 | 20
9  | San Diego Clippers | 36 | 46 | .439 | 21
10  | Seattle SuperSonics | 34 | 48 | .415 | 23
11  | Utah Jazz | 28 | 54 | .341 | 29
12  | Dallas Mavericks | 15 | 67 | .183 | 42

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

[edit]

Main article: 1981 NBA 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. Note that in the Western Conference, the lower seeded team won every series.

| First Round | | | Conference Semifinals | | | Conference Finals | | | NBA Finals |

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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | E1 | Boston* | 4 | | |
| E4 | New York | 0 | | | E5 | Chicago | 0 |
| E5 | Chicago | 2 | | | Eastern Conference| | | E1 | Boston* | 4 |
| | | | | | E3 | Philadelphia | 3 |
| | | | E3 | Philadelphia | 4 | | | |
| E3 | Philadelphia | 2 | | | E2 | Milwaukee* | 3 |
| E6 | Indiana | 0 | | | | E1 | Boston* | 4 |
| | | | | | | W6 | Houston | 2 |
| | | | W1 | Phoenix* | 3 | | | |
| W4 | Portland | 1 | | | W5 | Kansas City | 4 |
| W5 | Kansas City | 2 | | | Western Conference| | | W5 | Kansas City | 1 |
| | | | | | W6 | Houston | 4 |
| | | | W6 | Houston | 4 | |
| W3 | Los Angeles | 1 | | | W2 | San Antonio* | 3 |
| W6 | Houston | 2 | |

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

## Statistics leaders

[edit]

Category | Player | Team | Stat

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|
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Points per game | Adrian Dantley | Utah Jazz | 30.7
Rebounds per game | Moses Malone | Houston Rockets | 14.8
Assists per game | Kevin Porter | Washington Bullets | 9.1
Steals per game | Magic Johnson | Los Angeles Lakers | 3.43
Blocks per game | George Johnson | San Antonio Spurs | 3.39
FG% | Artis Gilmore | Chicago Bulls | .670
FT% | Calvin Murphy | Houston Rockets | .958
3FG% | Brian Taylor | San Diego Clippers | .383

## NBA awards

[edit]

* Most Valuable Player: Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers
* Rookie of the Year: Darrell Griffith, Utah Jazz
* Coach of the Year: Jack McKinney, Indiana Pacers

* All-NBA First Team:
* F – Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
* F – Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers
* C – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
* G – Dennis Johnson, Phoenix Suns
* G – George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs

* All-NBA Second Team:
* F – Marques Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks
* F – Adrian Dantley, Utah Jazz
* C – Moses Malone, Houston Rockets
* G – Otis Birdsong, Kansas City Kings
* G – Nate Archibald, Boston Celtics

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* All-NBA Rookie Team:
* Kelvin Ransey, Portland Trail Blazers
* Darrell Griffith, Utah Jazz
* Larry Smith, Golden State Warriors
* Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
* Joe Barry Carroll, Golden State Warriors

* NBA All-Defensive First Team:
* Bobby Jones, Philadelphia 76ers
* Caldwell Jones, Philadelphia 76ers
* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
* Dennis Johnson, Phoenix Suns
* Micheal Ray Richardson, New York Knicks

* NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
* Dan Roundfield, Atlanta Hawks
* Kermit Washington, Portland Trail Blazers
* George Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
* Quinn Buckner, Milwaukee Bucks
* Dudley Bradley, Indiana Pacers (tie)
* Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers (tie)

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### Players of the week

[edit]

Week  | Player

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Oct. 10 – Oct. 19  | Adrian Dantley (Utah Jazz) (1/1)
Oct. 20 – Oct. 26  | Otis Birdsong (Kansas City Kings) (1/1)
Oct. 27 – Nov. 02  | David Thompson (Denver Nuggets) (1/1)
Nov. 03 – Nov. 09  | Elvin Hayes (Washington Bullets) (1/1)
Nov. 10 – Nov. 16  | Billy Knight (Indiana Pacers) (1/1)
Nov. 17 – Nov. 23  | Artis Gilmore (Chicago Bulls) (1/1)
Nov. 24 – Nov. 30  | Robert Parish (Boston Celtics) (1/1)
Dec. 01 – Dec. 07  | Mike Dunleavy (Houston Rockets) (1/1)
Dec. 08 – Dec. 14  | Dan Roundfield (Atlanta Hawks) (1/1)
Dec. 15 – Dec. 21  | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/1)
Dec. 22 – Dec. 28  | Dennis Johnson (Phoenix Suns) (1/1)
Dec. 29 – Jan. 04  | Bernard King (Golden State Warriors) (1/1)
Jan. 05 – Jan. 11  | Nate Archibald (Boston Celtics) (1/1)
Jan. 12 – Jan. 18  | Julius Erving (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)
Jan. 19 – Jan. 25  | Phil Ford (Kansas City Kings) (1/1)
Jan. 26 – Feb. 01  | Kenny Carr (Cleveland Cavaliers) (1/1)
Feb. 02 – Feb. 08  | Caldwell Jones (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)
Feb. 09 – Feb. 15  | Mike Newlin (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)
Feb. 16 – Feb. 22  | Mike Mitchell (Cleveland Cavaliers) (1/1)
Mar. 02 – Mar. 08  | Larry Smith (Golden State Warriors) (1/1)
Mar. 09 – Mar. 15  | Moses Malone (Houston Rockets) (1/1)
Mar. 16 – Mar. 22  | Michael Ray Richardson (New York Knicks) (1/1)
Mar. 23 – Mar. 29  | Robert Reid (Houston Rockets) (1/1)

### Players of the month

[edit]

Month  | Player

|

October  | Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/1)
November  | Julius Erving (Philadelphia 76ers) (1/1)
December  | Freeman Williams (San Diego Clippers) (1/1)
January  | Bernard King (Golden State Warriors) (1/1)
February  | Calvin Murphy (Houston Rockets) (1/1)
March  | Kelvin Ransey (Portland Trail Blazers) (1/1)

## See also

[edit]

* List of NBA regular season records

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Inducted into the Hall of Fame as a coach.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b DuPree, David (February 2, 1981). "Archibald 'Biggest' NBA Star". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 1, 2024.

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NBA seasons

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1980s|

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2000s|

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2010s|

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2020s|

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* v
* t
* e

1980–81 NBA season

* Expansion draft
* Draft
* All-Star Game
* Playoffs
* Finals
* Transactions
* NBA 35th Anniversary Team

Eastern|

| Atlantic|

* Boston
* New Jersey
* New York
* Philadelphia
* Washington

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Central|

* Atlanta
* Chicago
* Cleveland
* Detroit
* Indiana
* Milwaukee

Western|

| Midwest|

* Dallas
* Denver
* Houston
* Kansas City
* San Antonio
* Utah

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Pacific|

* Golden State
* Los Angeles
* Phoenix
* Portland
* San Diego
* Seattle

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[ W ]: Games won
*[ L ]: Games lost
*[ PCT ]: Winning percentage
*[ GB ]: Games behind
*[ Home ]: Home record
*[ Road ]: Road record
*[ Div ]: Division record