NBA Basketball Information:
Elvin Hayes , zigzag up his 16-year career in Houston as Ralph Sampson 's backup, passed John Havlicek as the all-time leader in games played. He finished as the third-leading scorer and rebounder in NBA history. in the meantime, under the tutelage of Hayes and new coach Bill Fitch , the 7-foot-4 Sampson captured the Rookie of the Year award. The Rockets better by 15 games, but couldn't escape the Midwest Division cellar.
In Los Angeles , Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was still leaving strong in his 15th season. On April 5 he passed Wilt Chamberlain's profession scoring mark of 31,419 points; in addition he replaced Moses Malone as center on the all-pro NBA team while leading the Lakers to their third directly Pacific Division title.
Though he led the league's rebounders for the fourth time in a line, Malone had a unacceptable season in Philadelphia . Picked by the bulk to repeat as champs, the 76ers fell to 52 wins, then undergo a shocking first- round playoff loss to New Jersey . Restore them atop the Atlantic Division were the invigorated Celtics. New coach K.C. Jones eliminate the resistance that had developed under Fitch; Dennis Johnson, acquire from Phoenix, added constancy in the back court; Robert Parish and Kevin McHale provide power up front; and when all else failed. Boston called on Larry Bird , who was named MVP after final second, in the balloting three times in a line.
Many thought the award be hypothetical to have gone to New York ' s Bernard King , who led the Knicks to a 47-35 record. In information, King edged Bird by two vote for Player of the Year in a pale News poll of the league's players. New Jersey had no MVP candidate, but Buck Williams and Otis Birdsong led the Nets to 45 wins beneath new coach Stan Abeck in the NBA Season, Washington 's Jeff Ruland emerged as a main force at center, but the Bullets fell to 35-47. Still, they fit for the last playoff spot under the league's new expanded format
In the Central Division, Sidney Moncrief and Marques Johnson led Milwaukee to its fourth directly title, a game ahead of Detroit The Pistons, beneath new coach Chuck Daly, won 49 games, relying as usual on their "class of 1981-82" — lsiah Thomas, Kelly Tripucka and Bill Laimbeer. Atlanta too slipped into the playoffs, but Cleveland , Chicago and Indiana managed only 81 wins in the middle of them.
Scoring winner Adrian Dantley and Coach of the Year Frank Layden led Utah , the league's shock team, to the Midwest Division title. The Jazz backed up Dantley with scorers Darrell Griffith and John Drew and shot-blocker Mark Eaton . Dallas , two games back, continued to get better with the nucleus they picked up in the 1981 draft-Mark Aquirre and Rolando Blackman in exacting. Despite the score of Kiki Vandewenghe and Alex English , Denver fell to 38-44. A 186-184 triple-overtime loss to Detroit , the highest-scoring game in association history, epitomized their trying season. Kansas City and San Antonio also fell off, while the Kings edging out the Spurs for the last playoff berth in the West.
All that earned them the right to be demolish in three games by the LA Lakers, who lost their customary flrst-round bye with the playoff field augmented from 12 to 16 teams. Rookie Byron Scott, obtain from San Diego for Norm Nixon, was erratic, and a stomach illness hampered Jamaal Wilkes late in the NBA season, but the Los Angeles Lakers moved in Michael Cooper and James Worthy as starters and scarcely missed a beat. Portland finished second with a balanced offense orchestrate by coach Jack Ramsay; Seattle and Phoenix made the playoffs although falling to 42 and 41 wins, in that order. Golden State missed out by a game despite the score of Purvis Short and Joe Barry Carroll , and San Diego again brought up the rear in spite of the presence of Nixon , Terry Cummings and Bill Walton .
Phoenix upset Portland and Utah in the playoffs before lessening to Los Angeles in the Western Finals. In the East, Boston survive a seven-game series with New York , then disposed of Milwaukee in five games. Then the LA Lakers and Celtics square off for the first time since the days of Bill Russell . In adding, it was the first argument between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird since the 1979 NCAA championship game. The Los Angeles Lakers won the first and third games with no trouble, but lost the second and fourth, both in eventually. Boston took the next one, but the LA Lakers came back to force a seventh game. The main television audience in NBA history watched as the Celtics scratched out a 111-102 win. Bird, the playoff MVP, led everybody with 27 points and 11 rebounds per game, as long as a taste of what was to come in dle next few years.
