1981–82 Detroit Pistons season

1981–82 Detroit Pistons season
1981–82 Detroit Pistons season
Head coach	Scotty Robertson
General manager	Jack McCloskey
Owners	William Davidson
Arena	Pontiac Silverdome
Results
Record	39–43 (.476)
Place	Division: 3rd (Central); Conference: 7th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
< 1980–81	1982–83 >

The 1981-82 NBA season was the Pistons' 34th season in the NBA and 25th season in the city of Detroit.^[1]

Draft picks[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	2	Isiah Thomas	PG	United States	Indiana
1	12	Kelly Tripucka	SF/SG	United States	Notre Dame
4	71			United States	South Alabama
4	89			United States	North Carolina-Charlotte
5	94			United States	North Carolina-Charlotte
6	117			United States	Iowa
7	140	Greg Nance		United States	West Virginia
8	163			United States	Saint Francis
9	185			United States	Alcorn State
10	205			United States	Western Michigan

Roster[]

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	From
C	54	Benson, Kent	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Indiana
F	32	Carr, Kenny	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	North Carolina State
SG	24	Hardy, Alan	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Michigan
C	52	Hayes, Steve	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Idaho State
SG	10	Johnson, Vinnie	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Baylor
F	42	Jones, Edgar	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Nevada
F	22	Judkins, Jeff	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Utah
C	40	Laimbeer, Bill	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Notre Dame
G	30	Lee, Ron	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	Oregon
SG	25	Long, John	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Detroit
PG	11	Thomas, Isiah	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Indiana
F	7	Tripucka, Kelly	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Notre Dame
G/F	41	Tyler, Terry	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Detroit

Head coach

Scotty Robertson

Assistant coach(es)

Don Chaney

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Regular season[]

Season standings[]

Central Division v t	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

#	Eastern Conference v t
#	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

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents[]

1981-82 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	1–5	2–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	0–2	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	3–3	3–2	5–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–4
Boston	5–1	—	4–2	5–0	2–0	1–1	6–0	1–1	1–1	4–1	2–0	1–1	3–3	5–1	5–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	6–0
Chicago	3–2	2–4	—	5–1	1–1	1–1	0–6	0–2	1–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	1–5	2–4	3–2	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–4
Cleveland	2–4	0–5	1–5	—	2–0	0–2	1–5	1–1	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	0–6	0–6	0–6	0–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–5
Dallas	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	—	1–5	1–1	0–5	2–4	1–1	4–2	1–4	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–3	2–3	1–5	2–3	1–4	3–3	1–1
Denver	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	5–1	—	1–1	3–2	5–1	0–2	4–2	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	2–3	2–4	5–0	2–3	3–3	2–0
Detroit	4–2	0–6	6–0	5–1	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	2–0	2–4	2–0	0–2	2–4	2–4	3–3	2–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–4
Golden State	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	5–0	2–3	0–2	—	1–4	2–0	3–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	4–2	2–4	3–2	5–1	1–5	3–2	1–1
Houston	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–2	1–5	0–2	4–1	—	2–0	3–3	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	4–1	3–3	4–1	2–3	6–0	2–0
Indiana	2–4	1–5	3–3	5��1	1–1	2–0	4–2	0–2	0–2	—	1–1	0–2	0–6	4–2	3–2	0–6	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–5
Kansas City	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	2–4	0–2	2–3	3–3	1–1	—	1–4	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–3	0–5	1–5	4–1	2–3	3–3	0–2
Los Angeles	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	4–1	4–1	2–0	3–3	4–1	2–0	4–1	—	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2	5–1	2–3	5–1	4–2	5–0	2–0
Milwaukee	3–3	3–3	5–1	6–0	1–1	1–1	4–2	0–2	1–1	6–0	1–1	2–0	—	4–1	3–3	4–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	3–2
New Jersey	2–3	1–5	4–2	6–0	0–2	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–4	—	4–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	4–2
New York	1–5	1–5	2–3	6–0	1–1	1–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	2–3	0–2	2–0	3–3	2–4	—	1–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–5
Philadelphia	3–3	2–4	5–1	5–0	2–0	1–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	6–0	2–0	1–1	2–4	3–3	5–1	—	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	6–0
Phoenix	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–2	3–2	2–0	2–4	2–3	1–1	3–2	2–4	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	—	3–3	4–1	4–2	3–3	3–2	1–1
Portland	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	3–2	2–0	4–2	1–4	1–1	5–0	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–3	—	3–2	4–2	3–3	4–1	0–2
San Antonio	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	5–1	4–2	2–0	2–3	3–3	0–2	5–1	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–4	2–3	—	3–2	4–1	3–3	1–1
San Diego	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–2	0–5	0–2	1–5	1–4	0–2	1–4	1–5	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–4	2–4	2–3	—	1–5	1–4	0–2
Seattle	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	4–1	3–2	1–1	5–1	3–2	1–1	3–2	2–4	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–4	5–1	—	5–0	1–1
Utah	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–1	2–3	0–6	1–1	3–3	0–5	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–3	1–4	3–3	4–1	0–5	—	1–1
Washington	4–2	0–6	4–2	5–1	1–1	0–2	4–1	1–1	0–2	5–1	2–0	0–2	2–3	2–4	5–1	0–6	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	—

Game log[]

Regular season[]

1981–82 game log
Total: 39–43 (Home: 23–18; Road: 16–25)

October: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	October 30	Milwaukee	W 118–113				Pontiac Silverdome	1–0
2	October 31	@ Chicago

November: 6–7 (Home: 4–3; Road: 2–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
3	November 5	New Jersey	W 109–103	Pontiac Silverdome	3–0
4	November 6	@ Washington	L 82–86	Capital Centre	3–1
5	November 7	Boston	L 88–129	Pontiac Silverdome	3–2
6	November 10	Philadelphia	L 93–95	Pontiac Silverdome	3–3
7	November 12	Cleveland
8	November 14	@ Atlanta	W 117–104	The Omni	5–3
9	November 18	@ Cleveland
10	November 19	Washington	W 122–97	Pontiac Silverdome	6–4
11	November 21	Utah
12	November 24	@ Milwaukee	L 95–103	MECCA Arena	7–5
13	November 25	@ Kansas City
14	November 27	Atlanta	L 112–114 (OT)	Pontiac Silverdome	8–6
15	November 28	@ Philadelphia	L 103–116	The Spectrum	8–7

December: 5–10 (Home: 2–3; Road: 3–7)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
16	December 1	@ New York
17	December 2	@ Boston	L 114–115	Boston Garden	8–9
18	December 4	@ Indiana
19	December 5	Milwaukee	L 108–111	Pontiac Silverdome	8–11
20	December 10	New York
21	December 12	@ Seattle	L 111–117	Kingdome	8–13
22	December 13	@ Portland
23	December 15	@ Golden State
24	December 17	Indiana
25	December 19	New York
26	December 22	@ Dallas
27	December 23	@ Denver	W 124–119	McNichols Sports Arena	12–15
28	December 26	Chicago
29	December 29	@ Washington	L 125–129	Capital Centre	13–16
30	December 30	@ New Jersey	L 119–130	Brendan Byrne Arena	13–17

January: 5–9 (Home: 2–4; Road: 3–5)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
31	January 2	@ New York
32	January 5	Philadelphia	W 124–101	Pontiac Silverdome	14–18
33	January 7	Phoenix	L 94–110	Pontiac Silverdome	14–19
34	January 9	Los Angeles	L 127–130	Pontiac Silverdome	14–20
35	January 10	@ Boston	L 124–134	Hartford Civic Center	14–21
36	January 12	@ Chicago
37	January 14	Washington	L 114–121	Pontiac Silverdome	15–22
38	January 16	Boston	L 120–128	Pontiac Silverdome	15–23
39	January 17	@ Milwaukee	W 108–103	MECCA Arena	16–23
40	January 19	@ Utah
41	January 21	@ San Diego
42	January 22	@ Los Angeles	L 111–123	The Forum	17–25
43	January 23	@ Phoenix	L 90–113	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	17–26
44	January 27	Atlanta	W 108–107	Pontiac Silverdome	18–26

February: 7–6 (Home: 5–3; Road: 2–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
45	February 2	@ Atlanta	W 106–105	The Omni	19–26
46	February 5	@ Chicago
47	February 6	New Jersey	L 120–125	Pontiac Silverdome	20–27
48	February 9	Chicago
49	February 10	@ New Jersey	L 108–115	Brendan Byrne Arena	21–28
50	February 11	Cleveland
51	February 13	Portland
52	February 16	Houston	W 111–109	Pontiac Silverdome	23–29
53	February 17	@ San Antonio	L 112–126	HemisFair Arena	23–30
54	February 20	Indiana
55	February 25	San Antonio	L 116–119	Pontiac Silverdome	24–31
56	February 27	Kansas City
57	February 28	@ Indiana

March: 9–7 (Home: 5–2; Road: 4–5)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
58	March 2	@ Milwaukee	L 91–101	MECCA Arena	25–33
59	March 4	Chicago
60	March 6	@ New York
61	March 8	Boston	L 101–111	Pontiac Silverdome	27–34
62	March 10	Denver	L 113–124	Pontiac Silverdome	27–35
63	March 12	Golden State
64	March 14	@ Cleveland
65	March 16	San Diego
66	March 18	Seattle	W 119–115	Pontiac Silverdome	31–35
67	March 19	@ Houston	W 111–102	The Summit	32–35
68	March 21	@ Atlanta	L 111–119	The Omni	32–36
69	March 25	Philadelphia	W 100–98	Pontiac Silverdome	33–36
70	March 26	@ Boston	L 104–125	Boston Garden	33–37
71	March 27	@ New Jersey	W 123–121	Brendan Byrne Arena	34–37
72	March 30	@ Washington	L 98–127	Capital Centre	34–38
73	March 31	@ Indiana

April: 5–4 (Home: 4–3; Road: 1–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
74	April 1	Dallas
75	April 3	Indiana
76	April 7	Atlanta	W 120–115	Pontiac Silverdome	36–40
77	April 9	Milwaukee	L 100–118	Pontiac Silverdome	36–41
78	April 11	New York
79	April 14	@ Philadelphia	L 111–119	The Spectrum	37–42
80	April 15	Cleveland
81	April 17	New Jersey	L 132–147	Pontiac Silverdome	38–43
82	April 18	@ Cleveland

1981–82 schedule

Player statistics[]

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Kent Benson	75	72	32.9	.505	.273	.804	8.7	2.1	.88	1.30	12.5
Kenny Carr	28	6	15.9	.458	.000	.646	4.9	.8	.21	.21	7.4
Glenn Hagan	4	0	6.3	.429	.000	1.000	1.0	2.0	.33	.00	1.8
Alan Hardy	38	0	8.2	.456	.000	.621	0.9	.5	.24	.11	3.7
Steve Hayes	26	0	15.8	.495	.000	.610	3.8	.9	.12	.69	4.5
Phil Hubbard	52	38	21.2	.505	.000	.650	5.2	1.3	.73	.31	10.0
Vinnie Johnson	67	15	17.8	.493	.273	.754	2.1	2.4	.75	.34	7.7
Edgar Jones	48	19	16.7	.548	.500	.698	4.3	.8	.58	1.92	7.8
Jeff Judkins	30	0	8.4	.383	.100	.615	1.1	.5	.20	.67	2.6
Greg Kesler	11	0	16.6	.407	.000	.659	3.5	1.1	.45	.64	8.8
Bill Laimbeer	30	30	31.2	.516	.143	.813	11.3	1.8	.57	1.13	12.8
Ron Lee	81	7	18.1	.358	.305	.706	1.9	3.9	1.43	.25	3.4
John Long	69	66	32.0	.492	.133	.865	3.7	2.1	.94	.36	21.9
Paul Mokeski	39	3	13.4	.441	.000	.758	3.1	.6	.33	.59	3.2
Isiah Thomas	72	72	33.8	.424	.288	.704	2.9	7.8	2.08	.24	17.0
Kelly Tripucka	82	82	37.5	.496	.227	.797	5.4	3.3	1.09	.25	21.6
Terry Tyler	82	0	24.3	.523	.250	.740	6.0	5.4	.94	1.95	9.9
Larry Wright	1	0	6.0	.000	.000	.000	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0

v t Detroit Pistons
Founded in 1941 Formerly the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (1941–1948) and the Fort Wayne Pistons (1948–1957) Based in Detroit, Michigan
Franchise	All-time roster Draft history Head coaches Seasons Current season
Arenas	North Side High School Gym Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Olympia Stadium Memorial Building Cobo Arena Pontiac Silverdome The Palace of Auburn Hills Little Caesars Arena
Personnel	Owner(s) Tom Gores President Ed Stefanski General manager Troy Weaver Head coach Dwane Casey
G League affiliate	Motor City Cruise
Retired numbers	1 2 3 4 10 11 15 16 21 32 40
NBA Championships	1989 1990 2004
Rivalries	Boston Celtics Chicago Bulls Los Angeles Lakers
Culture and lore	Broadcasters Hooper Jordan Rules 1990 Detroit riot John Mason The Malice at the Palace

1981–82 Detroit Pistons season

Contents

Draft picks[]

Roster[]

Regular season[]

Season standings[]

Record vs. opponents[]

Game log[]

Regular season[]

Player statistics[]

Awards and records[]

Transactions[]

References[]

See also[]