1983–84 NBA season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1983–84 NBA season
LeagueNational Basketball Association
SportBasketball
DurationOct 28, 1983 – Apr 15, 1984
Apr 17 – May 25, 1984 (Playoffs)
May 27 – Jun 12, 1984 (Finals)
Number of teams23
TV partner(s)CBS, ESPN, USA
Draft
Top draft pickRalph Sampson
Picked byHouston Rockets
Regular season
Top seedBoston Celtics
Season MVPLarry Bird (Boston)
Top scorerAdrian Dantley (Utah)
Playoffs
Eastern championsBoston Celtics
  Eastern runners-upMilwaukee Bucks
Western championsLos Angeles Lakers
  Western runners-upPhoenix Suns
Finals
ChampionsBoston Celtics
  Runners-upLos Angeles Lakers
Finals MVPLarry Bird (Boston)
NBA seasons

The 1983–84 NBA season was the 38th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 for the second time since 1969 in the NBA Finals.

Notable occurrences[]

Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 1982–83 coach 1983–84 coach
Atlanta Hawks Kevin Loughery Mike Fratello
Boston Celtics Bill Fitch K.C. Jones
Chicago Bulls Paul Westhead Kevin Loughery
Detroit Pistons Scotty Robertson Chuck Daly
Golden State Warriors Al Attles Johnny Bach
Houston Rockets Del Harris Bill Fitch
New Jersey Nets Bill Blair Stan Albeck
San Antonio Spurs Stan Albeck Morris McHone
San Diego Clippers Paul Silas Jim Lynam
In-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach
San Antonio Spurs Morris McHone Bob Bass
  • The 1984 NBA All-Star Game was played at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, with the East defeating the West 154–145. Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons wins the game's MVP award. Larry Nance of the Phoenix Suns won the first NBA Slam Dunk Championship.
  • David Stern begins his tenure as the league's fourth commissioner, effective April 1.
  • The NBA Playoffs were expanded from 6 teams per conference to 8, where it stands to this date. As a result, the 'first round bye' system was eliminated.
  • Marked the first year the first round of the NBA Playoffs went from best-of-3 to best-of-five playoff.
  • Ralph Sampson became the first rookie to win the Rookie of the Month Award in every month of the season. He unanimously won the Rookie of the Year Award. David Robinson, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard, and Karl-Anthony Towns would later achieve the same feat.
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar surpassed Wilt Chamberlain to become the all-time NBA career leader in points. He passed Chamberlain in a game against the Utah Jazz at Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center on April 5. Fittingly, it was his trademark sky-hook that put him in the record books.
  • The Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons play in the highest scoring game in NBA history with the Pistons winning 186–184 in three overtimes.
  • The Dallas Mavericks made its first postseason appearance, beating the Seattle SuperSonics 3–2 before bowing out to the Los Angeles Lakers 4–1 in the Conference Semifinals. Game 5 of the Seattle series was played at Moody Coliseum as Reunion Arena, the Mavericks' home, was unavailable.
  • The Utah Jazz appeared in the postseason for the first time, defeating the Denver Nuggets 3–2 in the opening round and then losing to the Phoenix Suns 4–2 in the Western semis. This started a streak of 20 consecutive playoff appearances, fourth longest in the NBA behind the Portland Trail Blazers (21 between 1983 and 2003), the Philadelphia 76ers (23 between 1949 (as Syracuse Nationals) and 1971), and the San Antonio Spurs current streak of 22 starting in 1998).[1]
  • The Clippers play their final game in San Diego, California.
  • This would be the last season until 2013–14 that the Finals had the 2-2-1-1-1 format. The Finals would adopt the 2-3-2 format the following season.
  • The New Jersey Nets won a playoff series for the first time in their NBA history, upsetting the defending champion Philadelphia 76ers in five games. The series marked the only time (to date) a road team won every game in a five-game playoff series.
  • Final season of ESPN broadcasting NBA games until the 2002–03 season, which also marked the league's return to future corporate partner ABC. It also marked the final season of NBA broadcasts on the USA Network.
  • Spalding replaced Wilson as manufacturer of the official NBA game ball, a relationship that continued until 2021.
  • It was the final season for eventual Hall of Famers Tiny Archibald, Elvin Hayes and Bob Lanier.
  • All five teams in the Atlantic Division made the Playoffs, the first such occurrence for any division.

Final standings[]

By division[]

Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Boston Celtics 62 20 .756 33–8 29–12 13–11
x-Philadelphia 76ers 52 30 .634 10 32–9 20–21 15–9
x-New York Knicks 47 35 .573 15 29–12 18–23 12–12
x-New Jersey Nets 45 37 .549 17 29–12 16–25 12–12
x-Washington Bullets 35 47 .427 27 25–16 10–31 8–16


Central Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks 50 32 .610 30–11 20–21 19–10
x-Detroit Pistons 49 33 .598 1 30–11 19–22 21–8
x-Atlanta Hawks 40 42 .488 10 31–10 9–32 16–14
Cleveland Cavaliers 28 54 .341 22 23–18 5–36 11–19
Chicago Bulls 27 55 .329 23 18–23 9–32 10–20
Indiana Pacers 26 56 .317 24 20–21 6–35 12–18


Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Utah Jazz 45 37 .549 31–10 14–27 15–15
x-Dallas Mavericks 43 39 .524 2 31–10 12–29 19–11
x-Denver Nuggets 38 44 .463 7 27–14 11–30 16–14
x-Kansas City Kings 38 44 .463 7 26–15 12–29 16–14
San Antonio Spurs 37 45 .451 8 28–13 9–32 14–16
Houston Rockets 29 53 .354 16 21–20 8–33 9–21


Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 54 28 .659 28–13 26–15 18–12
x-Portland Trail Blazers 48 34 .585 6 33–8 15–26 17–13
x-Seattle SuperSonics 42 40 .512 12 32–9 10–31 14–16
x-Phoenix Suns 41 41 .500 13 31–10 10–31 16–14
Golden State Warriors 37 45 .451 17 27–14 10–31 13–17
San Diego Clippers 30 52 .366 24 25–16 5–36 12–18


By conference[]

# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Boston Celtics 62 20 .756
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks 50 32 .610 12
3 x-Philadelphia 76ers 52 30 .634 10
4 x-Detroit Pistons 49 33 .598 13
5 x-New York Knicks 47 35 .573 15
6 x-New Jersey Nets 45 37 .549 17
7 x-Atlanta Hawks 40 42 .488 22
8 x-Washington Bullets 35 47 .427 27
9 Cleveland Cavaliers 28 54 .341 34
10 Chicago Bulls 27 55 .329 35
11 Indiana Pacers 26 56 .317 36
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Los Angeles Lakers 54 28 .659
2 y-Utah Jazz 45 37 .549 9
3 x-Portland Trail Blazers 48 34 .585 6
4 x-Dallas Mavericks 43 39 .524 11
5 x-Seattle SuperSonics 42 40 .512 12
6 x-Phoenix Suns 41 41 .500 13
7 x-Denver Nuggets 38 44 .463 16
8 x-Kansas City Kings 38 44 .463 16
9 San Antonio Spurs 37 45 .451 17
10 Golden State Warriors 37 45 .451 17
11 San Diego Clippers 30 52 .366 24
12 Houston Rockets 29 53 .354 25



Notes

  • z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
  • c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
  • y – Clinched division title
  • 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* 3  
E8 Washington 1  
  E1 Boston* 4  
  E5 New York 3  
E4 Detroit 2
E5 New York 3  
  E1 Boston* 4  
Eastern Conference
  E2 Milwaukee* 1  
E3 Philadelphia 2  
E6 New Jersey 3  
  E6 New Jersey 2
  E2 Milwaukee* 4  
E2 Milwaukee* 3
E7 Atlanta 2  
  E1 Boston* 4
  W1 Los Angeles* 3
W1 Los Angeles* 3  
W8 Kansas City 0  
  W1 Los Angeles* 4
  W4 Dallas 1  
W4 Dallas 3
W5 Seattle 2  
  W1 Los Angeles* 4
Western Conference
  W6 Phoenix 2  
W3 Portland 2  
W6 Phoenix 3  
  W6 Phoenix 4
  W2 Utah* 2  
W2 Utah* 3
W7 Denver 2  


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

Statistics leaders[]

Category Player Team Stat
Points per game Adrian Dantley Utah Jazz 30.6
Rebounds per game Moses Malone Philadelphia 76ers 13.4
Assists per game Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 13.1
Steals per game Rickey Green Utah Jazz 2.65
Blocks per game Mark Eaton Utah Jazz 4.28
FG% Artis Gilmore San Antonio Spurs .631
FT% Larry Bird Boston Celtics .888
3FG% Darrell Griffith Utah Jazz .361

NBA awards[]

Yearly awards[]

Note: All above information were obtained on the History section on NBA.com

Player of the week[]

The following players were named NBA Player of the Week.

Week Player
Oct. 28 – Nov. 6 Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Kings)
Nov. 7 – Nov. 13 Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
Nov. 14 – Nov. 20 Kiki Vandeweghe (Denver Nuggets)
Nov. 21 – Nov. 27 Mark Aguirre (Dallas Mavericks)
Nov. 28 – Dec. 4 Rickey Green (Utah Jazz)
Dec. 5 – Dec. 11 Jeff Ruland (Washington Bullets)
Dec. 12 – Dec. 18 Adrian Dantley (Utah Jazz)
Dec. 19 – Dec. 26 Dan Roundfield (Atlanta Hawks)
Dec. 27 – Jan. 2 Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons)
Jan. 3 – Jan. 8 Purvis Short (Golden State Warriors)
Jan. 9 – Jan. 15 Kelly Tripucka (Detroit Pistons)
Jan. 16 – Jan. 22 Buck Williams (New Jersey Nets)
Jan. 31 – Feb. 5 Bernard King (New York Knicks)
Feb. 6 – Feb. 12 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)
Feb. 13 – Feb. 19 Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
Feb. 20 – Feb. 26 Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
Feb. 27 – Mar. 4 Mickey Johnson (Golden State Warriors)
Mar. 5 – Mar. 11 Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
Mar. 12 – Mar. 18 Adrian Dantley (Utah Jazz)
Mar. 19 – Mar. 25 Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers)
Mar. 26 – Apr. 1 Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons)
Apr. 2 – Apr. 8 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)
Apr. 9 – Apr. 15 Dominique Wilkins (Atlanta Hawks)

Player of the month[]

The following players were named NBA Player of the Month.

Month Player
November Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
December Jeff Ruland (Washington Bullets)
January Mark Aguirre (Dallas Mavericks)
February Bernard King (New York Knicks)
March Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)

Rookie of the month[]

The following players were named NBA Rookie of the Month.

Month Rookie
November Ralph Sampson (Houston Rockets)
December Ralph Sampson (Houston Rockets)
January Ralph Sampson (Houston Rockets)
February Ralph Sampson (Houston Rockets)
March Ralph Sampson (Houston Rockets)

Coach of the month[]

The following coaches were named NBA Coach of the Month.

Month Coach
November Dick Motta (Dallas Mavericks)
December Frank Layden (Utah Jazz)
January K.C. Jones (Boston Celtics)
February Chuck Daly (Detroit Pistons)
March Jack Ramsay (Portland Trail Blazers)

References[]

  1. ^ Feldman, Dan (March 31, 2019). "Spurs match record by making playoffs 22nd straight year". NBC Sports. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
Retrieved from ""