An Alternate history of the NBA and ABA from 1969

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

So, not the American Bar Association, eh?

 

[durante]

So, not the American Bar Association, eh?

Not until he retires.

 

[Jezza1998]

The 1973-74 season would be the last season with 2 leagues as the Oscar Robertson suit was settled in early 1974 after a compromise bill was settled between the Owners and the Players with the help of the US Senate as there was not yet unrestricted free agency as there is now but there would have to be compensation offered if a team signed another team’s player. With that settled the 2 leagues merged in April 1974 with 6 teams being accepted into the NBA there were the New York Nets, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets who changed their name from the Rockets at the end of the 74 season, Utah Stars, San Antonio Spurs and the Kentucky Colonels with all of the other teams being bought out and all of the players from those teams being placed in a dispersal draft to be allocated to all of the other teams in the NBA.

The terms of the merger included

• The new teams' arrival was treated as an expansion, not a merger. The six remaining ABA teams had to pay a $3.2 million expansion fee to the NBA by September 15, 1974.
• The New York Nets were to pay an additional $4.8 million indemnity directly to their in-town rival, the New York Knicks, as compensation for "invading" the New York area.
• The four ABA teams would receive no votes related to the distribution of gate receipts or the alignment of NBA divisions for one year.
• The remaining players from all of the other ABA teams would be made available to NBA teams through a dispersal draft including the ABA teams who were included in the merger
• The 1974 NBA Draft would be available to all teams in the new NBA.
• The NBA Would adopt the 3 point line at the beginning of the 1974-75 season

As the league's had now merged the new NBA had to sign their next television contract and they decided to sign with CBS for the next 4 seasons which angered the ABC executive at the time Roone Arlidge who would take revenge.

The 1974 NBA Draft was held on the 28th May 1974 and the 6 ABA teams would be included in the draft with their picks being from 19th to 24th in the draft at the end of the 1st round and the former ABA teams got some good players in this range with Indiana still getting Billy Knight with the 21st pick and the Utah Stars getting Truck Robinson with the 22nd pick in the draft Another notable pick in this draft was of the very first high schooler to enter the NBA Moses Malone who was selected 4th overall by the Phoenix Suns as they were still looking for a center and felt he was worth the time that it would take to develop his game. Also due to these changes Philadelphila selected John Drew with the 25th pick and the Houston Rockets selected Phil Smith with the 29th pick. Milwaukee ended up taking Brian Winters with the 12th pick instead of the Lakers who with the 14th pick selected Maurice Lucas to be their new power forward.

1

4

Moses Malone

F/C

United States

Phoenix Suns

Petersburg (Vir)

1

12

Brian Winters+

G/F

United States

Milwaukee Bucks

South Carolina (Sr.)

1

14

Maurice Lucas*

F/C

United States

Los Angeles Lakers

Marquette (Jr.)

2	21	Billy Knight+	G/F	United States	Indiana Pacers	Pittsburgh (Sr.)
2	22	Truck Robinson*	F/C	United States	Utah Stars	Tennessee State (Sr.)

2

25

John Drew+

G/F

United States

Philadelphia 76ers

Gardner–Webb (Jr.)

2

29

Phil Smith*

G

United States

Houston Rockets

San Francisco (Sr.)

The dispersal draft took place on the 5th August 1974 with not many players being taken who would change the landscape of the league as it was mainly role players who comprised the teams that didn't make the NBA.


Rick Barry would be forced to leave the New York Nets due to the financial indemnity they had incurred on the Knicks and ironically after the Knicks had taken Bill Bradley over Barry in the 1965 NBA Draft they would not miss this second chance to take Barry in exchange for waiving $ 3 million of the indemnity payment.

The Lakers also don’t sign Cazzie Russell as they are rebuilding and don't want to give up future 1st round picks as they don't see any big name superstars who would be available to be traded there.

The Stars, Nuggets and Spurs would go in the western conference while the Pacers, Nets and Colonels would go in the eastern conference joining these teams was a new expansion team called the New Orleans Jazz who made a very risky trade for Pete Maravich who was an LSU legend but would certainly attract fans and so the stage was set for what would be one of the most interesting seasons in NBA History.
As for the teams who were part of the merger the Pacers had just transitioned to the George Mcginnis era with Billy Knight, Darnell Hillman and Don Buse taking over for Roger Brown, Freddie Lewis and Roger Brown the Stars were on the downswing as Zelmo Beaty would retire and the team would start to rebuild, the Nuggets had obtained Carl Scheer as GM and gotten Larry Brown as coach with Doug Moe as his assistant and a decent team with no superstar but a decent team nonetheless, the Spurs having just obtained George Gervin were on the rise, Kentucky replaced Babe McCarthy with Hubie Brown to help the Colonels reach the promised land and as for the Nets even with the loss of Barry they still had the Big 2 in Abdul-Jabbar and Erving along with a good supporting cast in Larry Kenon, John Williamson and Brian Taylor.

And the season was an interesting one to say the least as the East was very top heavy with the Nets winning 66 games even with the loss of Rick Barry winning his 1st MVP award with averages of 30, 6, 6 and 3 steals leading the league was required as Kareem and Erving both had some minor injuries and Bob McAdoo and George McGinnis teams records weren't good enough to justify winning the award and the Knicks were looking like a contender once again with the elite Frasier and Monroe backcourt it became evident that an elite big men for the Knicks was needed to contend Then it would be the Celtics, Bullets and Colonels who all would win 57 games with the Bullets getting the 2 seed, Kentucky the 3 seed which left Boston stuck in 4th position. Buffalo and New York would fill the other 2 seeds in the playoff picture in the East.

Meanwhile in the West Larry Brown introduced himself to the NBA by winning 62 games with the Nuggets and leading them to the 1st seed in the West and which enabled him to win the Coach of the Year award while the Bulls would finish with the 2nd seed with their team that was getting on in age and whose best chance at a title was probably gone by this point then it was the Spurs, Kansas City Kings which was a surprise and finally the Supersonics and Pistons.

In the West the Playoffs were a bit boring as the Nuggets made it to the finals easily beating the Supersonics and Bulls in 5 games the Bulls defeat ending their era of contention as the team was aging with Chet Walker retiring at the end of the season and with Jerry Sloan and Bob Love to follow him out the door in the near future it was time for a rebuild in Chicago.

Meanwhile in the East it was a bit more exciting as the Braves took the Celtics to 3 games in their 1st round matchup while the Knicks would beat Kentucky in 3 games and the Knicks would continue their run beating the Bullets in the 2nd round sending Oscar Robertson into retirement while the Nets would beat the Celtics ending their title defense. Time for the conference finals and after 1 season it certainly appeared as though the ABA had the better players as 3 of their teams were still in contention for an NBA title compared to only 1 NBA team and the Nets would beat the Knicks in the battle of New York with Julius Erving’s dunks firing up the opposing crowd in particular summing up the series.

And on to the 1975 NBA Finals which had a very distinct ABA feel to them as the finalists were 2 ABA teams in the Denver Nuggets and the New York Nets. These teams were also very opposite one another as Denver was a good solid team which several 2nd or 3rd tier players but no superstar whereas the Nets had 2 superstars in Erving and Abdul Jabbar and it was the Nets starpower which would enable them to win the series in 5 games with Kareem winning his 1st NBA Finals MVP Award leading the Nets to their 4th titles in 5 years.

Eastern Conference
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-New York Nets	66	16	.795	–
2	y-Washington Bullets	57	25	.694	9
3	x-Boston Celtics	57	25	.694	9
4	x-Kentucky Colonels	57	25	.694	9
5	x-New York Knicks	52	30	.633	14
6	x-Buffalo Braves	45	37	.549	21
7	Indiana Pacers	44	38	.524	22
8	Philadelphila 76ers	38	44	.463	28
9	Houston Rockets	37	45	.451	29
10	Cleveland Cavaliers	36	46	.439	30
11	Atlanta Hawks	30	52	.366	36

12

New Orleans Jazz

22

60

.268

49

#	Western Conference
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Denver Nuggets	62	20	.744	–
2	y-Chicago Bulls	46	36	.561	16
3	x-San Antonio Spurs	45	37	.548	17
4	x-Kansas City–Omaha Kings	42	40	.512	20
5	x-Seattle SuperSonics	41	41	.500	21
6	x-Detroit Pistons	39	43	.476	23
7	Portland Trail Blazers	36	46	.440	26
8	Phoenix Suns	36	46	.440	26
9	Golden State Warriors	35	47	.428	27
10	Milwaukee Bucks	34	48	.415	28
11	Utah Stars	34	48	.415	28

12

Los Angeles Lakers

30

52

.366

32

• Most Valuable Player: Rick Barry, New York Knicks
• Rookie of the Year: Marvin Barnes, Philadelphia 76ers
• Coach of the Year: Larry Brown, Denver Nuggets
• All-NBA First Team:
  • Nate Archibald, Kansas City-Omaha Kings
  • Julius Erving, New York Nets
  • Kareem Abdul Jabbar, New York Nets
  • Rick Barry, New York Knicks
  • George McGinnis, Indiana Pacers
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • John Havlicek, Boston Celtics
  • Elvin Hayes, Washington Bullets
  • Artis Gilmore, Kentucky Colonels
  • Walt Frasier, New York Knicks
  • Mack Calvin, Denver Nuggets
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Moses Malone, Phoenix Suns
  • Marvin Barnes, Philadelphia 76ers
  • Keith Wilkes, Golden State Warriors
  • Brian Winters, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Bobby Jones, Houston Rockets
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • John Havlicek – Boston Celtics
  • Paul Silas – Boston Celtics
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar- New Jersey Nets
  • Done Buse - Indiana Pacers
  • Walt Frazier – New York Knicks
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • Elvin Hayes – Washington Bullets
  • Bob Love – Chicago Bulls
  • Dave Cowens – Boston Celtics
  • Norm Van Lier – Chicago Bulls
  • Jerry Sloan - Chicago Bulls

1975 NBA All Star Game Rosters

West

Starters

PG Nate Archibald ( Kansas City Kings)

SG George Gervin ( San Antonio Spurs)

SF Ralph Simpson ( Denver Rockets)

PF Spencer Haywood ( Seattle SuperSonics)

C Swen Nater ( San Antonio Spurs)

Bench

PG Mack Calvin ( Denver Rockets)

SG James Silas ( San Antonio Spurs)

SG Ron Boone ( Utah Stars)

SF Bob Dandridge ( Milwaukee Bucks)

PF Sidney Wicks ( Portland Trail Blazers)

PF Bob Lanier Detroit Pistons)

C Moses Malone ( Phoenix Suns)


East

Starters

PG Walt Frasier ( New York Knicks)

SG Rick Barry ( New York Knicks)

SF Julius Erving ( New York Nets)

PF Bob McAdoo ( Buffalo Braves)

C Kareem Abdul Jabbar ( New York Nets)

Bench

PG Freddie Lewis ( Indiana Pacers)

SG Louie Dampier ( Kentucky Colonels)

SF John Havlicek ( Boston Celtics)

PF George Mcginnis ( Indiana Pacers)

PF Dan Issel ( Kentucky Colonels)

C Artis Gilmore ( Kentucky Colonels)

C Dave Cowens ( Boston Celtics)

Western Conference​

Champion: Denver Nuggets


Western Conference First Round

(4) Kansas City Kings vs. (5) Seattle Super Sonics: Super Sonics win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Kansas City: Kansas City 112, Seattle 103
• Game 2 @ Seattle: Seattle 122, Kansas City 117
• Game 3 @ Kansas City: Seattle 112, Kansas City 108

(3) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Detroit Pistons: Spurs win series 2-0

• Game 1 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 122, Detroit 107
• Game 2 @ Detroit: San Antonio 126, Detroit 120

Western Conference Semifinals

(1) Denver Nuggets vs. (5) Seattle Super Sonics: Nuggets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Denver: Denver 122, Seattle 107
• Game 2 @ Denver: Denver 126, Seattle 120
• Game 3 @ Seattle: Denver 122, Seattle 108
• Game 4 @ Seattle: Seattle 132, Denver 110
• Game 5 @ Denver: Denver 130, Seattle 119

(2) Chicago Bulls vs. (3) San Antonio Spurs: Bulls win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ San Antonio: Chicago 122, San Antonio 119
• Game 2 @ San Antonio: Chicago 98, San Antonio 93
• Game 3 @ Chicago: Chicago 113, San Antonio 103
• Game 4 @ Chicago: San Antonio 110, Chicago 109
• Game 5 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 123, Chicago 117
• Game 6 @ Chicago: Chicago 115, San Antonio 100

Western Conference Finals

(1) Denver Nuggets vs. (2) Chicago Bulls: Nuggets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Denver: Denver 131, Chicago 128
• Game 2 @ Denver: Denver 131, Chicago 124
• Game 3 @ Chicago: Chicago 118, Denver 112
• Game 4 @ Chicago: Denver 126, Chicago 109
• Game 5 @ Denver: Denver 109, Chicago 90

Eastern Conference​

Champion: New York Nets

Eastern Conference First Round

(4) Kentucky Colonels vs. (5) New York Knicks : Knicks win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 108, New York 100
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 118, Kentucky 112
• Game 3 @ Kentucky: New York 100, Kentucky 97

(3) Boston Celtics vs. (6) Buffalo Braves: Celtics win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 102, Buffalo 97
• Game 2 @ Buffalo: Buffalo 112, Boston 87
• Game 3 @ Boston: Boston 98, Buffalo 96

Eastern Conference Semifinals

(2) Washington Bullets vs. (5) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 4–0

• Game 1 @ Washington: New York 98, Washington 91
• Game 2 @ Washington: New York 119, Washington 105
• Game 3 @ New York: New York 101, Washington 80
• Game 4 @ New York: New York 107, Washington 93

(1) New York Nets vs. (3) Boston Celtics : Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ New York: Boston 111, New York 105
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 115, Boston 97
• Game 3 @ Boston: New York 113, Boston 108
• Game 4 @ Boston: New York 100, Boston 89
• Game 5 @ New York: New York 108, Boston 107

Eastern Conference Finals

(1) New York Nets vs. (5) New York Knicks: Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ New York: New York Nets 112, New York Knicks 109
• Game 2 @ New York: New York Nets 108, New York Knicks 103
• Game 3 @ New York: New York Knicks 103, New York Nets 97
• Game 4 @ New York: New York Nets 117, New York Knicks 98
• Game 5 @ New York: New York Nets 123, New York Knicks 103

NBA Finals​

(1) New York Nets VS. (1) Denver Nuggets : Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 (May 13) @New York: New York 120, Denver 94
• Game 2 (May 15) @ New York: New York 95, Denver 93
• Game 3 (May 18) @ Denver: New York 109, Denver 101
• Game 4 (May 19) @ Denver: Denver 94, New York 86
• Game 5 (May 22) @ New York: New York 110, Denver 105

 

[durante]

Three point line this early is a huge win for the fans ITTL. Might we see the extreme long ball game develop earlier???

 

[Unknown]

You mixed up Pacers and Bulls--good update, though, other than that...

 

[Jezza1998]

You mixed up Pacers and Bulls--good update, though, other than that...

Thank you for noticing that I was in a bit of a rush to upload it and didn't notice 1 or 2 things

 

[Unknown]

Does Wendell Ladner's 1975 death get butterflied away? In OTL, he died in the crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 66, which occurred on June 24, 1975--here's more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Ladner and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines_Flight_66...

In OTL, he was identified by his ABA championship ring...

 

[Jezza1998]

Does Wendell Ladner's 1975 death get butterflied away? In OTL, he died in the crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 66, which occurred on June 24, 1975--here's more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Ladner and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines_Flight_66...

In OTL, he was identified by his ABA championship ring...

Unfortunately no that still happens as per OTL though he is now a 2 time champion with the NY Nets 1 with the ABA and 1 with the NBA and his number is formally retired by the Nets to pay tribute to him though I am thinking of butterflying away another players death down the track which could potentially have a major effect on the NBA

 

[Jezza1998]

For the 2nd season in the new NBA changes in league position and the earlier merger of the two league ensured that the draft order would be different but the big winners of the 1975 draft were the Atlanta Hawks who with the 1st pick from the Pete Maravich trade and their own pick which was 3rd they would still take David Thompson and Marvin Webster and actually keep both of them other changes in the draft were that the Utah Stars would get Alvin Adams as their new center, Lionel Hollins would go to Milwaukee while Darryl Dawkins went to Golden State and Junior Bridgeman would start his career in Portland. Due to their being more teams in the league each round would now consist of 24 picks and that enabled Kentucky to select Gus Williams with the 19th and Denver to get World B Free with the 23rd pick and Milwaukee would strengthen their frontcourt by drafting Dan Roundfield with the 28th pick,

1	4	Alvan Adams+	F/C	United States	Utah Stars	Oklahoma (Jr.)
1	5	Darryl Dawkins	C	United States	Golden State Warriors	Maynard Evans HS (Florida) (HS Sr.)
1	6	Lionel Hollins+	G	United States	Milwaukee Bucks	Arizona State (Sr.)

1

8

Junior Bridgeman

G/F

United States

Portland Trail Blazers

Louisville (Sr.)

1

20

Gus Williams*

G

United States

Kentucky Colonels

USC (Sr.)

1

23

Lloyd Free*[1]

G

United States

Denver Nuggets

Guilford (Jr.)

2

28

Dan Roundfield*

F/C

United States

Milwaukee Bucks

Central Michigan (Sr.)

This was a season of surprises as even though Denver and New Jersey were once again the favourites a bunch of new teams came to contend as Cleveland in the East in addition to San Antonio and Seattle in the West did very well in the regular season although they wouldn’t make it too far in the playoffs. The Nets would end this season by winning 64 games with Kareem once again being named as the league's MVP as the Nets would once again claim the 1st seed in the East with Boston, Kentucky, Cleveland, Indiana and Kentucky. The Nuggets would win 52 games as the absence of both Dan Issel and David Thompson severely hindered their season but still claimed the 1st seed in the West with San Antonio, Seattle, Milwaukee, Phoenix and Portland behind them in the Western Conference.

In the West playoffs the Supersonics would beat the Trailblazers and the Suns would beat the Bucks as Paul Westphal went off, then the Nuggets would be defeated by the Suns in an upset and would meet the Spurs in the Conference finals as they beat Seattle beat Phoenix's heroic run would end there as the Spurs would make their 1st finals series where they would meet the Nets who beat the Cavaliers and Celtics. The Nets would defeat another ex NBA team to win title in San Antonio this time in 5 games as they had no answer for Abdul-Jabbar who won his 5th regular season MVP and his 2nd NBA Finals MVP to go along with his 2 ABA Finals MVP awards.

Eastern Conference
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-New Jersey Nets	64	18	.780	–
2	y-Boston Celtics	54	28	.646	10
3	x-Kentucky Colonels	52	30	.622	12
4	x-Washington Bullets	50	32	.598	14
5	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	48	34	.586	16
6	x-Indiana Pacers	45	37	.549	19
7	Buffalo Braves	44	38	.536	20
8	New York Knicks	43	39	.500	21
9	Philadelphia 76ers	37	45	.451	27
10	Atlanta Hawks	36	46	.439	28
11	Houston Rockets	35	47	.427	29

12

New Orleans Jazz

30

52

.367

34

#	Western Conference
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Denver Nuggets	52	30	.645	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	48	34	.561	4
3	x-Seattle SuperSonics	43	39	.524	9
4	x-Milwaukee Bucks	42	40	.512	10
5	x-Phoenix Suns	40	42	.488	12
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	38	44	.464	14
7	Detroit Pistons	36	46	.440	16
8	Golden State Warriors	36	46	.440	16
9	Kansas City Kings	35	47	.428	17
10	Los Angeles Lakers	34	48	.415	18
11	Utah Stars	33	49	.402	19

12

Chicago Bulls

24

58

.306

28

• Most Valuable Player: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
• Rookie of the Year: David Thompson, Atlanta Hawks
• Coach of the Year: Bill Fitch, Cleveland Cavaliers
• NBA All-Star Game MVP: Dave Bing
• All-NBA First Team:
  • Julius Erving, New Jersey Nets
  • George McGinnis, Indiana Pacers
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
  • Nate Archibald, Kansas City Kings
  • Pete Maravich, New Orleans Jazz
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • Elvin Hayes, Washington Bullets
  • John Havlicek, Boston Celtics
  • Artis Gilmore, Kentucky Colonels
  • David Thompson, Atlanta Hawks
  • George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • World B Free, Denver Nuggets
  • Alvan Adams, Utah Stars
  • Lionel Hollins, Portland Trail Blazers
  • David Thompson, Atlanta Hawks
  • Gus Williams, Kentucky Colonels
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Paul Silas, Boston Celtics
  • John Havlicek, Boston Celtics
  • Artis Gilmore, Kentucky Colonels
  • Don Buse, Indiana Pacers
  • Slick Watts, Seattle SuperSonics
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics
  • Jamaal Wilkes, Golden State Warriors
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,New Jersey Nets
  • Jim Cleamons, Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Phil Smith, Houston Rockets

1976 NBA All Star Game Lineups

West

Starters

PG Nate Archibald Kansas City Kings

SG James Silas San Antonio Spurs

SF George Gervin San Antonio Spurs

PF Maurice Lucas Los Angeles Lakers

C Bob Lanier Detroit Pistons


Bench

PG Ron Boone Utah Stars

SG Fred Brown Seattle SuperSonics

SG Brian Winters Milwaukee Bucks

SF Jamaal Wilkes Golden State Warriors

SF Ralph Simpson Denver Nuggets

SF Bob Dandridge Milwaukee Bucks

PF Curtis Rowe Detroit Pistons

C Alvin Adams Utah Stars


East

Starters

PG Dave Bing Washington Bullets

SG Rick Barry New York Knicks

SF Julius Erving New York Nets

PF Bob McAdoo Buffalo Braves

C Kareem Abdul Jabbar New York Nets

Bench

PG Brian Taylor New York Nets

SG Walt Frasier New York Knicks

SG Doug Collins Philadelphila 76ers

SF John Havlicek Boston Celtics

PF George McGinnis Indiana Pacers

PF Dan Issel Kentucky Colonels

C Dave Cowens Boston Celtics

Western Conference​

Champion: San Antonio Spurs


Western Conference Quarterfinals
(3) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers: Sonics win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Seattle: Seattle 95,Portland 89
• Game 2 @ Portland: Portland 131, Seattle 106
• Game 3 @ Seattle: Seattle 124, Portland 123

(4) Milwaukee Bucks vs (5) Phoenix Suns : Suns win series 2-1

• Game 1 @ Milwaukee: Milwaukee 105, Phoenix 92
• Game 2 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 111, Milwaukee 106
• Game 3 @ Milwaukee: Phoenix 108, Milwaukee 97

Western Conference Semifinals

(1) Denver Nuggets vs. (5) Phoenix Suns: Suns win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Denver: Denver 102, Phoenix 99
• Game 2 @ Denver: Phoenix 116, Denver 111
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 103, Denver 91
• Game 4 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 130, Denver 114
• Game 5 @ Denver: Denver 114, Phoenix 108
• Game 6 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 123, Denver 112

(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (3) Seattle SuperSonics: Spurs win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 122, Seattle 119
• Game 2 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 98, Seattle 93
• Game 3 @ Seattle: Seattle 113, San Antonio 103
• Game 4 @ Seattle: San Antonio 110, Seattle 109
• Game 5 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 123, Seattle 117

Western Conference Finals

(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (3) Phoenix Suns: Spurs win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 116, Phoenix 101
• Game 2 @ San Antonio: Phoenix 105, San Antonio 79
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 111, San Antonio 103
• Game 4 @ Phoenix: San Antonio 110, Phoenix 108
• Game 5 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 110, Phoenix 108
• Game 6 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 115, San Antonio 110
• Game 7 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 121, Phoenix 114

Eastern Conference​

Champion: New York Nets


Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

(3) Kentucky Colonels VS. (6) Indiana Pacers: Colonels win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Louisville: Kentucky 120, Indiana 94
• Game 2 @ Indianapolis: Indiana 95, Kentucky 93
• Game 3 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 109, Indiana 101

(4) Washington Bullets vs. (5) Cleveland Cavaliers: Cavaliers win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Washington: Washington 100, Cleveland 95
• Game 2 @ Cleveland: Cleveland 80, Washington 75
• Game 3 @ Washington: Cleveland 87, Washington 85

Eastern Conference Semifinals


(1) New York Nets vs. (5) Cleveland Cavaliers: Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ New York: New York 98, Cleveland 91
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 119, Cleveland 105
• Game 3 @ Cleveland: New York 101, Cleveland 80
• Game 4 @ Cleveland: Cleveland 107, New York 93
• Game 5 @ New York: New York 111,Cleveland 99

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Kentucky Colonels: Celtics win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 98, Kentucky 87
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 105, Kentucky 90
• Game 3 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 105, Boston 90
• Game 4 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 105, Boston 98
• Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 128, Kentucky 126
• Game 6 @ Kentucky: Boston 87, Kentucky 80

Eastern Conference Finals

(1) New York Nets vs. (2) Boston Celtics: Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ New York: New York 112, Boston 109
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 108, Boston 103
• Game 3 @ Boston: Boston 103, Boston 97
• Game 4 @ Boston: New York 117, Boston 98
• Game 5 @ New York: New York 123, Boston 103

NBA Finals​

(E1) New York Nets VS. (W2) San Antonio Spurs: Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ New York: New York 120, San Antonio 118
• Game 2 @ New York: San Antonio 127, New York 121
• Game 3 @ San Antonio: New York 117, San Antonio 111
• Game 4 @ San Antonio: New York 121, San Antonio 112
• Game 5 @ New York: New York 118, San Antonio 110

 

[AltSptHst]

Where is Bill Walton? Is he getting injured all the time like in OTL?

 

[Jezza1998]

Where is Bill Walton? Is he getting injured all the time like in OTL?

Walton's career is following OTL though whether Portland's run in 77 remains to be seen with the Nets building a dynasty as well as Portland's supporting cast being weaker with the absence of Maurice Lucas and Lionel Hollins

 

[Jezza1998]

The big question in the NBA at the start of the 1977 season could be the New Jersey Nets run of championships come to an end and if so who by there would be the usual suspects and some new teams who would come up to challenge the Nets dominance but first to the 1976 NBA Draft.

In this draft the Buffalo Braves got the 1st overall pick as they owned New Orleans’s pick and would take point guard John Lucas with that pick with the 6th pick the Kansas City Kings lucked into future scoring champions Adrian Dantley and Robert Parish would end up on the New York Knicks to play alongside Spencer Haywood for a rejuvenated Knicks who would retain their draft pick in this TL Parish would be used as piece in the Bob Mcadoo trade to the Knicks. Boston would luck out by taking Alex English with the 23rd pick, Lonnie Shelton would find himself in Georgia as part of the Atlanta Hawks who took him with the 25th pick and Future finals MVP Dennis Johnson was picked 30th by Kansas City Kings.

Round	Pick	Player	Pos.	Nationality	Team	School/club team
1	1	John Lucas	G	United States	Buffalo Braves (from New Orleans)[a]	Maryland (Sr.)

1

6

Adrian Dantley^

G/F

United States

Kansas City Kings

1

8

Robert Parish^

C

United States

New York Knicks

Centenary (Sr.)

1

23

Alex English^

F

United States

Boston Celtics

South Carolina (Sr.)

2

25

Lonnie Shelton+

F/C

United States

Atlanta Hawks ( from New Orleans)

Oregon State (Jr.)

2

29

Dennis Johnson^

G

United States

Kansas City Kings

Pepperdine (Sr.)

One notable free agency signing which would become very important in the next few years was that New Orleans still signed Gail Goodrich from the Los Angeles Lakers and gave them their next 3 1st round picks.

A lot of teams records changed this season due to the different moves that they had moved as the Nets, Suns, Hawks and Knicks all changed for the better while the Lakers, Bucks, Warriors and 76ers all changed for the worst with the Nets once again getting the 1st seed in the East with Washington, Kentucky, Boston, New York and Atlanta filling the playoff picture in the East whilst in the West Portland topped the standings with Denver, San Antonio, Detroit, Kansas and Seattle all having a chance at the title.


In the East it would once again be the Nets to make the finals with the Bullets being the victim in the East finals after beating Kentucky to make it to that point, meanwhile in the West a legitimate challenger to Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s status as best center in the league finally arrived as Bill Walton finally started to fulfill his limitless potential as Portland would make their first NBA Finals appearance after beating Kansas City and San Antonio to make it that far with Lenny Wilkens as Coach and a decent supporting cast containing Sidney Wicks, Junior Bridgeman and Geoff Petrie there was a feeling that Portland might be around for years to come and even though the Nets would beat them in 6 with this time Erving winning the Award for Finals MVP as Walton and Kareem canceled each other out and Erving had a field day it was thought at the time that the NBA would see a lot more of Bill Walton and this Portland team that would show that this was as good as it got for both player and franchise for the next few years.

Eastern Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-New Jersey Nets	61	21	.756	–
2	y-Washington Bullets	49	33	.598	12
3	x-Kentucky Colonels	48	34	.585	13
4	x-Boston Celtics	44	38	.537	17
5	x-New York Knicks	42	40	.525	19
6-	x-Atlanta Hawks	41	41	.500	20
7	Indiana Pacers	40	42	.488	21
8	Cleveland Cavaliers	37	45	.451	24
9	Houston Rockets	37	45	.451	24
10	Buffalo Braves	36	46	.439	25
11	Philadelphila 76ers	34	48	.415	27

12

New Orleans Jazz

30

52

.367

31

#	Western Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Portland Trail Blazers	52	30	.634	–
2	y-Denver Nuggets	48	34	.586	4
3	x-San Antonio Spurs	48	34	.586	4
4	x-Detroit Pistons	46	36	.561	6
5	x-Kansas City Kings	44	38	.537	8
6	x- Seattle SuperSonics	44	38	.537	8
7	Los Angeles Lakers	40	42	.488	12
8	Phoenix Suns	40	42	.488	12
9	Chicago Bulls	36	46	.439	16
10	Golden State Warriors	34	48	.415	18
11	Milwaukee Bucks	30	52	.366	22

12

Utah Stars

28

54

.343

24

• Most Valuable Player: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
• Rookie of the Year: Adrian Dantley, Kansas City Kings
• Coach of the Year: Jack Ramsey, Portland Trail Blazers
• All-NBA First Team:
  • Pete Maravich, New Orleans Jazz
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
  • David Thompson, Atlanta Hawks
  • Paul Westphal, Phoenix Suns
  • Elvin Hayes, Washington Bullets
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • Julius Erving, New Jersey Nets
  • George McGinnis, Indiana Pacers
  • Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers
  • George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs
  • Jo Jo White, Boston Celtics
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • John Lucas, Houston Rockets
  • Mitch Kupchak, Washington Bullets
  • Scott May, Chicago Bulls
  • Adrian Dantley, Kansas City Kings
  • Ron Lee, Phoenix Suns
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Bobby Jones, Houston Rockets
  • E.C. Coleman, New Orleans Jazz
  • Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers
  • Don Buse, Indiana Pacers
  • Norm Van Lier, Chicago Bulls
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • Jim Brewer, Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Jamaal Wilkes, Golden State Warriors
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
  • Brian Taylor, New Jersey Nets
  • Don Chaney, Los Angeles Lakers

1977 NBA All Star Game Rosters


Western Conference


Starters

PG Norm Van Lier (Chicago Bulls)

SG Paul Westphal ( Phoenix Suns)

SF George Gervin ( San Antonio Spurs)

PF Maurice Lucas ( Los Angeles Lakers)

C Bob Lanier ( Detroit Pistons)

Bench

PG Tiny Archibald ( Kansas City Kings)

SG Phil Smith ( Golden State Warriors)

SG Ron Boone ( Kansas City Kings)

SF Bob Dandridge ( Milwaukee Bucks

PF Truck Robinson ( Utah Stars)

C Moses Malone ( Phoenix Suns)

C Billy Paultz ( San Antonio Spurs)


Eastern Conference

Starters

PG Pete Maravich ( New Orleans Jazz)

SG David Thompson ( Atlanta Hawks)

SF Julius Erving ( New York Nets)

PF George McGinnis ( Indiana Pacers)

C Kareem Abdul Jabbar ( New York Nets)

Bench

PG Jo Jo White ( Boston Celtics)

SG Doug Collins ( Philadelphia 76ers)

SF Billy Knight ( Indiana Pacers)

SF Rick Barry ( New York Nets)

PF Elvin Hayes ( Washington Bullets)

C Artis Gilmore ( Kentucky Colonels)

C Bob McAdoo ( New York Knicks)

Western Conference​

Champion: Portland Trail Blazers


Western Conference Quarterfinals

(3) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Seattle Super Sonics: Spurs win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 96,Seattle 83
• Game 2 @ Seattle: Seattle 107, San Antonio 104
• Game 3 @ San Antonio: Portland 106, Chicago 98

(4) Detroit Pistons vs (5) Kansas City Kings : Kings win series 2-1

• Game 1 @ Detroit: Detroit 95, Kansas City 92
• Game 2 @ Kansas City: Kansas City138, Detroit 108
• Game 3 @ Detroit: Kansas City 109, Detroit 101

Western Conference Semifinals

(1) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (5) Kansas City Kings: Trail Blazers win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Portland: Portland 101, Kansas City 100
• Game 2 @ Portland: Kansas City 121, Portland 110
• Game 3 @ Kansas City: Portland 110, Kansas City 96
• Game 4 @ Kansas City: Portland 105, Kansas City 96
• Game 5 @ Portland: Kansas City 114, Portland 105 ( OT)
• Game 6 @ Kansas City: Portland 108, Kansas City 92

(2) Denver Nuggets vs. (3) San Antonio Spurs : Spurs win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Denver: Denver 115, San Antonio 106
• Game 2 @ Denver: Denver 95, San Antonio 86
• Game 3 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 109, Denver 105
• Game 4 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 114, Denver 103
• Game 5 @ Denver: Denver 112, San Antonio 105
• Game 6 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 115, San Antonio 106
• Game 7 @ Denver: San Antonio 97, Denver 84

Western Conference Finals

(1) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (3) San Antonio Spurs: Trail Blazers win series 4–0

• Game 1 @ Portland: Portland 121, San Antonio 109
• Game 2 @ Portland: Portland 99, San Antonio 97
• Game 3 @ San Antonio: Portland 102, San Antonio 97
• Game 4 @ San Antonio: Portland 105, San Antonio 101

Eastern Conference​

Champion: New York Nets


Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

(3) Kentucky Colonels VS. (6) Atlanta Hawks : Colonels win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Louisville: Kentucky 109, Atlanta 100
• Game 2 @ Atlanta: Atlanta 91, Kentucky 83
• Game 3 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 104, Atlanta 98

(4) Boston Celtics vs. (5) New York Knicks : Knicks win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 104, New York 102 Jo Jo White Buzzer Beater
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 80, Boston 109
• Game 3 @ Boston: New York 107, Boston 99

Eastern Conference Semifinals


(1) New York Nets vs. (5) New York Knicks: Nets win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ New York: New York Nets 113, New York Knicks 101
• Game 2 @ New York : New York Knicks 109, New York Nets 100
• Game 3 @ New York : New York Nets 113, New York Knicks 111
• Game 4 @ New York : New York Knicks 124, New York Nets 119
• Game 5 @ New York: New York Nets 110,New York Knicks 91
• Game 6 @ New York: New York Knicks 113,New York Nets 108
• Game 7 @ New York: New York Nets 83,New York Knicks 77

(2) Washington Bullets vs. (3) Kentucky Colonels: Bullets win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Washington: Washington 111, Kentucky 101
• Game 2 @ Washington: Washington 124, Kentucky 118 (OT)
• Game 3 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 93, Washington 90
• Game 4 @ Kentucky: Washington 107, Kentucky 103
• Game 5 @ Washington: Kentucky 128, Washington 115
• Game 6 @ Kentucky: Washington 108, Kentucky 103

Eastern Conference Finals

(1) New York Nets vs. (2) Washington Bullets : Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ New York: New York 128, Washington 117
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 106, Washington 97
• Game 3 @ Washington: Washington 118, New York 94
• Game 4 @ Washington: New York 107, Washington 95
• Game 5 @ New York: New York 112, Washington 103

NBA Finals​

(E1) New York Nets VS. (W1) Portland Trail Blazers : Nets win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ New York: New York 113, Portland 97
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 107, Portland 89
• Game 3 @ Portland: Portland 123, New York 113 Bill Walton's two famous plays of tipping the ball against Kareem Abdul Jabbar off an alley-oop from Bob Gross, then dunking the ball off of Dave Twardzik's steal and alley-oop pass.
• Game 4 @ Portland: Portland 120, New York 108 Bill Walton's famous dunk on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
• Game 5 @ New York: New York 114, Portland 104
• Game 6 @ Portland: New York 109, Portland 107

 

[Jezza1998]

Life in the NBA went on and the 1977 Draft was the first order of business with the Utah Stars getting the 1st pick and as they already had Truck Robinson and Alvin Adams they would select Otis Birdsong with the 1st pick in the draft to continue their rebuild, with the 2nd pick the Lakers who owned New Orleans’s pick would take Kent Benson from Indiana University, Milwaukee still gets Marques Johnson this time with their own pick as Swen Nater is still in San Antonio, Greg Ballard would go to Washington as Philadelphila would trade him away for Kevin Porter which left Walter Davis to call Oakland home as the Warriors would pick him at 5. After Kenny Carr was selected at 6 by Chicago, Bernard King would be taken 7th by the Buffalo Braves and Jack Sikma would be selected at 8 by the Rockets. Other notable picks included Rickey Green to Kansas and Norm Nixon to Washington to replace Kevin Porter.

1

1

Otis Birdsong*

G

United States

Utah Stars

Houston (Sr.)

1

2

Kent Benson

C

United States

Los Angeles Lakers (from New Orleans)

Indiana (Sr.)

1

3

Marques Johnson*

G/F

United States

Milwaukee Bucks

UCLA (Sr.)

1

4

Greg Ballard

F

United States

Washington Bullets (from Philadelphila)[c]

Oregon (Sr.)

1

5

Walter Davis*

G/F

United States

Golden State Warriors

North Carolina (Sr.)

1

6

Kenny Carr

F

United States

Chicago Bulls

NC State (Jr.)

1

7

Bernard King^

F

United States

Buffalo Braves

Tennessee (Jr.)

1

8

Jack Sikma^

F/C

United States

Houston Rockets

Illinois Wesleyan (Sr.)

1

16

Rickey Green+

G

United States

Kansas City Kings

Michigan (Sr.)

1

22

Norm Nixon+

G

United States

Washington Bullets

Duquesne (Sr.)

After the draft came free agency and this would be the start of a new era as Free Agency would start to gain traction throughout the league with Jamaal Wilkes to the Lakers and Bob Dandrige to the Bullets the two main offseason moves.

The main story of the 1978 season was of the increasing amount of violence which culminated in an incident forever known as the Punch. But before that incident took place the league’s best player Kareem Abdul Jabbar was suspended for 8 games along with missing an additional 2 months for breaking his hand when he punched Lakers rookie Kent Benson after Benson elbowed him in the stomach. Due to that incident the Nets failed to play up to their standards and would only win 56 games in the regular season which wasn’t the best record in the league as that belonged to the Portland Trail Blazers who had a blistering start to the season and were 50-10 before injuries to Geoff Petrie and Bill Walton ended Portland’s run as quickly as it began and even though that would still end up with the best record in the league at 57-25 they had a mountain to climb to get back to the NBA finals.

In the West it would be the Blazers in the 1 seed with San Antonio, Phoenix, Denver, Los Angeles and Milwaukee in the playoffs whilst in the Eastern Conference it would be the Nets in pole position with Kentucky, Houston, Washington, Atlanta and the Knicks who would contend for the 78 title.

In the west the Suns would eliminate the Bucks, while the Lakers would defeat the Nuggets and force the end of Larry Brown’s coaching tenure in Denver. In the 2nd round the Blazers would be defeated by the Lakers as both Walton and Petrie had injures reoccur that would mean the end of their time in Portland in one case and the end of their career in the other case. In the other matchup San Antonio would defeat Phoenix as Moses Malone was still maturing into the player that he would end up becoming. In the conference finals the Lakers run would come to an end as the San Antonio Spurs would make their 2nd NBA Finals appearance and the Iceman would be in the NBA Finals.

As for the East in the 1st round New York would beat Atlanta in 3 games and the Bullets would beat the Rockets as the Bullets thought that this would be their best chance in their quest for a 2nd NBA championship. Those hopes would unfortunately be dashed by New Jersey as even though they had some fatigue from the last few seasons the Nets would still beat the Bullets and would advance to the conference finals once again where they would meet the Kentucky Colonels with Gus Wiliams in particular playing very well having ended Rick Barry’s time in New York in 6 games . In the conference finals a surprise would take place as the Nets would be defeated by the Kentucky Colonels in 6 games as Artis Gilmore would play the series of his life and the dip in intensity and the Colonels' big man duo would be enough to end the Nets quest for 4 consecutive NBA titles.

So for the 1978 NBA Finals it would be the San Antonio Spurs against the Kentucky Colonels, two teams who were both from the old ABA but with two diametrically opposed styles as the Spurs had more of an ABA style while Kentucky played more on a traditional NBA style with 2 elite big men. It was due to Dan Issel and Artis Gilmore the two elite big men that the Kentucky Colonels would win the 1978 NBA championship in 7 games as their playoff experience and so many near misses would finally pay off for them as Hubie Brown would win his first NBA title as a coach with Artis Gilmore being named the Finals MVP.

Eastern Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-New Jersey Nets	53	29	.646	–
2	y-Kentucky Colonels	52	30	.634	1
3	X- New York Knicks	47	35	.573	6
4	x-Washington Bullets	43	39	.524	10
5	X- Houston Rockets	43	39	.524	11
6	x-Atlanta Hawks	41	41	.500	12
7	Buffalo Braves	39	43	.476	14
8	Indiana Pacers	37	45	.451	16
9	Cleveland Cavaliers	36	46	.377	17
10	Boston Celtics	30	52	.317	23
11	New Orleans Jazz	29	53	.305	24

12

Philadelphila 76ers

28

54

.343

25

#	Western Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Portland Trail Blazers	57	25	.695	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	53	29	.647	4
3	x-Phoenix Suns	47	35	.574	10
4	x-Denver Nuggets	47	35	.573	11
5	x-Los Angeles Lakers	45	37	.549	13
6	x-Milwaukee Bucks	44	38	.537	14
7	Golden State Warriors	37	45	.427	20
8	Chicago Bulls	35	47	.403	22
9	Detroit Pistons	34	48	.391	23
10	Seattle Supersonics	34	48	.378	23
11	Kansas City Kings	33	49	.378	24

12

Utah Stars

32

50

.366

25

• Most Valuable Player: Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers
• Rookie of the Year: Walter Davis, Golden State Warriors
• Coach of the Year: John Macleod, Phoenix Suns
• All-NBA First Team:
  • Julius Erving, New Jersey Nets
  • Truck Robinson, Utah Stars
  • Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers
  • George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs
  • David Thompson, Atlanta Hawks
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • Walter Davis, Golden State Warriors
  • Maurice Lucas, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
  • Paul Westphal, Phoenix Suns
  • Pete Maravich, New Orleans Jazz
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Bernard King, New York Knicks
  • Marques Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Jack Sikma, Houston Rockets
  • Norm Nixon, Washington Bullets
  • Walter Davis, Golden State Warriors
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Bobby Jones, Houston Rockets
  • Maurice Lucas, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers
  • Lionel Hollins, Kansas City Kings
  • Don Buse, Phoenix Suns
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • E.C. Coleman, Golden State Warriors
  • Bob Gross, Portland Trail Blazers
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,New Jersey Nets (tie)
  • Artis Gilmore,Kentucky Colonels (tie)
  • Norm Van Lier, Chicago Bulls
  • Quinn Buckner, Milwaukee Bucks

1978 NBA All Star Game


West


Starters

PG Paul Westphal ( Phoenix Suns)

SG George Gervin ( San Antonio Spurs)

SF Walter Davis ( Golden State Warriors)

PF Maurice Lucas (Los Angeles Lakers)

C Bill Walton ( Portland Trail Blazers)


Bench

PG Lionel Hollins ( Milwaukee Bucks)

SG Brian Winters ( Milwaukee Bucks)

SF Junior Bridgeman ( Portland Trail Blazers)

PF Truck Robinson ( Utah Stars)

C Moses Malone (Phoenix Suns)

C Bob Lanier ( Detroit Pistons)


East


Starters

PG David Thompson ( Atlanta Hawks)

SG Rick Barry ( New York Knicks)

SF Julius Erving ( New York Nets)

PF Bobby Jones ( Houston Rockets)

C Artis Gilmore ( Kentucky Colonels)


Bench


PG Doug Collins ( Philadelphia 76ers)

SG Randy Smith ( Buffalo Braves)

SF John Havlicek ( Boston Celtics)

PF Elvin Hayes ( Washington Bullets)

C Dave Cowens ( Boston Celtics)

C Bob McAdoo ( New York Knicks)

Western Conference​

Champion: San Antonio Spurs


Western Conference Quarterfinals

(3) Phoenix Suns vs. (6) Milwaukee Bucks : Suns win series 2–0

• Game 1 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 111, Milwaukee 103
• Game 2 @ Milwaukee: Phoenix 94, Milwaukee 90

(4) Denver Nuggets vs (5) Los Angeles Lakers : Lakers win series 2-1

• Game 1 @ Denver: Los Angeles 102, Denver 90
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Denver 105, Los Angeles 99
• Game 3 @ Denver: Los Angeles 111, Denver 102

Western Conference Semifinals

(1) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (5) Los Angeles Lakers: Lakers win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Portland: Los Angeles 104, Portland 95
• Game 2 @ Portland: Portland 96, Los Angeles 93 Bill Walton and Geoff Petrie’s final game in a Portland Trail Blazer uniform.
• Game 3 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 99, Portland 84
• Game 4 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 100, Portland 96
• Game 5 @ Portland: Portland 110, Los Angeles 92
• Game 6 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 108, Portland 92

(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (3) Phoenix Suns : Spurs win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 115, Phoenix 106
• Game 2 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 115, Phoenix 102
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 137, San Antonio 115
• Game 4 @ Phoenix: San Antonio 114, Phoenix 103
• Game 5 @ San Antonio: Phoenix 112, San Antonio 105
• Game 6 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 115, San Antonio 106
• Game 7 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 107, Phoenix 100

Western Conference Finals

(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (5) Los Angeles Lakers: Spurs win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 116, Los Angeles 107
• Game 2 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 109, Los Angeles 107
• Game 3 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 102, San Antonio 97
• Game 4 @ Los Angeles: San Antonio 123, Los Angeles 114
• Game 5 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 123 Los Angeles 108

Eastern Conference​

Champion: Kentucky Colonels


Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

(3) New York Knicks VS. (6) Atlanta Hawks : Knicks win series 2–0

• Game 1 @ New York: New York 132, Atlanta 114
• Game 2 @ Atlanta: New York 109, Atlanta 107

(4) Washington Bullets vs. (5) Houston Rockets : Bullets win series 2–0

• Game 1 @ Washington: Washington 103 , Houston 94
• Game 2 @ Houston: Washington 107, Houston 103 (OT)

Eastern Conference Semifinals


(1) New York Nets vs. (4) Washington Bullets: Nets win series 4–0

• Game 1 @ New York: New York Nets 130, Washington Bullets 90
• Game 2 @ New York : New York Nets 119, Washington Bullets 100
• Game 3 @ Washington : New York Nets 133, Washington Bullets 121
• Game 4 @ Washington : New York Nets 124, Washington Bullets 119

(2) Kentucky Colonels vs. (3) New York Knicks : Colonels win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 114, New York 103
• Game 2 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 121, New York 117
• Game 3 @ New York: New York 118, Kentucky 105
• Game 4 @ New York: Kentucky 98, New York 95
• Game 5 @ Kentucky: New York 116, Kentucky 105
• Game 6 @ New York: Kentucky 103, New York 100

Eastern Conference Finals

(1) New York Nets vs. (2) Kentucky Colonels : Colonels win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ New York: Kentucky 122, New York 117 (OT)
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 110, Kentucky 97
• Game 3 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 123, New York 104
• Game 4 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 121, New York 105
• Game 5 @ New York: New York 107, Kentucky 94
• Game 6 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 101, New York 99

NBA Finals​

(E1) Kentucky Colonels VS. (W2) San Antonio Spurs : Colonels win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 106, San Antonio 102
• Game 2 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 106, San Antonio 98
• Game 3 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 93, Kentucky 92
• Game 4 @ San Antonio: Kentucky 120, San Antonio 116 (OT)
• Game 5 @ Kentucky: San Antonio 98, Kentucky 94
• Game 6 @ San Antonio: Kentucky 105, San Antonio 99

 

[Jezza1998]

The last season of the 70s began with the 1978 NBA Draft where there was 1 clear prospect who would have been the number 1 pick if not for the fact that he wouldn’t be available for 1 year as he was staying for senior year at Indiana State that player was of course Larry Bird but he wouldn't be the number 1 pick in the draft due to this fact. In fact the first pick of the 1978 Draft would actually be North Carolina Guard Phil Ford who was taken by the Utah Stars as they needed a point guard to help the team which looked to be on the rise. Philadelphia would take Mychal Thompson with the 2nd pick and The Celtics would then get 2 picks at 3 and 4 as they had gotten the New Orleans pick from the Lakers as they had picked up Kermit Washington after the Punch and gotten that in exchange for Charlie Scott with the 3rd pick Boston would take young big man Rick Robey while with their own pick they would still take Larry Bird and wait a year for him as he would still take Indiana State to the NCAA Championship game. Other notable picks in the draft included Purvis Short to the Warriors, Michael Ray Richardson to Kansas City to replace Tiny Archibald who had still been traded to the Braves, Reggie Theus to Milwaukee and Mike Mitchell to Washington.

1	1	Phil Fordx	G	United States	Utah Stars	North Carolina (Sr.)
1	2	Mychal Thompson	F/C	Bahamas	Philadelphia 76ers	Minnesota (Sr.)
1	4	Micheal Ray Richardson+	G/F	United States	Kansas City Kings	Montana (Sr.)

1

9

Reggie Theus+

G

United States

Milwaukee Bucks

UNLV (Jr.)

1

15

Mike Mitchell+

F

United States

Washington Bullets

Auburn (Sr.)

There were two major events that took place in the offseason involving the Portland Trail Blazers the first was that Geoff Petrie would be forced to retire due to his knee injuries and Bill Walton would sit out the 79 season and sue Portland’s medical staff for rushing him back too early so Portland’s quick run with Walton was over as he would became a free agent at the end of the 79 season.

The other event was that the Boston Celtics and the Buffalo Braves swapped owners as the Celtics owner wanted to move back to the West Coast and the Braves owners would accept the Celtics owner at the time’s offer as he would move the Braves to San Diego where they would become the San Diego Clippers. But it wasn't just owners who swapped franchises it was also players as one of the biggest trades in NBA History took place with the Braves getting Kevin Kunnert, Kermit Washington, Curtis Rowe and Rick Robey in exchange for Tiny Archibald, Marvin Barnes, Robert Parish and 2 future 2nd round picks from the Clippers.

The Main free agent signing this season was that of Rick Barry to Phoenix as the Knicks had decided to rebuild as their aging core had already peaked and weren't looking to be title contenders and Barry was signed by the Suns to provide help to the duo of Malone and Westphal

The main storyline this season was of another challenger to Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s pedestal as the Best center in the league as first it was Bill Walton now it was becoming more clear that Moses Malone was becoming more of a legitimate threats to Abdul Jabbar as he would lead the Phoenix Suns to 48 wins in the West and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player winning his first MVP award.

But the big surprise this season was that the Utah Stars would suddenly improve to win 50 games with Phil Ford winning Rookie of the Year and Cotton Fitzsimmons winning Coach of the Year for the 1 seed in the West with Phoenix, San Antonio, Denver, Los Angeles and San Diego making the Playoffs while in the East the Nets would win 62 games with Kareem and Dr J still dominating and with the improved chemistry the Nets were once again the favourites in the East with Washington, Houston, Kentucky, Atlanta and New York.

In the West the two California teams would be eliminated in the first round by San Antonio and Denver respectively, in the 2nd round the Stars would beat the Nuggets while the Suns would beat the Spurs with Moses Malone showing why he won the MVP and in the conference finals the Suns would beat the Stars in 7 games as the Stars lack of playoff experience showed and the Suns would make their first NBA finals appearance.

As for the East, normal service resumed as the Nets would get revenge on Kentucky and then end Washington’s final chance for an NBA title in the conference as their age began to show after they beat the Rockets in their 2nd round matchup.

The 1979 NBA Finals would be Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s second challenge to maintain his pedestal as the best center in the league and even though Moses got the better of the individual matchup the Suns had no one to stop Erving as Rick Barry was slowing down and as a result the Nets would win the series in 5 games with Erving winning the award for Finals MVP.

After Kareem’s first 10 years in professional basketball 5 each in both leagues had won 7 titles and countless individual awards so he was certainly the player of the 1970s but now would come the 1980s as new players would enter the league and new teams would contend for the NBA title.

• Most Valuable Player: Moses Malone, Phoenix Suns
• Rookie of the Year: Phil Ford, Utah Stars
• Coach of the Year: Cotton Fitzsimmons, Utah Stars
• All-NBA First Team:
  • Paul Westphal, Phoenix Suns
  • George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs
  • Moses Malone, Phoenix Suns
  • Marques Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Elvin Hayes, Washington Bullets
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • Walter Davis, Golden State Warriors
  • Bob Dandridge, Washington Bullets
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
  • Lloyd Free, San Diego Clippers
  • Phil Ford, Utah Stars
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Mychal Thompson, Philadelphia 76ers
  • Terry Tyler, Detroit Pistons
  • Ron Brewer, Portland Trail Blazers
  • Reggie Theus, Chicago Bulls
  • Phil Ford, Utah Stars
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Bobby Jones, Houston Rockets
  • Bobby Dandridge, Washington Bullets
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,New Jersey Nets
  • Dennis Johnson, Houston Rockets
  • Don Buse, Phoenix Suns
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • Maurice Lucas, Los Angeles Lakers
  • M. L. Carr, Detroit Pistons
  • Moses Malone, Phoenix Suns
  • Lionel Hollins, Portland Trail Blazers
    Eddie Johnson, Atlanta Hawks

#	Eastern Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-New Jersey Nets	62	20	.740	–
2	y- Washington Bullets	52	30	.633	10
3	x-Houston Rockets	47	35	.573	15
4	x-Kentucky Colonels	47	35	.573	15
5	x-Atlanta Hawks	46	36	.561	16
6	x-New York Knicks	37	45	.451	25
7	Indiana Pacers	36	46	.439	26
8	Cleveland Cavaliers	33	49	.402	29
8	Philadelphila 76ers	31	51	.378	31
10	Detroit Pistons	29	53	.354	33
11	Boston Celtics	27	55	.295	35

12

New Orleans Jazz

24

58

.293

36

#	Western Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Utah Stars	50	32	.610	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	48	34	.585	2
3	x-Phoenix Suns	48	34	.585	2
4	x-Denver Nuggets	45	37	.549	5
5	x-Los Angeles Lakers	44	38	.549	6
6	x-San Diego Clippers	40	42	.476	10
7	Portland Trail Blazers	39	43	.524	11
8	Kansas City Kings	38	44	.463	12
9	Milwaukee Bucks	38	44	.463	12
10	Golden State Warriors	38	44	.463	12
11	Seattle SuperSonics	36	48	.439	14

12

Chicago Bulls

30

52

.342

20

1979 NBA All Star Game Lineups

West

Starters

PG Paul Westphal ( Phoenix Suns)

SG Otis Birdsong ( Utah Stars)
SF George Gervin ( San Antonio Spurs)

PF Maurice Lucas ( Los Angeles Lakers)

C Moses Malone ( Phoenix Suns)

Bench

PG World B Free ( San Diego Clippers)

SG Walter Davis ( Golden State Warriors)

SF Marques Johnson ( Milwaukee Bucks)

SF Bernard King ( Buffalo Braves)

PF Truck Robinson ( Utah Stars)

C Alvin Adams ( Utah Stars)

East

Starters

PG Pete Maravich ( New Orleans Jazz)

SG David Thompson ( Atlanta Hawks)

SF Julius Erving ( New York Nets)

PF Rudy Tomjanovich ( Houston Rockets)

C Kareem Abdul Jabbar ( New York Nets)

Bench

PG Calvin Murphy ( Houston Rockets)

SG Dennis Johnson ( Houston Rockets)

SF Bob Dandridge ( Washington Bullets)

SF Campy Russell ( Cleveland Cavaliers)

PF Elvin Hayes ( Washington Bullets)

C Artis Gilmore ( Kentucky Colonels)

Western Conference​

Champion: Phoenix Suns


Western Conference Quarterfinals

(3) Phoenix Suns vs. (6) San Diego Clippers : Suns win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 107, San Diego 103
• Game 2 @ San Diego: San Diego 96, Phoenix 92
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 101, San Diego 91

(4) Denver Nuggets vs (5) Los Angeles Lakers : Lakers win series 2-1

• Game 1 @ Denver: Denver 119, Los Angeles 105
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 121, Denver 109
• Game 3 @ Denver: Los Angeles 112, Denver 111

Western Conference Semifinals

(1) Utah Stars vs. (5) Los Angeles Lakers: Stars win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Utah: Utah 112, Los Angeles 95
• Game 2 @ Utah: Utah 108, Los Angeles 103 (OT)
• Game 3 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 118, Utah 112
• Game 4 @ Los Angeles: Utah 117, Los Angeles 115
• Game 5 @ Utah: Utah 106, Los Angeles 100

(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (3) Phoenix Suns : Suns win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ San Antonio: Phoenix 102, San Antonio 99
• Game 2 @ San Antonio: Phoenix 111, San Antonio 91
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: San Antonio 108, Phoenix 93
• Game 4 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 108, Phoenix 94
• Game 5 @ San Antonio: Phoenix 120, San Antonio 104

Western Conference Finals

(1) Utah Stars vs. (3) Phoenix Suns: Suns win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Utah: Utah 108, Phoenix 93
• Game 2 @ Utah: Utah 103, Phoenix 97
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 113, Utah 103
• Game 4 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 100, Utah 91
• Game 5 @ Utah: Phoenix 99 Utah 93
• Game 5 @ Phoenix: Utah 106 Phoenix 105
• Game 5 @ Utah: Phoenix 114 Utah 110

Eastern Conference​

Champion: New York Nets


Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

(3) Houston Rockets VS. (6) New York Knicks : Rockets win series 2–0

• Game 1 @ Houston: Houston 122, New York 114
• Game 2 @ New York: Houston 111, New York 101

(4) Kentucky Colonels vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks : Colonels win series 2–0

• Game 1 @ Kentucky: Kentucky 109, Atlanta 106
• Game 2 @ Atlanta: Kentucky 100, Atlanta 91

Eastern Conference Semifinals


(1) New York Nets vs. (4) Kentucky Colonels: Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ New York: New York Nets 130, Kentucky Colonels 90
• Game 2 @ New York : New York Nets 119, Kentucky Colonels 100
• Game 3 @ Kentucky : Kentucky Colonels 133, New York Nets 121
• Game 4 @ Kentucky : New York Nets 124, Kentucky Colonels 119
• Game 4 @ New York : New York Nets 114, Kentucky Colonels 107

(2) Washington Bullets vs. (3) Houston Rockets : Bullets win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Washington: Washington 114, Houston 89
• Game 2 @ Washington: Houston 107, Washington 99
• Game 3 @ Houston: Washington 89, Houston 77
• Game 4 @ Houston: Washington 120, Houston 118 (OT)
• Game 5 @ Washington: Houston 104, Washington 86
• Game 6 @ Houston: Washington 100, Houston 94

Eastern Conference Finals

(1) New York Nets vs. (2) Washington Bullets : Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ New York: Washington 118, New York 97
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 115, Washington 95
• Game 3 @ Washington: New York 116, Washington 114
• Game 4 @ Washington: New York 120, Washington 102
• Game 5 @ New York: New York 107, Washington 103

NBA Finals​

(E1) New York Nets VS. (W3) Phoenix Suns: Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ New York: New York 99, Phoenix 97
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 98, Phoenix 80
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 105, New York 95
• Game 4 @ Phoenix: New York 120, Phoenix 116 (OT)
  Game 5 @ New York: New York 103, Phoenix 97

 

[Unknown]

NBA Finals​

(E1) New York Nets VS. (W1) Portland Trail Blazers : Nets win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ New York: New York 113, Portland 97
• Game 2 @ New York: New York 107, Portland 89
• Game 3 @ Portland: Portland 123, New York 113 Bill Walton's two famous plays of tipping the ball against Kareem Abdul Jabbar off an alley-oop from Bob Gross, then dunking the ball off of Dave Twardzik's steal and alley-oop pass.
• Game 4 @ Portland: Portland 120, New York 108 Bill Walton's famous dunk on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
• Game 5 @ New York: New York 104, San Antonio 104
• Game 6 @ Portland: New York 109, San Antonio 107

You've got New York and San Antonio instead of Portland--good TL, though...

 

[Jezza1998]

The 1979 NBA draft was one of the better draft classes in NBA History and it’s number 1 pick was a 6 foot 9 point guard from Michigan State named Earvin Johnson more well known of course as Magic. He would be taken by the Lakers due to them having New Orleans’s pick due to them signing Gail Goodrich in 1976 and that still happens in this redraft as they still got the 1st pick in that coin flip against the Chicago Bulls.While future all stars Calvin Natt and Jim Paxson would go to Seattle and San Diego respectively in the only notable changes in this draft.

1

8

Calvin Natt+

F

United States

Seattle Super Sonics

Northeast Louisiana (Sr.)

1

12

Jim Paxson*

G/F

United States

San Diego Clippers

Dayton (Sr.)

The main off season transaction which would prove to be very important in less than a year was that Boston signed M.L. Carr as a veteran free agent due to the rules at the time the Pistons were required to get compensation and Boston would oblige giving the Pistons Bob Mcadoo who had not performed to expectations in Boston and in exchange the Pistons would give both their own and Washington’s 1980 1st round draft picks.

The New York Nets would move to New Jersey in this offseason as New York was still not big enough for 2 big NBA teams for the time being and the Knicks were never going to be the team to move even with all of the Nets success.

One notable move that happened in the regular season was that the Lakers would trade for veteran center Bob Lanier as two of their high draft picks who had been big men in Kent Benson and Dave Meyers hadn't panned out the way that the Lakers had hoped for and the Lakers would trade their 1981 1st round pick along with Kent Benson to Detroit for Bob Lanier the Lakers were unable to trade their 1980 1st round pick as they had already traded that to Cleveland in exchange for their 1982 1st round pick.

The 1980 season demonstrated that a new era had begun in the NBA as the Celtics and the Lakers had shown that they would be challenging the Nets reign of dominance in the NBA as the Lakers would be the 1 seed in the Western Conference with 54 wins with Magic, Maurice Lucas, Jamaal Wilkes and Lanier leading the way behind the Lakers in the West would be the Spurs, Stars, Suns. Blazers and Bucks.

As for the East the Nets would finally get a concentrated challenge to their crown as the best team in the East as the Celtics would have one of the great turnarounds winning 61 games with rookie Larry Bird playing starring roles with Alex English, Tiny Archibald, Dave Cowens, Robert Parish, Cedric Maxwell and midseason pickup Pete Maravich also contributing to the Celtics success with Bird winning the rookie of the Year award. The Celtics would get the 1st seed in the East with the Nets winning 60 games as the 3rd seed with Kareem winning his first MVP award since 1977 his 7th overall in both leagues, the Rockets would get the 4th seed with 56 wins as Sikma and DJ would start to develop into stars following those 3 teams would be the Hawks who would be the 2nd seed due to the backcourt of David Thompson and Eddie Johnson in 5th and 6th were the Bullets and Colonels who were both on the decline.

In the West 1st round the Stars would beat the Bucks in 3 games while the Blazers would lose to the Spurs in 3 games. In the 2nd round the Lakers would make quick work of the Suns in 5 games while the Spurs would beat the Stars in 6 games to set a Spurs-Lakers matchup in the conference finals where the Lakers with Magic taking more of a scoring role earlier in his career with the absence of Kareem leading them to victory over the Suns in 5 games to send them to their first NBA finals appearance since 1973 in Magic’s first season.

As for the East the Bullets would be quickly knocked out in 2 games by the Rockets and the Colonels would try to surprise the Nets in their 1st round matchup with Gus Williams starring for them but would ultimately fall short . As for the Hawks they had the misfortune of running into the Nets and would lose in 5 games while Boston would overcome the Rockets in a sweep in what was Houston’s season in the loaded Eastern Conference. This ultimately set up a Nets-Celtics matchup in what promised to be a rivalry for the next few years and the Nets experience won this time as they would beat the Celtics in 5 games rather convincingly to set up a Lakers vs Nets finals matchup in what was a dream scenario for CBS who owned the television rights after the decline in ratings over the last 5 years.

The 1980 NBA Finals would pit the Los Angeles Lakers led by the rookie sensation Magic Johnson against the New Jersey Nets led by the superstar duo of Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Julius Erving and this was probably the most anticipated finals matchup since the Knicks and Lakers in 1970 but unlike that series this one wasn't one of the great finals series as the Nets experience proved to be too much for the Lakers in the first 4 games as they would take a 3-1 series lead heading into game 5. The game 4 victory was highlighted by one of Julius Erving’s best ever plays as he did a layup under the backboard after being forced baseline. In Game 5 it would be Kareem’s night to shine as he was forced off the field in the third quarter for a sprained ankle but would come back and help the Nets to secure the Game 5 victory and their 5th NBA title in 6 years to continue their dynasty. Kareem would win Finals MVP for his dominant performance against Bob Lanier in particular as he averaged 34 and 14 in the 5 game series.

Eastern Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	61	21	.744	–
2	y-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	11
3	x-New Jersey Nets	60	22	.732	1
4	x-Houston Rockets	56	26	.684	5
5	x-Washington Bullets	41	41	.500	20
6	x-Kentucky Colonels	39	43	.476	22
7	Cleveland Cavaliers	37	45	.451	24
8	Philadelphia 76ers	37	45	.451	24
8	Indiana Pacers	34	48	.427	27
10	New York Knicks	24	58	.293	27
11	New Orleans Jazz	18	64	.219	43

12

Detroit Pistons

16

66

.195

45

​

#	Western Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	54	28	.659	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	50	32	.610	4
3	x-Utah Stars	53	29	.683	1
4	x-Phoenix Suns	52	30	.635	2
5	x-Milwaukee Bucks	47	35	.573	13
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	38	44	.463	22
7	San Diego Clippers	35	47	.427	25
8	Kansas City Kings	32	50	.390	22
9	Denver Nuggets	30	52	.366	24
10	Seattle Supersonics	28	54	.2342	26
11	Chicago Bulls	26	56	.317	28

12

Golden State Warriors

24

58

.293

30

​

• Most Valuable Player: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
• Rookie of the Year: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
• Coach of the Year: Bill Fitch, Boston Celtics
• All-NBA First Team:
  • Paul Westphal, Phoenix Suns
  • George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs
  • Julius Erving, New Jersey Nets
  • Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • Dan Roundfield, Atlanta Hawks
  • Marques Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Moses Malone, Phoenix Suns
  • Dennis Johnson, Houston Rockets
  • Gus Williams, Kentucky Colonels
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
  • Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Bill Cartwright, Detroit Pistons
  • David Greenwood, Chicago Bulls
  • Calvin Natt, Seattle Supersonics
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Bobby Jones, Houston Rockets
  • Dan Roundfield, Atlanta Hawks
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
  • Dennis Johnson, Houston Rockets
  • Don Buse, Phoenix Suns (tie)
  • Micheal Ray Richardson, Atlanta Hawks (tie)
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • Scott Wedman, Kansas City Kings
  • Kermit Washington, Portland Trail Blazers
  • Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics
  • Quinn Buckner, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Eddie Johnson, Atlanta Hawks

Players of the week​

Week	Player
Oct 12 – 21	Julius Erving (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)
Oct 22 – 28	Michael Ray Richardson (Atlanta Hawks) (1/1)
Oct 29 – Nov 4	Marques Johnson (Milwaukee Bucks) (1/1)
Nov 5 – 11	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/2)
Nov 12 – 18	Phil Ford (Utah Stars) (1/1)
Nov 19 – 25	Walter Davis (Golden State Warriors) (1/1)
Nov 26 – Dec 2	Adrian Dantley (Kansas City Kings) (1/1)
Dec 3 – 9	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (New Jersey Nets) (1/2)
Dec 10 – 16	Dan Roundfield (Atlanta Hawks) (1/1)
Dec 17 – 23	Swen Nater (San Antonio Spurs) (1/1)
Dec 24 – 30	Mike Mitchell (Washington Bullets) (1/1)
Dec 31 – Jan 6	Scott Wedman (Kansas City Kings) (1/1)
Jan 7 – 13	Greg Ballard (Washington Bullets) (1/1)
Jan 14 – 20	Dennis Johnson (Houston Rockets) (1/1)
Jan 21 – 27	George Gervin (San Antonio Spurs) (1/1)
Feb 4 – 10	Rick Barry (Phoenix Suns) (1/1)
Feb 11 – 17	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (New Jersey Nets) (2/2)
Feb 18 – 24	Calvin Natt (Seattle Supersonics) (1/1)
Feb 25 – Mar 3	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) (1/1)
Mar 4 – 10	Cliff Robinson (Detroit Pistons) (1/1)
Mar 11 – 17	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (2/2)
Mar 18 – 24	Billy Ray Bates (Portland Trail Blazers) (1/1)
Mar 25 – 31	Kevin Grevey (Washington Bullets) (1/1)

Players of the month​

Month	Player
November	Moses Malone (Phoenix Suns) (1/1)
December	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)
January	George Gervin (San Antonio Spurs) (1/1)
February	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) (1/1)
March	Julius Erving (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)

1980 NBA All Star Game Rosters

West

Starters

PG Magic Johnson ( Los Angeles Lakers)

SG World B Free ( San Diego Clippers)

SF Adrian Dantley ( Kansas City Kings)

PF George Gervin ( San Antonio Spurs)

C Moses Malone ( Phoenix Suns)

Bench

PG Paul Westpahl ( Phoenix Suns)

PG Michael Ray Richardson ( Kansas City Kings)

SG Otis Birdsong ( Utah Stars)

SF Marques Johnson ( Milwaukee Bucks)

SF Walter Davis ( Golden State Warriors)

PF Kermit Washington ( Portland Trail Blazers)

C Alvin Adams ( Utah Stars)


East


Starters

PG Dennis Johnson ( Houston Rockets)

SG Eddie Johnson ( Atlanta Hawks)

SF Julius Erving ( New Jersey Nets)

PF Dan Roundfield ( Atlanta Hawks)

C Kareem Abdul Jabbar ( New Jersey Nets)

Bench

PG Tiny Archibald ( Boston Celtics)

SG Reggie Theus ( Chicago Bulls)

SF John Drew ( Atlanta Hawks)

SF Larry Bird ( Boston Celtics)

PF Elvin Hayes ( Washington Bullets)

C Jack Sikma ( Houston Rockets)

C Bill Cartwright ( New York Knicks)

Western Conference

Champion: Los Angeles Lakers


Western Conference Quarterfinals

(3) Utah Stars vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers : Stars win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Utah: Utah 120, Portland 110
• Game 2 @ Portland: Portland 105, Utah 95 (OT)
• Game 3 @ Utah: Utah 103, Portland 86

(4) Phoenix Suns vs (5) Milwaukee Bucks : Suns win series 2-1

• Game 1 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 96, Milwaukee 93
• Game 2 @ Milwaukee: Milwaukee 106, Phoenix 96
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 114, Milwaukee 99

Western Conference Semifinals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Phoenix Suns : Lakers win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 119 , Phoenix 110
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 128, Phoenix 126 (OT)
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Los Angeles 108, Phoenix 105
• Game 4 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 127, Los Angeles 101
• Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 126, Phoenix 101

(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (3) Utah Stars : Stars win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ San Antonio: Utah 114, San Antonio 113
• Game 2 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 114, Utah 112 (OT)
• Game 3 @ Utah: Utah 95, San Antonio 91
• Game 4 @ Utah: Utah 112, San Antonio 107
• Game 5 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 112, Utah 107
• Game 5 @ Utah: Utah 96, San Antonio 95

Western Conference Finals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Utah Stars : Lakers win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Utah 108, Los Angeles 107
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 108, Utah 99
• Game 3 @ Utah: Los Angeles 104, Utah 100
• Game 4 @ Utah: Los Angeles 98, Utah 93
• Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 111 Utah 105

Eastern Conference​

Champion: New Jersey Nets


Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

(3) New Jersey Nets VS. (6) Kentucky Colonels : Nets win series 2–0

• Game 1 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 111, Kentucky 96
• Game 2 @ Louisville: New Jersey 112, Kentucky 104

(4) Houston Rockets vs. (5) Washington Bullets : Rockets win series 2–0

• Game 1 @ Houston: Houston 95, Washington 85
• Game 2 @ Washington: Houston 106, Washington 101

Eastern Conference Semifinals


(1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Houston Rockets: Celtics win series 4–0

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 119, Houston 101
• Game 2 @ Boston : Boston 99, Houston 79
• Game 3 @ Houston : Boston 100, Houston 81
• Game 4 @ Houston : Boston 140, Houston 119

(2) Atlanta Hawks vs. (3) New Jersey Nets : Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Atlanta: New Jersey 107, Atlanta 104
• Game 2 @ Atlanta: New Jersey 99, Atlanta 92
• Game 3 @ New Jersey: Atlanta 105, New Jersey 93
• Game 4 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 107, Atlanta 83
• Game 5 @ Atlanta: New Jersey 105, Atlanta 98

Eastern Conference Finals

(3) New Jersey Nets vs. (1) Boston Celtics : Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Boston: New Jersey 96, Boston 93
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 96, New Jersey 90
• Game 3 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 103, Boston 93
• Game 4 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 102, Boston 90
• Game 5 @ Boston: New Jersey 105, Boston 94

NBA Finals​

(E1) New Jersey Nets VS. (W1) Los Angeles Lakers: Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 109, Los Angeles 102
• Game 2 @ New Jersey: Los Angeles 107, New Jersey 104
• Game 3 @ Los Angeles: New Jersey 111, Los Angeles 101
• Game 4 @ Los Angeles: New Jersey 104, Los Angeles 103 Julius Erving makes the "Up and Under" move
• Game 5 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 108, Los Angeles 103 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dunks the clutch 3-point play with 33 seconds left

 

[AnonymousSauce]

Man, do the Jazz ever find their way out of the cellar, or do they just end up leaving Nola to somewhere other than SLC?

 

[Jezza1998]

Man, do the Jazz ever find their way out of the cellar, or do they just end up leaving Nola to somewhere other than SLC?

It will be a tough few years for the Jazz though am unsure whether to keep the Jazz in New Orleans or to move them to another city as they cant move to SLC due to the Stars though if i was to move the Jazz i would probably have to change the team name from the Jazz as that name I think only makes sense in New Orleans

 

[AnonymousSauce]

It will be a tough few years for the Jazz though am unsure whether to keep the Jazz in New Orleans or to move them to another city as they cant move to SLC due to the Stars though if i was to move the Jazz i would probably have to change the team name from the Jazz as that name I think only makes sense in New Orleans

It would be awesome if they could stay in Nola but the arena situation is a big problem since the Superdome isn’t suitable for the NBA and the only other arena in existence at this time is the ~12,000 seat UNO Lakefront Arena.

 

[Jezza1998]

For the 1981 NBA Season there would be a new expansion team as the Dallas Mavericks would join the NBA and would at first provide an easy game for the rest of the League. Their 1st round pick would be Kiki Vandeweghe who would be traded on draft night. With the entrance of Dallas into the league the realignment of teams between conferences took place as the Bulls and Bucks were now in the East while the Rockets and Jazz moved to the West.

The 1980 NBA Draft proved a dilemma for Boston as they had the 1st pick but they didn't want the player who was thought of as the Number 1 pick in the draft who was Joe Barry Carroll as they already had Robert Parish as the successor to Dave Cowens but Boston did want a forward from Minnesota named Kevin McHale who had the widest array of low post moves ever seen in the history of the NBA and felt that they could get something else if they were to drop in the draft and also get McHale. Dave Cowens and Pete Maravich were willing to to stay for one more season as they were to be valuable bench players on a championship team

The Celtics would end up trading the 1st and 13th picks in the 1980 NBA Draft for the 3rd pick who would be Kevin Mchale and backup center Wayne Cooper. .

With that trade done before the draft the Warriors would have the 1st pick and they would take Joe Barry Caroll to be their new franchise player alongside Walter Davis , the New Orleans Jazz would finally start their rebuild by using the 2nd pick to select Louisville guard Darell Griffith. Andrew Toney would still go to a somewhat contending team in the Portland Trail Blazers with the 8th pick and the Warriors with the 13th pick they got from Boston would take Rickey Brown but would trade him and a future first in 1982 to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the 11th pick which was Kiki Vandeweghe whose father had played for the Knicks in the 50s and was from New York. Washington would still land Jeff Ruland with the 25th pick after a trade from the Warriors to replace Wes Unseld who was at the end of his career.

1

8

Andrew Toney+

G

United States

Portland Trail Blazers

Southwestern Louisiana (Sr.)

If the 1980 season showed that there was a change afoot in the league then the 1981 season would confirm that as once again the Boston Celtics would get the best record in the league with 66 wins as Alex English became a starter at shooting guard which helped them to get more wins and Larry Bird would win his first MVP award as Erving and Abdul Jabbar would take votes away from each other with the Nets supporting cast also starting to age the Nets would only win 57 games those 2 teams were top in the East followed by the Bucks, Sixers, Colonels and Pacers.

In the West it would be a different story as the Lakers would only win 47 games as Magic was injured for most of the season and the Houston Rockets would take advantage winning 63 games to clinch the top seed in the West with the Stars on 55 and Spurs on 52 the two best challengers they would be followed by the Suns on 44 in 5th and Golden State with rookie of the year Darrell Griffith on 36 wins.

The playoffs would begin with the Pacers losing to the Nets while the Colonels would defeat the Sixers. In the 2nd round the Celtics would beat the Colonels in 4 while the Nets would beat the Bucks in 5 games which would set up a rematch between the Celtics and Nets. Once again the Celtics and Nets would matchup for a place in the NBA Finals but unlike 1980 the Celtics were deeper with veterans such as Maravich, Cowens and Archibald alongside the new Big 3 of Bird, English and Parish this along with the aging of the Nets team ensured that Boston would win this series in 7 games in one of the greatest NBA playoff series of all time as Bird would dominate Erving and Kareem struggled to deal with both Parish and Cowens in the clutch moments.

Whilst in the West the Lakers were upset in the 1st round by the Suns as Moses Malone would dominate while Magic choked in Game 3 in the other matchup the Spurs would be upset by the Kings. The 1 seed Rockets would easily beat the Suns in 5 games while Utah would be upset by Kansas in 6 games to set up an unlikely matchup between Kansas and Houston for a spot in the NBA Finals. This series was not what was expected at the start of the playoffs let alone the season but the Rockets had too much depth for the Kings and would win in 5 games to advance to their 1st NBA finals appearance.

This finals promised to be a matchup of two of the deepest teams in the league and it somewhat fell flat as this series felt like a throwback to the 1970s with some players not performing as well as they should have but it did last 6 games and in a close series an unlikely hero would emerge as Boston forward Cedric Maxwell would take over in key situations as help the Celtics to win the series and was named the Finals MVP as the Celtics won their 13th title and both Dave Cowens and Pete Maravich would retire at the end of the season with an NBA ring in Maravich’ case or 2 in Cowens case.

	Eastern Conference
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	66	16	.804	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	52	30	.634	14
3	x-New Jersey Nets	57	25	.696	9
4	x-Philadelphia 76ers	46	36	.561	20
5	x-Kentucky Colonels	45	37	.549	21
6	x-Indiana Pacers	44	38	.537	22
7	Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	27
8	Atlanta Hawks	38	54	.464	28
9	New York Knicks	34	48	.402	38
10	Cleveland Cavaliers	28	54	.341	42
11	Chicago Bulls	21	61	.256	45

12

Detroit Pistons

19

63

.232

47

​

	Western Conference
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Houston Rockets	63	19	.768	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	52	30	.634	11
3	x-Utah Stars	55	27	.671	8
4	x-Los Angeles Lakers	47	35	.573	16
5	x-Phoenix Suns	44	38	.525	19
6	x-Kansas City Kings	40	42	.476	23
7	Golden State Warriors	36	46	.439	26
8	Portland Trail Blazers	36	46	.439	27
9	San Diego Clippers	36	46	.439	21
10	Seattle SuperSonics	34	48	.415	23
11	Denver Nuggets	30	52	.367	27
12	New Orleans Jazz	24	58	.293	33

​

13

Dallas Mavericks

15

67

.183

42

• Most Valuable Player: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
• Rookie of the Year: Darrell Griffith, New Orleans Jazz Jazz
• Coach of the Year: Jack McKinney, Indiana Pacers
• All-NBA First Team:
  • Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
  • George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs
  • Julius Erving, New Jersey Nets
  • Dennis Johnson, Houston Rockets
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • Marques Johnson, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Adrian Dantley, Kansas City Kings
  • Moses Malone, Phoenix Suns
  • Otis Birdsong, Utah Stars
  • Nate Archibald, Boston Celtics
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Kelvin Ransey, Chicago Bulls
  • Darrell Griffith, New Orleans Jazz
  • Larry Smith, Golden State Warriors
  • Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
  • Joe Barry Carroll, New York Knicks
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Bobby Jones, Houston Rockets
  • Caldwell Jones, Philadelphia 76ers
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
  • Dennis Johnson, Houston Rockets
  • Micheal Ray Richardson, Kansas City Kings
• 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)

Players of the Week

Week	Player
Oct. 10 – Oct. 19	Adrian Dantley (Kansas City Kings) (1/1)
Oct. 20 – Oct. 26	Otis Birdsong (Utah Stars) (1/1)
Oct. 27 – Nov. 02	David Thompson (Atlanta Hawks) (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 (Kentucky Colonels) (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 (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)
Dec. 22 – Dec. 28	Dennis Johnson (Houston Rockets) (1/1)
Dec. 29 – Jan. 04	Bernard King (New York Knicks) (1/1)
Jan. 05 – Jan. 11	Nate Archibald (Boston Celtics) (1/1)
Jan. 12 – Jan. 18	Julius Erving (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)
Jan. 19 – Jan. 25	Phil Ford (Utah Stars) (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 (Washington Bullets) (1/1)
Mar. 02 – Mar. 08	Larry Smith (Golden State Warriors) (1/1)
Mar. 09 – Mar. 15	Moses Malone (Phoenix Suns) (1/1)
Mar. 16 – Mar. 22	Michael Ray Richardson (Atlanta Hawks) (1/1)
Mar. 23 – Mar. 29	Robert Reid (Houston Rockets) (1/1)

Players of the month​

Month	Player
October	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) (1/1)
November	Julius Erving (New Jersey Nets) (1/1)
December	Freeman Williams (Detroit Pistons) (1/1)
January	Bernard King (New York Knicks) (1/1)
February	Calvin Murphy (Houston Rockets) (1/1)
March	Kelvin Ransey (Chicago Bulls) (1/1)

1981 NBA All Star Game Rosters

West

Starters

PG Paul Westphal ( Phoenix Suns)

SG Walter Davis ( Golden State Warriors)

SF George Gervin ( San Antonio Spurs)

PF Adrian Dantley ( Kansas City Kings)

C Moses Malone ( Phoenix Suns)

Reserves

PG Dennis Johnson ( Houston Rockets)

SG Michael Ray Richardson ( Kansas City Kings)

SG Otis Birdsong ( Utah Stars)

SF Jamaal Wilkes ( Los Angeles Lakers)

PF Bobby Jones ( Houston Rockets )

C Jack Sikma ( Houston Rockets)

Eastern Conference

PG Eddie Johnson ( Atlanta Hawks)

SG Reggie Theus ( Chicago Bulls)

SF Julius Erving ( New Jersey Nets)

PF Larry Bird ( Boston Celtics)

C Kareem Abdul Jabbar ( New Jersey Nets)

Bench

PG Tiny Archibald ( Boston Celtics)

SG Alex English ( Boston Celtics)

SF Mike Mitchell ( Washington Bullets)

SF Marques Johnson ( Milwaukee Bucks)

C Robert Parish ( Boston Celtics)

C Artis Gilmore ( Kentucky Colonels)


Western Conference

Champion: Houston Rockets


Western Conference Quarterfinals

(3) Utah Stars vs. (6) Kansas City Kings : Kings win series 2–1

• Game 1 @ Utah: Kansas City 98, Utah 97 ( OT)
• Game 2 @ Kansas City: Utah 124, Kansas City 119 (OT)
• Game 3 @ Utah: Kansas City 104, Utah 95

(4) Phoenix Suns vs (5) Los Angeles Lakers : Suns win series 2-1

• Game 1 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 111, Los Angeles 107
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 111, Phoenix 106
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 89, Los Angeles 86

Western Conference Semifinals

(1) Houston Rockets vs. (4) Phoenix Suns : Rockets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Houston: Houston 102 , Phoenix 80
• Game 2 @ Houston: Houston 88, Phoenix 83
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Houston 93, Phoenix 92
• Game 4 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 102, Houston 95
• Game 5 @ Houston: Houston 101, Phoenix 89

(2) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Kansas City Kings : Kings win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ San Antonio: Kansas City 107, San Antonio 98
• Game 2 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 125, Kansas City 113
• Game 3 @ Kansas City: Kansas City 112, San Antonio 99
• Game 4 @ Kansas City: San Antonio 114, Kansas City 112
• Game 5 @ San Antonio: Kansas City 123, San Antonio 117
• Game 6 @ Kansas City: San Antonio 101, Kansas City 96
• Game 7 @ San Antonio: Kansas City 105, San Antonio 100

Western Conference Finals

(1) Houston Rockets vs. (6) Kansas City Kings : Rockets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Houston: Houston 97, Kansas City 78
• Game 2 @ Houston : Kansas City 88, Houston 79
• Game 3 @ Kansas City: Houston 92, Kansas City 88
• Game 4 @ Kansas City: Houston 100, Kansas City 89
• Game 5 @ Houston: Houston 97 Kansas City 88

Eastern Conference​

Champion: Boston Celtics


Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

(3) New Jersey Nets VS. (6) Indiana Pacers : Nets win series 2–0

• Game 1 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 124, Indiana 108
• Game 2 @ Indiana: New Jersey 96, Indiana 85

(4) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (5) Kentucky Colonels : Colonels win series 2–0

• Game 1 @ Philadelphia: Kentucky 90, Philadelphia 80
• Game 2 @ Louisville: Kentucky 115, Philadelphia 114 (OT)

Eastern Conference Semifinals


(1) Boston Celtics vs. (5) Kentucky Colonels: Celtics win series 4–0

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 121, Kentucky 109
• Game 2 @ Boston : Boston 106, Kentucky 97
• Game 3 @ Louisville : Boston 113, Kentucky 107
• Game 4 @ Louisville : Boston 109, Kentucky 103

(2) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (3) New Jersey Nets : Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Milwaukee: New Jersey 125, Milwaukee 122
• Game 2 @ Milwaukee: New Jersey 109, Milwaukee 98
• Game 3 @ New Jersey: Milwaukee 109, New Jersey 99
• Game 4 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 99, Milwaukee 98
• Game 5 @ Milwaukee: New Jersey 116, Milwaukee 99

Eastern Conference Finals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (3) New Jersey Nets : Celtics win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Boston: New Jersey 105, Boston 104
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 118, New Jersey 99
• Game 3 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 110, Boston 100
• Game 4 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 107, Boston 105
• Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 111, New Jersey 109
• Game 6 @ New Jersey: Boston 100, New Jersey 98
• Game 7 @ Boston: Boston 91, New Jersey 90

NBA Finals​

(E1) Boston Celtics VS. (W1) Houston Rockets: Celtics win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 98, Houston 95 Larry Bird's famous play of following a missed jumper, jumping for the rebound, and switching ball from his right to left hand as his momentum was carrying him out of bounds as he scored.
• Game 2 @ Boston: Houston 92, Boston 90
• Game 3 @ Houston: Boston 94, Houston 71
• Game 4 @ Houston: Houston 91 , Boston 86
• Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 109, Houston 80
  Game 6 @ Houston: Boston 102, Houston 91