1980–81 NBA season

1980–81 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	October 10, 1980 – March 29, 1981 March 31 – May 3, 1981 (Playoffs) May 5 – 14, 1981 (Finals)
TV partner/s	CBS, USA
Draft
Top draft pick	Joe Barry Carroll
Picked by	Golden State Warriors
Regular season
Top seed	Boston Celtics
Season MVP	Julius Erving (Philadelphia)
Top scorer	Adrian Dantley (Utah)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Boston Celtics
Eastern runners-up	Philadelphia 76ers
Western champions	Houston Rockets
Western runners-up	Kansas City Kings
Finals
Finals champions	Boston Celtics
Runners-up	Houston Rockets
Finals MVP	Cedric Maxwell (Boston)
NBA seasons
← 1979–80	1981–82 →

The 1980–81 NBA season was the 35th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Houston Rockets 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.

Notable occurrences

Coaching changes

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

• The Dallas Mavericks become the league's 23rd franchise. As a result, the NBA realigns four of its teams to better reflect its geographical location (the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls move to the Eastern Conference; the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets to the Western Conference).
• The 1981 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Richfield Coliseum near Cleveland, Ohio, with the East defeating the West 123–120. Nate Archibald of the Boston Celtics wins the game's MVP award.
• As of March 2011, this was the final time that a regular-season had ended during the month of March.
• The Houston Rockets (40–42) become just the second team in NBA history to make the finals without posting a winning record during the regular season. The Kansas City Kings, their opponents in the Western Conference Finals, also posted a 40–42 record.

Final standings

By division

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

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

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

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

By conference

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

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

Notes

• z, y – division champions
• 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.

Main article: 1981 NBA Playoffs

	First Round					Conference Semifinals					Conference Finals					NBA Finals
						1	Phoenix	3
						5	Kansas City	4
	4	Portland	1
	5	Kansas City	2
											5	Kansas City	1
	Western Conference
										6	Houston	4
	3	Los Angeles	1
	6	Houston	2
						6	Houston	4
						2	San Antonio	3
																W6	Houston	2
																E1	Boston	4
						1	Boston	4
						5	Chicago	0
	4	New York	0
	5	Chicago	2
											1	Boston	4
	Eastern Conference
										3	Philadelphia	3
	3	Philadelphia	2
	6	Indiana	0
						3	Philadelphia	4
						2	Milwaukee	3

Statistics leaders

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Adrian Dantley	Utah Jazz	30.7
Rebounds per game	Moses Malone	Houston Rockets	14.8
Assists per game	Kevin Porter	Washington Bullets	9.1
Steals per game	Magic Johnson	Los Angeles Lakers	3.4
Blocks per game	George Johnson	San Antonio Spurs	3.4
FG%	Artis Gilmore	Chicago Bulls	67.0
FT%	Calvin Murphy	Houston Rockets	95.8
3FG%	Brian Taylor	San Diego Clippers	38.3

NBA awards

• Most Valuable Player: Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers
• Rookie of the Year: Darrell Griffith, Utah Jazz
• Coach of the Year: Jack McKinney, Indiana Pacers
• All-NBA First Team:
  • Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
  • George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs
  • Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers
  • Dennis Johnson, Phoenix Suns
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Kelvin Ransey, Portland Trail Blazers
  • Darrell Griffith, Utah Jazz
  • Larry Smith, Golden State Warriors
  • Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
  • Joe Barry Carroll, Golden State Warriors
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Bobby Jones, Philadelphia 76ers
  • Caldwell Jones, Philadelphia 76ers
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Dennis Johnson, Phoenix Suns
  • Micheal Ray Richardson, New York Knicks
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • Dan Roundfield, Atlanta Hawks
  • Kermit Washington, Portland Trail Blazers
  • George Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
  • Quinn Buckner, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Dudley Bradley, Indiana Pacers (tie)
  • Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers (tie)

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