1980 NBA Finals

1980 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Los Angeles Lakers Paul Westhead 4 Philadelphia 76ers Billy Cunningham 2
Dates:	May 4 - May 16
MVP:	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
Television:	CBS (U.S.)
Announcers:	Brent Musburger, Rod Hundley, and Bill Russell
Referees:
Game 1: Earl Strom and Jack Madden, alternate Ed T. Rush
Game 2:
Game 3:
Game 4:
Game 5: Darrell Garretson and Earl Strom
Game 6: Joe Gushue and Jack Madden
Hall of Famers:	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1995) Julius Erving (1993) Magic Johnson (2002) Coaches: Billy Cunningham (1986, player)
Eastern Finals:	76ers defeat Celtics, 4-1
Western Finals:	Lakers defeat Supersonics, 4-1
< 1979 NBA Finals 1981 >

The 1980 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1979–80 NBA season.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the league's MVP. But midway through Game 5, the Laker center suffered a severely sprained ankle. He managed to come back in the game in the 4th quarter to lead the Lakers to victory and a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. But the Lakers still had to travel to Philadelphia for Game 6. Abdul-Jabbar was listed as out of game 6, although 76er coach Billy Cunningham was quoted as saying "I won't believe he's not playing until their plane lands and he's not on it." As it turned out, Kareem did not make the trip and was listed as doubtful if Game 7 had been needed.

In game 6, Magic Johnson played what may have been the greatest game of his career. Playing on the road in Philadelphia, Magic (a 6'9" point guard) started the game at center and eventually played all 5 positions in a dominating performance. Scoring a game-high 42 points and grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds—and handing out 7 assists—Magic Johnson led the Lakers to the NBA crown. The Lakers also received strong performances from Jamaal Wilkes with 37 points, and Norm Nixon. Jim Chones played strong defense on 76er center Daryl Dawkins, while Mark Landsberger provided rebounding off the bench, and little used Brad Holland chipped in 8 key points.

Magic Johnson's performance in game 6 and the series earned him the 1980 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. What made Magic Johnson's performance even more remarkable was that he was an NBA rookie—and, indeed, one who had left college after only two years, and was only 20 years old.

On a side note, here, in Game 4 of the 1980 Finals, Julius Erving executed the legendary Baseline Move, an incredible, behind-the-board reverse layup that seemed to defy gravity. Play-by-play announcer Brent Musberger has noted that Erving made such moves almost routinely in his ABA days—but the ABA had no national TV contract in those days. This Game 4 move, played to a national audience in a title game, has probably become Julius Erving's most famous move.

The 76ers were the first of the four Philadelphia professional sports teams to play for their respective sports' championships in a span of nine months. The Flyers lost their series against the New York Islanders in overtime of Game 6, eight days after the 76ers fell to the Lakers in their Game 6. The Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals, themselves in six games, in the World Series. The Eagles lost Super Bowl XV to the Oakland Raiders in January 1981.

"A Magic Season", a season-ending documentary narrated by Brent Musburger, was the last 30-minute NBA championship documentary, recapping the 1980 NBA Playoffs. Later championship documentaries on NBA Entertainment will have 60 minutes of running time.

This was the first of nine straight NBA Finals that featured either the Boston Celtics or the Los Angeles Lakers.

This was also the first NBA Finals to make use of the three-point line which debuted that very season.

The series-deciding Game 6 became the most notorious example of CBS's practice of showing even the most important NBA games on "tape delay" broadcasts. Because May 16, 1980 was a Friday, the network did not want to preempt two of its highest-rated shows, The Dukes of Hazzard and Dallas, even though both shows were already in reruns: the 1979-80 TV season had ended early, back in March, in anticipation of a strike that summer by the Screen Actors Guild. So Game 6 was shown at 11:30pm Eastern (10:30pm Central) in all but four US cities: Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland and Seattle, who carried it live. (This is often cited as an example of TV's lack of interest in the NBA in the "pre-Magic and Bird" era.)

Background

The last time the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA championship was in 1972. In the eight years between championships, the Lakers made the NBA Finals again in 1973 and lost to the New York Knicks in five games. Then Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West retired, and the Lakers would miss the playoffs in 1975 and 1976. In between, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was acquired, and the Lakers returned to prominence in 1977, but Kareem couldn't do it alone.

The Lakers earned the top pick of the 1979 NBA Draft and selected Magic Johnson from Michigan State. While Magic dazzled in his rookie season, Kareem would enjoy an MVP campaign in the Lakers' 60-22 regular season. In the playoffs, the Lakers eliminated the Phoenix Suns and erstwhile defending champions Seattle SuperSonics in a pair of five-game series to advance to the NBA Finals.

The Philadelphia 76ers under Julius Erving made the NBA Finals for the second time in four seasons. After losing to the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1977 NBA Finals, the 76ers hired former player Billy Cunningham as head coach, then in 1978 traded for defensive stalwart Bobby Jones and drafted Maurice Cheeks. In 1980 the 76ers finished 59-23, then eliminated the Washington Bullets in two games, the Atlanta Hawks in five games, and in a surprise win, upset NBA ROY Larry Bird and the 61-win Boston Celtics in five games, preventing the first Celtics–Lakers final since 1969.

Los Angeles Lakers (Western Conference Champion)		Philadelphia 76ers (Eastern Conference Champion)
60–22 (.732) 1st Pacific, 1st West, 2nd overall	Regular season		59–23 (.720) 2nd Atlantic, 3rd East, 3rd overall
Earned first-round bye	First Round		Defeated the (6) Washington Bullets, 2–0
Defeated the (4) Phoenix Suns, 4–1	Conference Semifinals		Defeated the (2) Atlanta Hawks, 4–1
Defeated the (3) Seattle SuperSonics, 4–1	Conference Finals		Defeated the (1) Boston Celtics, 4–1

Regular season series

Both teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team:

January 25, 1980

Philadelphia 76ers 103, Los Angeles Lakers 124

The Forum, Los Angeles, California

February 10, 1980

Los Angeles Lakers 104, Philadelphia 76ers 105

The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Series summary

Game	Date	Home Team	Result	Road Team
Game 1	Sunday, May 4	Los Angeles Lakers	109-102 (1-0)	Philadelphia 76ers
Game 2	Wednesday, May 7	Los Angeles Lakers	104-107 (1-1)	Philadelphia 76ers
Game 3	Saturday, May 10	Philadelphia 76ers	101-111 (1-2)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 4	Sunday, May 11	Philadelphia 76ers	105-102 (2-2)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 5	Wednesday, May 14	Los Angeles Lakers	108-103 (3-2)	Philadelphia 76ers
Game 6	Friday, May 16	Philadelphia 76ers	107-123 (2-4)	Los Angeles Lakers

Game 1

May 4		Philadelphia 76ers 102, Los Angeles Lakers 109				The Forum, Inglewood, California Attendance: 17,505 Referees: No. 12 Earl Strom No. 14 Jack Madden	CBS
		Scoring by quarter: 28–26, 25–27, 17–31, 32–25
		Pts: Erving 20 Rebs: R. Jones 10 Asts: Hollins 8		Pts: Abdul-Jabbar 33 Rebs: Abdul-Jabbar 14 Asts: Johnson 10
		Los Angeles leads the series, 1–0

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, playing on a mission and finally with an effective supporting cast around him, scored 33 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, and had six blocks and five assists on the way to a 109-102 win in the Forum. Norm Nixon had 23 points and Jamaal Wilkes finished with 20 while the Lakers did an excellent double-teaming job on Julius Erving. Rookie Magic Johnson contributed 16 points, nine assists and 10 rebounds.

Game 2

May 7		Philadelphia 76ers 107, Los Angeles Lakers 104				The Forum, Inglewood, California Attendance: 17,505	CBS
		Scoring by quarter: 31–21, 28–20, 30–30, 18–33
		Pts: Dawkins 25 Rebs: Erving 10 Asts: Cheeks 10		Pts: Abdul-Jabbar 38 Rebs: Abdul-Jabbar 14 Asts: Johnson 11
		Series tied, 1–1

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar continued to dominate, with 38 points in Game 2. But, this time, he got very little help as the Laker break never got going.

Julius Erving scored 12 points in the first quarter on his way to 23, beginning the game with a dunk over Abdul-Jabbar. Darryl Dawkins added 25 points, many of them on outside shots trying to draw Abdul-Jabbar away from the basket. Maurice Cheeks matched Erving's total of 23 points, while Bobby Jones added 13 off the bench.

The Sixers led by as much as 20 in the fourth period, but the Lakers roared back, trimming the lead to 105-104 late in the game. Then, Jones popped in a jumper with seven seconds left, and that was enough for a 107-104 Philly win that tied the series at a game apiece.

Game 3

May 10		Los Angeles Lakers 111, Philadelphia 76ers 101				The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attendance: 18,726	CBS
		Scoring by quarter: 31–18, 27–26, 26–21, 27–36
		Pts: Abdul-Jabbar 33 Rebs: Abdul-Jabbar 14 Asts: Nixon 7		Pts: Erving 24 Rebs: C. Jones 11 Asts: Hollins 9
		Los Angeles leads the series, 2–1

With a split in L.A., the Sixers were hoping to take command of the series with the next two games in Philadelphia. The Lakers, however, ended those hopes by taking a 15-point lead in the first quarter. Julius Erving led a short comeback in the second, but a 9-0 run by the Lakers extended their lead to 14 at the half.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once again had a big game with 33 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and three assists as the Lakers cruised to a 111-101 win.

Game 4

May 11		Los Angeles Lakers 102, Philadelphia 76ers 105				The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attendance: 18,726	CBS
		Scoring by quarter: 21–28, 30–21, 25–32, 26–24
		Pts: Johnson 28 Rebs: Abdul-Jabbar 11 Asts: Johnson 9		Pts: Dawkins 26 Rebs: C. Jones 10 Asts: Hollins 13
		Series tied, 2–2

This game was a nip-and-tuck affair that was highlighted by Julius Erving's signature "Baseline Move" in the fourth quarter. The Sixers went on to even the series with a 105-102 win. Darryl Dawkins, who seemed to be growing into a legitimate NBA pivotman in this series (at least after he started breaking backboards), led the Sixers with 26 points, and Erving had 23.

Game 5

May 14		Philadelphia 76ers 103, Los Angeles Lakers 108				The Forum, Inglewood, California Attendance: 17,505 Referees: No. 10 Darell Garretson No. 12 Earl Strom	CBS
		Scoring by quarter: 22–25, 31–25, 20–31, 30–27
		Pts: Erving 36 Rebs: C. Jones 10 Asts: Hollins 10		Pts: Abdul-Jabbar 40 Rebs: Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson 15 each Asts: Johnson 10
		Los Angeles leads the series, 3–2

Back at the Forum, the Lakers held a two-point lead late in the third quarter when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stepped on Lionel Hollins' foot as he was running upcourt after a Laker basket and twisted his ankle. At that point, Kareem had scored 26 points and was carrying the Lakers, but now he was in the locker room. Magic Johnson then asserted himself by scoring six points and added an assist as Los Angeles moved up by eight at the end of the third.

Abdul-Jabbar then limped back onto the floor. His appearance aroused the Forum regulars and, despite the bad ankle, scored 11 points and had two key blocked shots down the stretch. The Sixers, however, had Julius Erving who scored 11 of the Sixers last 13 points to complete an 8 point comeback, and tie the game at 103-103 with only 43 seconds remaining.

On the Lakers possession, Darryl Dawkins was trying to front Abdul-Jabbar but to no avail as Magic threw a pass overhead so only Erving stood between Kareem and the basket. Abdul-Jabbar, bad ankle and all, dunked emphatically over Erving and drew the foul with 33 seconds left. He converted the 3-point play to take a 106-103 lead.

After a timeout, the Sixers put the ball in Erving's hands who tried a spectacular, scooping finger-roll, but missed. Magic got the rebound to seemingly seal the win, but the Lakers tried to force the fast-break and ended up turning the ball over, out-of-bounds. However, the Sixers turned the ball right back over by stepping out of bounds on a desperation 3-point attempt. Norm Nixon would finally seal the game at the foul line by making both of his foul shots. The victory gave the Lakers the crucial 3-2 series lead heading back to Philadelphia.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 14 point 4th quarter on a bad ankle capped an overall 40 point performance. After Game 5 Abdul-Jabbar was averaging 33.4 points per game as compared to eventual MVP Magic Johnson's 17.4.

Game 6

May 16		Los Angeles Lakers 123, Philadelphia 76ers 107				The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attendance: 18,726 Referees: No. 7 Joe Gushue No. 14 Jack Madden	CBS
		Scoring by quarter: 32–29, 28–31, 33–23, 30–24
		Pts: Johnson 42 Rebs: Johnson 15 Asts: Nixon 9		Pts: Erving 27 Rebs: R. Jones 9 Asts: Cheeks 8
		Los Angeles wins the series, 4–2

The Lakers' team doctors declared Abdul-Jabbar and his bad ankle unfit for Game 6 (he wasn't even allowed to make the trip to Philadelphia with the team because of the swelling), so Laker coach Paul Westhead made a bold move by asking Magic Johnson to jump center. Johnson had no problem and was up to the challenge, although he would lose the famous opening tip to Caldwell Jones. Early on, the Sixers seemed unsure how to counter the matchup problem. The Lakers went up 7-0, then 11-4. Finally, the Sixers used their newfound size advantage in the second quarter to take a 52-44 lead. The Lakers countered by collapsing more in the paint and rallied for a 60-60 tie at the half.

Los Angeles opened the third period with a 14-0 run, keyed by Jamaal Wilkes, who had 16 points in the quarter. In the fourth with a little over five minutes left, the Sixers had rallied to cut the Laker lead to 103-101. After a timeout, the tired Lakers went on one last run, with Magic scoring nine points down the stretch on the way to a final 123-107 margin.

Wilkes had a career-high 37 points and added 10 rebounds. Jim Chones effectively shut down the middle in place of Abdul-Jabbar and finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and held Darryl Dawkins to 14 points and a scant four rebounds. Michael Cooper, in a rare start, scored 16 points, and Mark Landsberger contributed 10 boards.

But, this night belonged to the rookie MVP Magic. He scored 42 points, including all 14 of his free-throw attempts. He added 15 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block. "It was amazing, just amazing," said Erving, who led Philly with 27 points.

Quote from the Finals

It's 89-84, Sixers. They get it in-SIDE and, AND unbelievable!! Julius Erving, put it in hanging underneath-he was trapped! And he still got the field goal!

—Brent Musburger describing the "Baseline Move" of Julius Erving in Game 4

There it is, it's over and the Most Valuable Player is Magic Johnson. 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists, he starts at center, plays forward and guard, and leads the Los Angeles Lakers to a world championship 123-107 over Philadelphia, without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

—Brent Musburger describing the end of the 1980 NBA Finals for CBS Sports

Aftermath

The Lakers failed to defend their NBA championship in the 1980-81 NBA season. Magic Johnson missed 45 games to a torn cartilage in his knee. When he returned, the Lakers were already playing on a deliberate half-court style, which suits the team's captain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, well. Though the Lakers won 54 games that season, they lost to the Houston Rockets 2-1 in the first round, with the clash of styles an apparent reason for their demise. The Rockets would go on to make the NBA Finals that season. Lakers coach Paul Westhead was fired early in the 1981-82 NBA season, and was replaced by top assistant Pat Riley. He would guide the Lakers to the championship that year.

The Sixers won 62 games in the 1981 season, giving Julius Erving the MVP award that season. However, the Boston Celtics owned the home-court advantage because of a tie-breaker. The two teams would meet in the Eastern Conference Finals, where the Sixers owned a 3-1 lead. However the Celtics made a resounding comeback, winning the final three games to oust the Sixers. They would win the NBA title that season.

The Sixers and Lakers would later meet in the NBA Finals in 1982, 1983 and 2001, with the Lakers winning two of three.

See also

• 1980 NBA Playoffs

External links

• NBA History