NBA
1980-81 Season
Champions: Boston Celtics (4-2)
Full 1980-81 playoff bracket →
The 1980-81 NBA season featured 23 teams across 996 recorded games. Boston Celtics posted the league's best record at 62-20. Boston Celtics won the championship, defeating Houston Rockets 4-2 in the Finals. Cedric Maxwell was named Finals MVP; Julius Erving took the regular-season MVP award.
Final Standings
Eastern Conference
- Boston Celtics 🏆 62-20 0.756
- Philadelphia 76ers 62-20 0.756
- Milwaukee Bucks 60-22 0.732
- New York Knicks 50-32 0.610
- Chicago Bulls 45-37 0.549
- Indiana Pacers 44-38 0.537
- Washington Bullets 39-43 0.476
- Atlanta Hawks 31-51 0.378
- Cleveland Cavaliers 28-54 0.341
- New Jersey Nets 24-58 0.293
- Detroit Pistons 21-61 0.256
Western Conference
- Phoenix Suns 57-25 0.695
- Los Angeles Lakers 54-28 0.659
- San Antonio Spurs 52-30 0.634
- Portland Trail Blazers 45-37 0.549
- Houston Rockets 40-42 0.488
- Kansas City Kings 40-42 0.488
- Golden State Warriors 39-43 0.476
- Denver Nuggets 37-45 0.451
- San Diego Clippers 36-46 0.439
- Seattle SuperSonics 34-48 0.415
- Utah Jazz 28-54 0.341
- Dallas Mavericks 15-67 0.183
Season Leaders
Scoring
- 1 Adrian Dantley UTA 30.6 PPG
- 2 Moses Malone HOU 27.8 PPG
- 3 George Gervin SAS 27.1 PPG
- 4 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar LAL 26.2 PPG
- 5 David Thompson DEN 25.5 PPG
Rebounding
- 1 Moses Malone HOU 14.8 RPG
- 2 Swen Nater SDC 12.4 RPG
- 3 Larry Smith GSW 12.1 RPG
- 4 Larry Bird BOS 10.9 RPG
- 5 Wes Unseld WSB 10.7 RPG
Assists
- 1 Kevin Porter WSB 9.1 APG
- 2 Norm Nixon LAL 8.8 APG
- 3 Phil Ford KCK 8.8 APG
- 4 Micheal Ray Richardson NYK 7.9 APG
- 5 Nate Archibald BOS 7.7 APG
1980 Draft — Top Picks
- #1 Joe Barry Carroll Golden State Warriors
- #2 Darrell Griffith Utah Jazz
- #3 Kevin McHale Boston Celtics