NBA
1981-82 Season
Champions: Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)
Full 1981-82 playoff bracket →
The 1981-82 NBA season featured 23 teams across 990 recorded games. Boston Celtics posted the league's best record at 63-19. Los Angeles Lakers won the championship, defeating Philadelphia 76ers 4-2 in the Finals. Magic Johnson was named Finals MVP; Moses Malone took the regular-season MVP award.
Final Standings
Eastern Conference
- Boston Celtics 63-19 0.768
- Philadelphia 76ers 58-24 0.707
- Milwaukee Bucks 55-27 0.671
- New Jersey Nets 44-38 0.537
- Washington Bullets 43-39 0.524
- Atlanta Hawks 42-40 0.512
- Detroit Pistons 39-43 0.476
- Indiana Pacers 35-47 0.427
- Chicago Bulls 34-48 0.415
- New York Knicks 33-49 0.402
- Cleveland Cavaliers 15-67 0.183
Western Conference
- Los Angeles Lakers 🏆 57-25 0.695
- Seattle SuperSonics 52-30 0.634
- San Antonio Spurs 48-34 0.585
- Phoenix Suns 46-36 0.561
- Houston Rockets 46-36 0.561
- Denver Nuggets 46-36 0.561
- Golden State Warriors 45-37 0.549
- Portland Trail Blazers 42-40 0.512
- Kansas City Kings 30-52 0.366
- Dallas Mavericks 28-54 0.341
- Utah Jazz 25-57 0.305
- San Diego Clippers 17-65 0.207
Season Leaders
Scoring
- 1 George Gervin SAS 32.3 PPG
- 2 Moses Malone HOU 31.1 PPG
- 3 Adrian Dantley UTA 30.3 PPG
- 4 Alex English DEN 25.4 PPG
- 5 Julius Erving PHI 24.4 PPG
Rebounding
- 1 Moses Malone HOU 14.7 RPG
- 2 Jack Sikma SEA 12.7 RPG
- 3 Buck Williams NJN 12.3 RPG
- 4 Dan Roundfield ATL 11.8 RPG
- 5 Mychal Thompson POR 11.7 RPG
Assists
- 1 Johnny Moore SAS 9.6 APG
- 2 Magic Johnson LAL 9.5 APG
- 3 Maurice Cheeks PHI 8.4 APG
- 4 Nate Archibald BOS 8.0 APG
- 5 Norm Nixon LAL 8.0 APG
1981 Draft — Top Picks
- #1 Mark Aguirre Dallas Mavericks
- #2 Isiah Thomas Detroit Pistons
- #3 Buck Williams New Jersey Nets