1980–81 New York Knicks season

1980–81 New York Knicks season
1980–81 New York Knicks season
Head coach	Red Holzman
General manager	Eddie Donovan
Owners	Gulf+Western / Paramount Communications
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Results
Record	50–32 (.610)
Place	Division: 3rd (Atlantic); Conference: 4th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	First round; (lost to Bulls 0–2)
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WOR-TV; MSG Network
Radio	WNEW
< 1979–80	1981–82 >

The 1980–81 New York Knicks season was the 35th season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the regular season, the Knicks finished in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 50–32 win–loss record, qualifying for the 1981 NBA Playoffs. New York lost in the best-of-three first round to the Chicago Bulls in a two-game sweep.^[3]

NBA draft

Note: This is not an extensive list; it only covers the first and second rounds, and any other players picked by the franchise that played at least one game in the league.^[4]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	12	Mike Woodson	G/F	United States	Indiana
2	36	DeWayne Scales	F	United States	LSU
3	58	Kurt Rambis	F	United States	Santa Clara

Roster

1980–81 New York Knicks roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From
SG	35	Carter, Reggie	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1957-10-10	St. John's
C	25	Cartwright, Bill	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	1957-07-30	San Francisco
PF	42	Demic, Larry	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1957-06-27	Arizona
PG	34	Glenn, Mike	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1955-09-10	Southern Illinois
SF	43	Knight, Toby (IN)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1955-05-03	Notre Dame
SG	20	Richardson, Micheal Ray	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	1955-04-11	Montana
SF	21	Russell, Campy	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1952-01-12	Michigan
PF	31	Scales, DeWayne	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	208 lb (94 kg)	1958-12-28	LSU
C	40	Webster, Marvin	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1952-04-13	Morgan State
PG	13	Williams, Ray	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	1954-10-14	Minnesota
PF	33	Williams, Sly	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1958-01-26	Rhode Island
SG	44	Woodson, Mike	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1958-03-24	Indiana

Head coach

Red Holzman

Assistant coach(es)

Butch Beard
Hal Fischer

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Roster
Last transaction: January 30, 1981

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division v t e	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

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	60	22	.732	2
3	x-Philadelphia 76ers	62	20	.756	–
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

Notes

z, y – division champions
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1980–81 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–4	2–4	1–5	2–0	1–1	4–2	2–0	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	1–5	3–2	2–4	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–4
Boston	4–2	—	5–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	4–1	1–1	2–0	3–3	1–1	2–0	3–3	6–0	5–1	3–3	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	5–1
Chicago	4–2	1–5	—	5–1	1–1	1–1	5–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	3–3	3–2	3–3	2–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	5–1
Cleveland	5–1	1–4	1–5	—	2–0	1–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	2–4	0–2	0–2	0–6	3–3	0–5	0–6	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2
Dallas	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	—	3–3	0–2	2–3	0–6	0–2	0–6	0–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–4	1–4	1–5	2–3	1–4	1–5	0–2
Denver	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	—	2–0	3–2	2–4	1–1	4–2	3–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–4	2–3	2–4	3–2	3–2	2–4	0–2
Detroit	2–4	1–4	1–5	3–3	2–0	0–2	—	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–5	3–3	1–5	1–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–5
Golden State	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–3	2–0	—	3–2	1–1	5–0	1–5	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–4	2–4	1–4	2–4	3–3	4–1	1–1
Houston	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	6–0	4–2	1–1	2–3	—	1–1	2–4	2–3	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–4	3–2	3–3	1–4	4–1	4–2	0–2
Indiana	5–1	3–3	2–3	4–2	2–0	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	0–2	2–4	5–1	3–2	0–6	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2
Kansas City	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	6–0	2–4	1–1	0–5	4–2	0–2	—	0–5	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–2	3–2	2–4	3–2	2–3	5–1	1–1
Los Angeles	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	5–0	2–3	2–0	5–1	3–2	2–0	5–0	—	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–4	3–3	2–3	3–3	6–0	3–2	1–1
Milwaukee	5–1	3–3	3–3	6–0	2–0	1–1	5–1	1–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	2–0	—	5–1	3–3	3–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–1
New Jersey	2–3	0–6	2–3	3–3	1–1	1–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	1–5	0–2	0–2	1–5	—	0–6	1–5	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3
New York	4–2	1–5	3–3	5–0	1–1	2–0	5–1	0–2	2–0	2–3	1–1	0–2	3–3	6–0	—	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–2
Philadelphia	5–1	3–3	4–2	6–0	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	6–0	2–0	1–1	2–3	5–1	3–3	—	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–2
Phoenix	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	4–1	2–0	4–2	4–1	1–1	2–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	—	3–3	3–2	6–0	5–1	5–0	1–1
Portland	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	3–2	2–0	4–2	2–3	2–0	2–3	3–3	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	—	2–3	4–2	4–2	2–3	2–0
San Antonio	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	5–1	4–2	2–0	4–1	3–3	0–2	4–2	3–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–3	3–2	—	4–1	3–2	5–1	1–1
San Diego	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–3	1–1	4–2	4–1	1–1	2–3	3–3	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–6	2–4	1–4	—	5–1	3–2	0–2
Seattle	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	4–1	2–3	2–0	3–3	1–4	2–0	3–2	0–6	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–5	2–4	2–3	1–5	—	4–1	1–1
Utah	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	5–1	4–2	2–0	1–4	2–4	1–1	1–5	2–3	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–5	3–2	1–5	2–3	1–4	—	0–2
Washington	4–1	1–5	1–5	2–4	2–0	2–0	5–1	1–1	2–0	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–4	3–3	2–4	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	—

Game log

Playoffs

1981 playoff game log

First Round: 0–2 (home: 0–1; road: 0–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	March 31	Chicago	L 80–90	Ray Williams (19)	Micheal Ray Richardson (13)	Micheal Ray Richardson (6)	Madison Square Garden 14,822	0–1
2	April 3	@ Chicago	W 114–115 (OT)	Campy Russell (29)	three players tied (6)	three players tied (5)	Chicago Stadium 19,901	0–2

1981 schedule

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Micheal Ray Richardson, NBA All-Defensive First Team^[5]

Transactions

References

^ ^a ^b The Fourth Estate (PDF). New York Knicks. 2003. p. 331. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
^ The Fourth Estate (PDF). New York Knicks. 2003. p. 330. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
^ "1980–81 New York Knickerbockers Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
^ "1980 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
^ "NBA & ABA All-Defensive Teams". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved September 21, 2013.

[fourth-1] The Fourth Estate (PDF). New York Knicks. 2003. p. 331. Retrieved January 24, 2018.

[2] The Fourth Estate (PDF). New York Knicks. 2003. p. 330. Retrieved January 24, 2018.

[3] "1980–81 New York Knickerbockers Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2010.

[4] "1980 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 23, 2013.

[5] "NBA & ABA All-Defensive Teams". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved September 21, 2013.

[3]

[1]

[2]

[4]

[5]