The 1984–85 NBA season was the 39th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Boston Celtics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. This was David Stern's first full season as commissioner.

1983–84 NBA season
LeagueNational Basketball Association
SportBasketball
DurationOctober 26, 1984 – April 14, 1985
April 17 – May 22, 1985 (Playoffs)
May 27 – June 9, 1985 (Finals)
Number of teams23
TV partner(s)CBS, TBS
Draft
Top draft pickAkeem Olajuwon
Picked byHouston Rockets
Regular season
Top seedBoston Celtics
Season MVPLarry Bird (Boston)
Top scorerBernard King (New York)
Playoffs
Eastern championsBoston Celtics
  Eastern runners-upPhiladelphia 76ers
Western championsLos Angeles Lakers
  Western runners-upDenver Nuggets
Finals
ChampionsLos Angeles Lakers
  Runners-upBoston Celtics
Finals MVPKareem Abdul-Jabbar (L.A. Lakers)
NBA seasons

Notable occurrences

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Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 1983–84 coach 1984–85 coach
Cleveland Cavaliers Tom Nissalke George Karl
Indiana Pacers Jack McKinney George Irvine
Kansas City Kings Cotton Fitzsimmons Jack McKinney
San Antonio Spurs Bob Bass Cotton Fitzsimmons
In-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach
Los Angeles Clippers Jim Lynam Don Chaney
Kansas City Kings Jack McKinney Phil Johnson

Teams

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1984-85 National Basketball Association
Eastern Conference
Division Team City Arena Capacity
Atlantic Boston Celtics Boston, Massachusetts Boston Garden 14,890
New Jersey Nets East Rutherford, New Jersey Brendan Byrne Arena 20,049
New York Knicks New York, New York Madison Square Garden 19,812
Philadelphia 76ers Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Spectrum 18,176
Washington Bullets Landover, Maryland Capital Centre 18,756
Central Atlanta Hawks Atlanta, Georgia Omni Coliseum 16,378
Chicago Bulls Chicago, Illinois Chicago Stadium 18,676
Cleveland Cavaliers Richfield, Ohio Richfield Coliseum 20,900
Detroit Pistons Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac Silverdome 33,000
Indiana Pacers Indianapolis, Indiana Market Square Arena 17,171
Milwaukee Bucks Milwaukee, Wisconsin MECCA Arena 10,783
Western Conference
Midwest Dallas Mavericks Dallas, Texas Reunion Arena 18,293
Denver Nuggets Denver, Colorado McNichols Sports Arena 17,171
Houston Rockets Houston, Texas The Summit 16,285
Kansas City Kings Kansas City, Missouri Kemper Arena 16,700
San Antonio Spurs San Antonio, Texas HemisFair Arena 16,057
Utah Jazz Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Palace 12,686
Pacific Golden State Warriors Oakland, California Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena 13,335
Los Angeles Clippers Los Angeles, California Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 16,161
Los Angeles Lakers Inglewood, California The Forum 17,505
Phoenix Suns Phoenix, Arizona Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,870
Portland Trail Blazers Portland, Oregon Memorial Coliseum 12,888
Seattle SuperSonics Seattle, Washington Kingdome 59,166

Map of teams

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  Atlantic Division   Central Division   Midwest Division   Pacific Division

Final standings

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By division

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W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Boston Celtics 63 19 .768 35–6 28–13 19–5
x-Philadelphia 76ers 58 24 .707 5 34–7 24–17 15–9
x-New Jersey Nets 42 40 .512 21 27–14 15–26 13–11
x-Washington Bullets 40 42 .488 23 28–13 12–29 11–13
New York Knicks 24 58 .293 39 19–22 5–36 2–22
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Milwaukee Bucks 59 23 .720 36–5 23–18 20–10
x-Detroit Pistons 46 36 .561 13 26–15 20–21 21–8
x-Chicago Bulls 38 44 .463 21 26–15 12–29 13–17
x-Cleveland Cavaliers 36 46 .439 23 20–21 16–25 13–16
Atlanta Hawks 34 48 .415 25 19–22 15–26 15–15
Indiana Pacers 22 60 .268 37 16–25 6–35 7–23
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Denver Nuggets 52 30 .634 34–7 18–23 17–13
x-Houston Rockets 48 34 .585 4 29–12 19–22 20–10
x-Dallas Mavericks 44 38 .537 8 24–17 20–21 14–16
x-Utah Jazz 41 41 .500 11 26–15 15–26 19–11
x-San Antonio Spurs 41 41 .500 11 30–11 11–30 12–18
Kansas City Kings 31 51 .378 21 23–18 8–33 8–22
W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 62 20 .756 36–5 26–15 18–12
x-Portland Trail Blazers 42 40 .512 20 33–8 15–26 17–13
x-Phoenix Suns 36 46 .439 26 32–9 10–31 14–16
Seattle SuperSonics 31 51 .378 31 31–10 10–31 16–14
Los Angeles Clippers 31 51 .378 31 27–14 10–31 13–17
Golden State Warriors 22 60 .268 40 25–16 5–36 12–18

By conference

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#
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Boston Celtics 63 19 .768
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks 59 23 .720 4
3 x-Philadelphia 76ers 58 24 .707 5
4 x-Detroit Pistons 46 36 .561 17
5 x-New Jersey Nets 42 40 .512 21
6 x-Washington Bullets 40 42 .488 23
7 x-Chicago Bulls 38 44 .463 25
8 x-Cleveland Cavaliers 36 46 .439 27
9 Atlanta Hawks 34 48 .415 29
10 New York Knicks 24 58 .293 39
11 Indiana Pacers 22 60 .268 41
#
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Los Angeles Lakers 62 20 .756
2 y-Denver Nuggets 52 30 .634 10
3 x-Houston Rockets 48 34 .585 14
4 x-Dallas Mavericks 44 38 .537 18
5 x-Portland Trail Blazers 42 40 .512 20
6 x-Utah Jazz 41 41 .500 21
7 x-San Antonio Spurs 41 41 .500 21
8 x-Phoenix Suns 36 46 .439 26
9 Seattle SuperSonics 31 51 .378 31
10 Los Angeles Clippers 31 51 .378 31
11 Kansas City Kings 31 51 .378 31
12 Golden State Warriors 22 60 .268 40

Notes

  • z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
  • c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
  • y – Clinched division title
  • x – Clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

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A ticket for Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Lakers and the Trail Blazers.

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.

First Rounds Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
            
E1 Boston* 3
E8 Cleveland 1
E1 Boston* 4
E4 Detroit 2
E4 Detroit 3
E5 New Jersey 0
E1 Boston* 4
Eastern Conference
E3 Philadelphia 1
E3 Philadelphia 3
E6 Washington 1
E3 Philadelphia 4
E2 Milwaukee* 0
E2 Milwaukee* 3
E7 Chicago 1
E1 Boston* 2
W1 LA Lakers* 4
W1 LA Lakers* 3
W8 Phoenix 0
W1 LA Lakers* 4
W5 Portland 1
W4 Dallas 1
W5 Portland 3
W1 LA Lakers* 4
Western Conference
W2 Denver* 1
W3 Houston 2
W6 Utah 3
W6 Utah 1
W2 Denver* 4
W2 Denver* 3
W7 San Antonio 2
  • * Division winner
  • Bold Series winner
  • Italic Team with home-court advantage

Statistical leaders

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Individual statistic leaders

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Category Player Team(s) Statistic
Points per game Larry Bird Boston Celtics 28.7
Rebounds per game Moses Malone Philadelphia 76ers 13.1
Assists per game Isiah Thomas Detroit Pistons 13.9
Steals per game Michael Ray Richardson New Jersey Nets 2.9
Blocks per game Mark Eaton Utah Jazz 5.6
Turnovers per game Ralph Sampson Houston Rockets 4.0
Fouls per game Akeem Olajuwon Houston Rockets 4.2
Minutes per game Larry Bird Boston Celtics 39.5
FG% James Donaldson Los Angeles Clippers 63.7%
FT% Kyle Macy Phoenix Suns 90.7%
3P% Darrell Griffith Utah Jazz 35.8%
Efficiency per game Larry Bird Boston Celtics 26.5
Double-doubles Isiah Thomas Detroit Pistons 65
Triple-doubles Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 11

Individual game highs

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Category Player Team Statistic
Points Larry Bird Boston Celtics 60
Bernard King New York Knicks
Rebounds Akeem Olajuwon Houston Rockets 25
Assists Isiah Thomas Detroit Pistons 25
Steals Fat Lever Denver Nuggets 10
Johnny Moore San Antonio Spurs
Blocks Mark Eaton Utah Jazz 14

NBA awards

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Yearly awards

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Player of the week

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The following players were named NBA Player of the Week.

Week Player
Oct. 26 – Nov. 4 Larry Nance (Phoenix Suns)
Nov. 5 – Nov. 11 Alex English (Denver Nuggets)
Nov. 12 – Nov. 18 Moses Malone (Philadelphia 76ers)
Nov. 19 – Nov. 25 Bernard King (New York Knicks)
Nov. 26 – Dec. 2 Jack Sikma (Seattle SuperSonics)
Dec. 3 – Dec. 9 Orlando Woolridge (Chicago Bulls)
Dec. 10 – Dec. 16 Derek Smith (Los Angeles Clippers)
Dec. 17 – Dec. 23 Terry Cummings (Milwaukee Bucks)
Dec. 25 – Dec. 30 Micheal Ray Richardson (New Jersey Nets)
Jan. 1 – Jan. 6 Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons)
Jan. 7 – Jan. 13 World B. Free (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Jan. 14 – Jan. 20 Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
Jan. 21 – Jan. 27 Tom McMillen (Washington Bullets)
Jan. 28 – Feb. 3 Dominique Wilkins (Atlanta Hawks)
Feb. 4 – Feb. 17 Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
Feb. 18 – Feb. 24 Mark Aguirre (Dallas Mavericks)
Feb. 25 – Mar. 3 Sleepy Floyd (Golden State Warriors)
Mar. 4 – Mar. 10 Darrell Griffith (Utah Jazz)
Mar. 11 – Mar. 17 Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
Mar. 18 – Mar. 24 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)
Mar. 25 – Mar. 31 Calvin Natt (Denver Nuggets)
Apr. 1 – Apr. 7 Derek Smith (Los Angeles Clippers)
Apr. 8 – Apr. 14 Micheal Ray Richardson (New Jersey Nets)

Player of the month

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The following players were named NBA Player of the Month.

Month Player
November Alex English (Denver Nuggets)
December Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
January Terry Cummings (Milwaukee Bucks)
February Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
March Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)

Rookie of the month

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The following players were named NBA Rookie of the Month.

Month Rookie
November Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
December Akeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
January Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
February Akeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
March (tie) Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
March (tie) Akeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)

Coach of the month

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The following coaches were named NBA Coach of the Month.

Month Coach
November Doug Moe (Denver Nuggets)
December Don Nelson (Milwaukee Bucks)
January Chuck Daly (Detroit Pistons)
February George Karl (Cleveland Cavaliers)
March Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Cotton, Anthony (February 11, 1985). "Johnson-to-Sampson Setups Leave East Cold, 140-129". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 1, 2024.