1980 NBA playoffs

The 1980 NBA playoffs were the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1979–80 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. The Lakers earned their seventh NBA title, their second since moving from Minneapolis.

1980 NBA playoffs
DatesApril 2–May 16, 1980
Season1979–80
Teams12
ChampionsLos Angeles Lakers (7th title)
Runners-upPhiladelphia 76ers (5th finals appearance)
Semifinalists
← 1979 1981 →

Magic Johnson became the first and (as of 2019), only rookie to be named NBA Finals MVP, leading L.A. to a clinching Game 6 victory with 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists. With center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar out with a severely sprained ankle, Johnson started at center instead, and ultimately played all five positions on the court in the game.

Philadelphia earned their third Eastern Conference championship, but were unsuccessful in capturing their second NBA title.

The Milwaukee Bucks appeared in the playoffs for the last time as a member of the West; the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs likewise appeared for the last time playing for the East. They switched conferences (along with the Chicago Bulls) in the 1980–81 season with the addition of the Dallas Mavericks. The Bucks made the playoffs for the first time since 1978, starting a string of twelve consecutive appearances that included three Conference Finals appearances (1983, 1984, and 1986) and seven consecutive division titles (1980-1986). They did not miss the playoffs again until 1992.

Bracket
  1st Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
                                     
       
  1 Los Angeles 4  
    4 Phoenix 1  
4 Phoenix 2
5 Kansas City 1  
  1 Los Angeles 4  
Western Conference
  3 Seattle 1  
3 Seattle 2  
6 Portland 1  
  3 Seattle 4
    2 Milwaukee 3  
     
       
  W1 Los Angeles 4
  E3 Philadelphia 2
       
       
  1 Boston 4
    4 Houston 0  
4 Houston 2
5 San Antonio 1  
  1 Boston 1
Eastern Conference
  3 Philadelphia 4  
3 Philadelphia 2  
6 Washington 0  
  3 Philadelphia 4
    2 Atlanta 1  
     

Western Conference

Champion: Los Angeles Lakers

1st Round

(1) Los Angeles Lakers and (2) Milwaukee Bucks have first-round byes.

(3) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers: Sonics win series 2–1

  • Game 1 @ Seattle (April 2): Seattle 120, Portland 110
  • Game 2 @ Portland (April 4): Portland 105, Seattle 95 (OT)
  • Game 3 @ Seattle (April 6): Seattle 103, Portland 86

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the SuperSonics winning the first meeting.

(4) Phoenix Suns vs. (5) Kansas City Kings: Suns win series 2–1

  • Game 1 @ Phoenix (April 2): Phoenix 96, Kansas City 93
  • Game 2 @ Kansas City (April 4): Kansas City 106, Phoenix 96
  • Game 3 @ Phoenix (April 6): Phoenix 114, Kansas City 99

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Suns winning the first meeting.

Conference Semifinals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Phoenix Suns: Lakers win series 4–1

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles (April 8): Los Angeles 119, Phoenix 110
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles (April 9): Los Angeles 131, Phoenix 128
  • Game 3 @ Phoenix (April 11): Los Angeles 108, Phoenix 105
  • Game 4 @ Phoenix (April 13): Phoenix 127, Los Angeles 101
  • Game 5 @ Los Angeles (April 15): Los Angeles 126, Phoenix 101

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first meeting.

(2) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (3) Seattle SuperSonics: Sonics win series 4–3

  • Game 1 @ Seattle (April 8): Seattle 114, Milwaukee 113 (OT; Dennis Johnson hits 3 pointer with 1 second left)
  • Game 2 @ Seattle (April 9): Milwaukee 114, Seattle 112
  • Game 3 @ Milwaukee (April 11): Milwaukee 95, Seattle 91
  • Game 4 @ Milwaukee (April 13): Seattle 112, Milwaukee 107
  • Game 5 @ Seattle (April 15): Milwaukee 108, Seattle 97 (NBA then-record attendance of 40,172 at Seattle's Kingdome)[4]
  • Game 6 @ Milwaukee (April 18): Seattle 86, Milwaukee 85
  • Game 7 @ Seattle (April 20): Seattle 98, Milwaukee 94

This was the first playoff meeting between the Bucks and the SuperSonics.[5]

Conference Finals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Seattle SuperSonics: Lakers win series 4–1

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles (April 22): Seattle 108, Los Angeles 107 (Jack Sikma hits a game-winning free throw with 2 seconds left)
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles (April 23): Los Angeles 108, Seattle 99
  • Game 3 @ Seattle (April 25): Los Angeles 104, Seattle 100
  • Game 4 @ Seattle (April 27): Los Angeles 98, Seattle 93
  • Game 5 @ Los Angeles (April 30): Los Angeles 111, Seattle 105
  • Both of Seattle's home games in the series were played at the Hec Edmunson Pavilion on the University of Washington campus due to the unavailability of the Kingdome and the Seattle Center Coliseum.

This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the SuperSonics winning the first two meetings.

Eastern Conference

Champion: Philadelphia 76ers

(1) Boston Celtics and (2) Atlanta Hawks have first round byes.

(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Washington Bullets: 76ers win series 2–0

  • Game 1 @ Philadelphia (April 2): Philadelphia 111, Washington 96
  • Game 2 @ Washington (April 4): Philadelphia 112, Washington 104

This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bullets winning the first two meetings.

(4) Houston Rockets vs. (5) San Antonio Spurs: Rockets win series 2–1

  • Game 1 @ Houston (April 2): Houston 95, San Antonio 85
  • Game 2 @ San Antonio (April 4): San Antonio 106, Houston 101
  • Game 3 @ Houston (April 6): Houston 141, San Antonio 120

This was the first playoff meeting between the Rockets and the Spurs.[8]

Conference Semifinals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Houston Rockets: Celtics win series 4–0

  • Game 1 @ Boston (April 9): Boston 119, Houston 101
  • Game 2 @ Boston (April 11): Boston 95, Houston 75
  • Game 3 @ Houston (April 13): Boston 100, Houston 81
  • Game 4 @ Houston (April 14): Boston 138, Houston 121 (Rick Barry's final NBA game)

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning the first meeting.

(2) Atlanta Hawks vs. (3) Philadelphia 76ers: 76ers win series 4–1

  • Game 1 @ Philadelphia (April 6): Philadelphia 107, Atlanta 104
  • Game 2 @ Philadelphia (April 9): Philadelphia 99, Atlanta 92
  • Game 3 @ Atlanta (April 10): Atlanta 105, Philadelphia 93
  • Game 4 @ Atlanta (April 13): Philadelphia 107, Atlanta 83
  • Game 5 @ Philadelphia (April 15): Philadelphia 105, Atlanta 100

This was the first playoff meeting between the Hawks and the 76ers.[10]

Conference Finals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Philadelphia 76ers: 76ers win series 4–1

  • Game 1 @ Boston (April 18): Philadelphia 96, Boston 93
  • Game 2 @ Boston (April 20): Boston 96, Philadelphia 90
  • Game 3 @ Philadelphia (April 23): Philadelphia 99, Boston 97
  • Game 4 @ Philadelphia (April 25): Philadelphia 102, Boston 90
  • Game 5 @ Boston (April 27): Philadelphia 105, Boston 94 (Pete Maravich's final NBA game; Dave Cowens' final NBA game with Celtics)

This was the 15th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning eight of the first 14 meetings.

NBA Finals
Main article: 1980 NBA Finals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Philadelphia 76ers: Lakers win series 4–2

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles (May 4): Los Angeles 109, Philadelphia 102
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles (May 7): Philadelphia 107, Los Angeles 104
  • Game 3 @ Philadelphia (May 10): Los Angeles 111, Philadelphia 101
  • Game 4 @ Philadelphia (May 11): Philadelphia 105, Los Angeles 102 (Julius Erving makes the "Up and Under" move)
  • Game 5 @ Los Angeles (May 14): Los Angeles 108, Philadelphia 103 (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dunks the clutch 3-point play with 33 seconds left)
  • Game 6 @ Philadelphia (May 16): Los Angeles 123, Philadelphia 107 (Magic Johnson starts at Center, scores 42 points to win Finals MVP)

This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first two meetings. These series took place prior to the relocation of the Lakers (1960) and 76ers (formerly Nationals) (1963).

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References
  1. "Team Rivalry Finder — Oklahoma City Thunder versus Portland Trail Blazers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  2. "Team Rivalry Finder — Phoenix Suns versus Sacramento Kings (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  3. "Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus Phoenix Suns (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  4. "Bucks Beat Sonics for 3-2 Lead", The Washington Post, April 17, 1980
  5. "Team Rivalry Finder — Milwaukee Bucks versus Oklahoma City Thunder (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  6. "Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus Oklahoma City Thunder (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  7. "Team Rivalry Finder — Philadelphia 76ers versus Washington Wizards (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  8. "Team Rivalry Finder — Houston Rockets versus San Antonio Spurs (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  9. "Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Houston Rockets (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  10. "Team Rivalry Finder — Atlanta Hawks versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  11. "Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  12. "Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
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