The 1980–81 NBA season was the 35th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Houston Rockets 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.
Notable occurrences
- The Dallas Mavericks become the league's 23rd franchise. As a result, the NBA realigns four of its teams to better reflect its geographical location (the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls move to the Eastern Conference; the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets to the Western Conference).
- The 1981 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Richfield Coliseum near Cleveland, Ohio, with the East defeating the West 123–120. Nate Archibald of the Boston Celtics wins the game's MVP award.
- As of March 2010, this was the final time that a regular-season had ended during the month of March.
- The Houston Rockets (40–42) become just the second team in NBA history to make the finals without posting a winning record during the regular season. The Kansas City Kings, their opponents in the Western Conference Finals, also posted a 40–42 record.
Final standings
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
C - NBA Champions
Statistics leaders
NBA awards
Note: All information on this page were obtained on the History section on NBA.com
See also