On March 6, 1982, San Antonio beat Milwaukee 171–166 in three overtime periods to set the record for most points by two teams in a game.[3] The record was broken two seasons later.
Magic Johnson secures his second NBA Finals MVP award several months before his 23rd birthday.
The Los Angeles Lakers begin a string of nine consecutive seasons as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
The Denver Nuggets scored at least 100 points in every single game of the season, while also allowing 100 points in every game. It remains the only time this has occurred in NBA history.
After a few years of success in NCAA basketball, the breakaway rim became standardized equipment in the NBA.
The three-to-make-two free throw rule, along with the two-to-make one rule (both used when a team exceeded five team fouls in a quarter), were both eliminated.
A ticket for an October 1981 pre-season game between the Dallas Mavericks and the season's eventual Eastern Conference champions Philadelphia 76ers.
By conference
Notes
z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs and first round bye
c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs and first round bye
y – Clinched division title and first round bye
x – Clinched playoff spot
Playoffs
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.
^Zimmer, David M. (January 3, 2022). "The teams came to the Meadowlands, then they left. So what happened?". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
^"3 Overtimes And 337 Points". The New York Times. March 7, 1982. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
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