1984 NBA Playoffs

The 1984 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1983-84 season. This was the first postseason allowing 16 teams to qualify, a format that is still in use as of 2008. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating their rivals, the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers, four games to three in the NBA Finals. Larry Bird was named NBA Finals MVP for the first time in his Hall of Fame career.

It was the first NBA Finals meeting between the Celtics and Lakers since 1969; the storied rivals met seven times in the championship series from 1959 to 1969, with Boston coming out on top each year. Going into the 1984 playoffs the Lakers had already won two championships in the 1980s and the Celtics one, making the renewal of the Lakers/Celtics rivalry arguably inevitable and certainly highly anticipated.

Two teams made their playoff debuts (and won their first playoff series) in the 1984 playoffs: the Utah Jazz (who joined the NBA for the 1974-75 season as the New Orleans Jazz) and the Dallas Mavericks, a 1980-81 expansion team. The Jazz would not miss the playoffs again until 2004.

The Detroit Pistons made their first playoff appearance since 1977; they would not miss the postseason again until 1993.

Bracket

16TeamBracket

RD1=First Round
RD2=Conference Semifinals
RD3=Conference Finals
RD4=NBA Finals
group1=Western Conference
group2=Eastern Conference

RD1-seed01=1
RD1-team01=Los Angeles
RD1-score01=3
RD1-seed02=8
RD1-team02=Kansas City
RD1-score02=0

RD1-seed03=4
RD1-team03=Dallas
RD1-score03=3
RD1-seed04=5
RD1-team04=Seattle
RD1-score04=2

RD1-seed05=3
RD1-team05=Portland
RD1-score05=2
RD1-seed06=6
RD1-team06=Phoenix
RD1-score06=3

RD1-seed07=2
RD1-team07=Utah
RD1-score07=3
RD1-seed08=7
RD1-team08=Denver
RD1-score08=2

RD1-seed09=1
RD1-team09=Boston
RD1-score09=3
RD1-seed10=8
RD1-team10=Washington
RD1-score10=1

RD1-seed11=4
RD1-team11=Detroit
RD1-score11=2
RD1-seed12=5
RD1-team12=New York
RD1-score12=3

RD1-seed13=3
RD1-team13=Philadelphia
RD1-score13=2
RD1-seed14=6
RD1-team14=New Jersey
RD1-score14=3

RD1-seed15=2
RD1-team15=Milwaukee
RD1-score15=3
RD1-seed16=7
RD1-team16=Atlanta
RD1-score16=2

RD2-seed01=1
RD2-team01=Los Angeles
RD2-score01=4
RD2-seed02=4
RD2-team02=Dallas
RD2-score02=1

RD2-seed03=6
RD2-team03=Phoenix
RD2-score03=4
RD2-seed04=2
RD2-team04=Utah
RD2-score04=2

RD2-seed05=1
RD2-team05=Boston
RD2-score05=4
RD2-seed06=5
RD2-team06=New York
RD2-score06=3

RD2-seed07=6
RD2-team07=New Jersey
RD2-score07=2
RD2-seed08=2
RD2-team08=Milwaukee
RD2-score08=4

RD3-seed01=1
RD3-team01=Los Angeles
RD3-score01=4
RD3-seed02=6
RD3-team02=Phoenix
RD3-score02=2

RD3-seed03=1
RD3-team03=Boston
RD3-score03=4
RD3-seed04=2
RD3-team04=Milwaukee
RD3-score04=1

RD4-seed01=W1
RD4-team01=Los Angeles
RD4-score01=3
RD4-seed02=E1
RD4-team02=Boston
RD4-score02=4

Western Conference

Champion: Los Angeles Lakers

1st Round

=(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Kansas City Kings=

(4) Dallas Mavericks vs. (5) Seattle SuperSonics

Conference Finals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (6) Phoenix Suns

(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) New Jersey Nets

(2) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (6) New Jersey Nets

External links

* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1984.html Basketball-Reference.com's 1984 NBA Playoffs page]