1984 NBA playoffs


The 1984 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1983–84 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Larry Bird was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award|NBA Finals MVP].
This was the first postseason allowing 16 teams to qualify, a format still in use though the NBA used a play-in tournament to determine the 7th and 8th seeds since 2021.
The first round format was also changed from best-of-3 to best-of 5.
It was the first NBA Finals meeting between the Celtics and Lakers since 1969; they met 7 times in the Finals from 1959 to 1969, with Boston coming out on top each year. Going into the 1984 playoffs, the Lakers had already won 2 titles in the 1980s and the Celtics 1, making the revival of the Celtics–Lakers rivalry arguably inevitable and certainly highly anticipated.
Two teams made their playoff debuts and won their first playoff series: the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks, a 1980 expansion team. The Jazz did not miss the playoffs again until 2004.
The Detroit Pistons made the playoffs for the first time since 1977, starting a string of nine consecutive appearances that included five straight Conference Finals appearances, three consecutive NBA Finals appearances and two NBA Championships. They did not miss the playoffs again until 1993.
The New Jersey Nets won a playoff series for the first time in their NBA history, upsetting the defending champion Philadelphia 76ers in 5. This was also the only time the road team won every game in a five-game playoff series. The Nets would not win a playoff series again until 2002.
This was the final postseason appearance for the Kansas City Kings, as the team moved to Sacramento, California two seasons later. Kemper Arena hosted its final NBA playoff game.
The Kingdome also hosted its final NBA playoff game, as the Seattle SuperSonics moved back full-time to the Seattle Center Coliseum two years later. However, the Kingdome continued to host Sonics regular season games on occasion until.
The 1984 playoffs also involved two of the hottest games in NBA history. Game 5 of the First Round between the Knicks and Pistons was played at Joe Louis Arena, as the Pontiac Silverdome was unavailable, with temperatures reaching as high as 120°. Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Lakers at Boston Garden reached temperatures as high as 100°, as the Garden lacked air-conditioning, coupled with the sweltering outdoors conditions in Boston.
This is the last postseason of using the 2-2-1-1-1 format of the NBA Finals until 2014; the 1985 NBA Finals was changed to the 2-3-2 format the next season.

First round

Eastern Conference first round

(1) [Boston Celtics] vs. (8) [Washington Bullets]

  • Robert Parish hits the game-tying jumper with 21 seconds left to force OT.
Boston won 4–2 in the regular-season series


This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece.
Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series


(2) [Milwaukee Bucks] vs. (7) [Atlanta Hawks]

Tied 3–3 in the regular-season series


This was the first playoff meeting between the Hawks and the Bucks.

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

Tied 3–3 in the regular-season series


This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the 76ers winning the first meeting.
Philadelphia leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series


(4) [Detroit Pistons] vs. (5) [New York Knicks]

  • Bernard King/Isiah Thomas Duel. King put up 44 points while having the flu and both middle fingers dislocated, while Thomas scored 16 points in the last 93 seconds of regulation to force OT.
Detroit won 4–2 in the regular-season series


This was the first playoff meeting between the Pistons and the Knicks.

Western Conference first round

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

Los Angeles won 5–0 in the regular-season series


This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning five of the first six meetings. All previous series took place while the Lakers franchise were in Minneapolis and the Royals/Kings franchise in Rochester.
Los Angeles/ Minneapolis leads 5–1 in all-time playoff series


(2) [Utah Jazz] vs. (7) [Denver Nuggets]

Tied 3–3 in the regular-season series


This was the first playoff meeting between the Nuggets and the Jazz.

(3) [Portland Trail Blazers] vs. (6) [Phoenix Suns]

Portland won 4–2 in the regular-season series


This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Suns winning the first meeting.
Phoenix leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series


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

Rolando Blackman scored a jump shot with eight seconds remaining to give Dallas the lead and ultimately the win in their first playoff game.
Scheduling conflicts meant that Game 4 was played at the old home of the Sonics with the Kingdome.
Game 5 was not played at Reunion Arena because it was booked for a World Championship Tennis event. After considering the Dallas Convention Center, they elected to play it at Moody Coliseum, where they had played their training camp; they had to play the game on SMU's college court, which meant having to measure and tape down an improvised 3-point line. Blackman forced a jump shot with time expiring to force overtime. The final play wound up lasting fourteen minutes. With one second left on the clock at mid-court trying to inbound the ball, Jay Vincent tried bounce the ball off Tom Chambers to run out the clock but Chambers caught the ball at mid-court and missed the shot. Dallas walked off the court believing the game was over. However, referee Mike Mathis and co-officials Jake O’Donnell and Tommy Nunez debated for several minutes what to do because the clock never actually started on the play. Somehow, Seattle was ruled to have the ball to inbound from midcourt with one second that saw the Mavericks ordered back on the court. The Mavericks foiled the subsequent inbound attempt to end the game. Earning the nickname "Moody Madness" among Maverick fans, the victory was the first playoff series victory for the Mavericks in franchise history.
Seattle won 4–1 in the regular-season series


This was the first playoff meeting between the Mavericks and the SuperSonics.

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference semifinals

(1) [Boston Celtics] vs. (5) [New York Knicks]

Tied 3–3 in the regular-season series


This was the 11th playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning five series apiece.
Tied 5–5 in all-time playoff series


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

Milwaukee won 4–2 in the regular-season series


This was the first playoff meeting between the Bucks and the Nets.

Western Conference semifinals

(1) [Los Angeles Lakers] vs. (4) [Dallas Mavericks]

  • Pat Cummings hits the game-tying layup with 31 seconds left before Derek Harper made a mistake by dribbling out the clock thinking Dallas was ahead by one, when the score was actually tied.
Dallas won 3–2 in the regular-season series


This was the first playoff meeting between the Mavericks and the Lakers.

(2) [Utah Jazz] vs. (6) [Phoenix Suns]

  • Walter Davis hits the game-tying 3 pointer with 3 seconds left to force OT.
Utah won 4–1 in the regular-season series


This was the first playoff meeting between the Suns and the Jazz.

Conference finals

Eastern Conference finals

(1) [Boston Celtics] vs. (2) [Milwaukee Bucks]

Boston won 5–1 in the regular-season series


This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece.
Tied 1–1 in all-time playoff series


Western Conference finals

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

Tied 3–3 in the regular-season series


This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first three meetings.
Los Angeles leads 3–0 in all-time playoff series


NBA Finals: (E1) Boston Celtics vs. (W1) Los Angeles Lakers

  • Gerald Henderson stole a James Worthy pass and made a layup to tie the game with 13 seconds left and eventually force OT; Scott Wedman hits the clutch shot with 14 seconds left in OT.
  • Magic Johnson 21 assists sets an NBA Finals record for assists in a game.
  • Kevin McHale clotheslined Kurt Rambis; Larry Bird hits the game-tying free throws with 16 seconds left in regulation to force OT, then hits the clutch jumper over Magic Johnson with 16 seconds left in OT after Magic misses two clutch free throws that would give the Lakers the lead with 34 seconds left in OT; M. L. Carr steals James Worthy's inbound pass and dunks it with 6 seconds left in OT.
  • This game was known as the "Heat Game", as the temperature inside the un-air conditioned Boston Garden was reputed to be.
Los Angeles won 2–0 in the regular-season series


This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning the first seven meetings.
Boston leads 7–0 in all-time playoff series