Summary
Defending champion Portland had the NBA's best record, followed by Philadelphia, San Antonio, Phoenix and Denver. Of that group, only the Phoenix Suns didn't finish first, because they were in the same division as Portland.
The playoff results didn't reflect the regular-season pecking order, though. The Washington Bullets, who had finished second to the San Antonio Spurs in the Central Division, beat the Spurs in six games in the Eastern Conference semi-finals and then did the same to the Philadelphia 76ers in the finals.
In the West, the Seattle Supersonics knocked off Portland in the semi-finals and beat Denver in the conference finals.
Even though they'd finished third in the Pacific Conference, behind Portland and Phoenix, the Supersonics had the top seed in the championship series because they'd won three more regular-season games than the Bullets.
Though long shots to get to the playoffs, both teams had improved dramatically as the season went along. With Washington, it was a matter of veterans such as Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld adapting to the defense-minded new coach, Dick Motta. Seattle had gone 42-18 under Lenny Wilkens, who took over after a 5-17 start.
Seattle seemed to take control by winning Game 3 at Washington, but the Bullets came right back to win in overtime at Seattle. After both teams claimed home victories, the series went to Seattle for the seventh game.
The Bullets had what looked like a comfortable 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Seattle cut it to 101-99 with time running low. Unseld, the series MVP, sealed the victory with two free throws and the Bullets got two more to win, 105-99.
