Summary
The NBA adopted the three-point shot, which had been a staple of the defunct American Basketball Association. At one time, it had been considered primaily a public relations gimmick, but now it was perceived as a way to keep teams from packing their defenses in around the basket and to reduce the impact of the super-sized players now manning many of the league's front-court positions.
There was another small realignment, as the New Orleans Jazz became the Utah Jazz. They moved from the Eastern Conference's Central Division to the Western Conference's Midwest Division and the Indiana Pacers went the other way to keep the league balanced.
Those changes, though, were overshadowed by the arrival of two outstanding rookies.
In the 1979 NCAA championship game, Magic Johnson's Michigan State team prevailed over Larry Bird's Indiana State team. Then both stars entered the NBA and sparked major turnarounds by proud franchises that had fallen on hard times.
Bird, who won the rookie of the year award, had the biggest impact during the regular season. He led the Boston Celtics to the league's best record, 61-21, after a 29-43 the year before. The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, went from 47-35 to 60-22 and moved from third place to first in the strong Pacific Division with Johnson in the starting lineup. His presence helped revitalize the career of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won his sixth Most Valuable Player award.
Many in the media were looking forward to a rematch between Magic and Bird in the NBA championship series, but it didn't happen.
Led by Julius Erving, the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Celtics in five games to win the Eastern Conference final. The Lakers also needed only five games to eliminate the defending champion Seattle Supersonics.
Both teams had excellent supporting casts for their stars. The 76ers, who'd posted the league's third-best record while finishing just 2 games behind the Celtics, had 7-1 Caldwell Jones and 6-11 Darryl Dawkins in the front court with Dr. J. Point guard Mo Cheeks distributed the ball expertly and the sixth man, Bobby Jones, was the league's best defensive forward as well as a consistent scorer.
The Lakers had brought in veteran forward Jim Chones to help Abdul-Jabbar with his defense and rebounding, while Norm Nixon moved to shooting guard to make way for Magic at point guard. Jamal Wilkes, nicknamed "Silk" for his smooth style of play, averaged an even 20 points a game from the small forward spot. And Los Angeles also had a fine sixth man, guard Michael Cooper, who excelled on defense and was also the team's best three-point shooter.
The 76ers took the home-court advantage away from the Lakers by winning Game 2, but Los Angeles grabbed it right back by winning the next game in Philadelphia. Game 5, a Philly win, was highlighted by a Dr. J shot that's still talked about. Flying toward the basket along the right baseline, Erving was confronted by Abdul-Jabbar. He twisted in mid-air, sailing behind the basket while he flipped the ball in around Abdul-Jabbar's hands.
In the always-pivotal Game 5, at Los Angeles, Abdul-Jabbar twisted his ankle late in the third quarter and had to go the dressing room. He came back to score 14 points, including a three-point play with 33 seconds left that broke a 103-103 tie and led to a 108-103 victory.
But Abdul-Jabbar stayed in Los Angeles to let the ankle heal while the rest of the Lakers flew to Philadelphia for Game 6. Johnson moved to center, a position he'd last played in high school.
No problem. He scored 42 points and added 15 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals as the Lakers won handily, 123-107. That overshadowed an outstanding game by Wilkes, who scored 37 and had 10 rebounds. Johnson was named the finals MVP.
