Summary
The Los Angeles Lakers took over from the Boston Celtics as the winningest team in the NBA, compiling a 67-15 record. With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar turning 40, Coach Pat Riley asked Magic Johnson to take over more of the scoring load for his club. Johnson not only averaged 23.9 points a game, he led the league with 12.2 assists per game and won his first MVP award.
The Celtics were still up there, winning 59 games, best in the Eastern Conference. But they were an aging team and the bench was weakened by injuries. Four of their starters, Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson, averaged more than 37 minutes per game and the other starter, Danny Ainge, averaged 35.
The Celtics were also pushed in the playoffs. They had to go the full seven games against Milwaukee in the semi-finals and against Detroit in the conference finals, while the Lakers breezed through the Western Conference with only one loss.
In the finals, the Lakers took two easy victories at home. The Celtics regrouped to win Game 3 in Boston Garden, and they led 106-105 with seconds remaining in Game 4. But Magic Johnson somehow threw in a hook shot over McHale, Bird, and Parish to win that one.
After an easy Celtic victory in Game 5, the series returned to Los Angeles and the Lakers closed it out with a 106-93 win.
Meanwhile, a new superstar had emerged in Chicago. Michael Jordan led the NBA in scoring with a 37.1 average. He was the first player to score more than 3,000 points in a season since Wilt Chamberlain, way back in 1962-63.
