1984 NBA playoffs

Tournament details
Dates	April 17–June 12, 1984
Season	1983–84
Teams	16
Final positions
Champions	Boston Celtics(15th title)
Runner-up	Los Angeles Lakers
Semifinalists	Milwaukee Bucks Phoenix Suns
← 1983 1985 →

The1984 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of theNational Basketball Association's1983–84 season. The tournament concluded with theEastern Conference championBoston Celtics defeating theWestern Conference championLos Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in theNBA Finals.Larry Bird was namedNBA Finals MVP.

This was the first postseason allowing 16 teams to qualify, a format still in use.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 since1969; 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 theCeltics–Lakers rivalry arguably inevitable and certainly highly anticipated.

Two teams made their playoff debuts and won their first playoff series: theUtah Jazz (who joined the NBA for the1974–75 season as the New Orleans Jazz) andDallas Mavericks, a1980 expansion team. The Jazz did not miss the playoffs again until2004.

TheDetroit Pistons made the playoffs for the first time since1977, starting a string of nine consecutive appearances that included five straight Conference Finals appearances (1987–1991), three consecutive NBA Finals appearances (1988,1989, and1990) and two NBA Championships. They did not miss the playoffs again until1993.

TheNew Jersey Nets won a playoff series for the first time in their NBA history, upsetting the defending championPhiladelphia 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 until2002.

This was the final postseason appearance for theKansas City Kings, as the team moved toSacramento, Californiatwo seasons later.Kemper Arena hosted its final NBA playoff game.

TheKingdome also hosted its final NBA playoff game, as theSeattle SuperSonics moved back full-time to theSeattle Center Coliseum two years later. However, the Kingdome continued to host Sonics regular season games on occasion until1994.

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 atJoe Louis Arena, as thePontiac Silverdome was unavailable, with temperatures reaching as high as 120°. Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Lakers atBoston 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.

• Robert Parish hits the game-tying jumper with 21 seconds left to force OT.

This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece.

This was the first playoff meeting between the Hawks and the Bucks.^[2]

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the 76ers winning the first meeting.

• 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.

This was the first playoff meeting between the Pistons and the Knicks.^[4]

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.

This was the first playoff meeting between the Nuggets and the Jazz.^[6]

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Suns winning the first meeting.

Rolando Blackman scored a jump shot with eight seconds remaining to give Dallas the lead and ultimately the win in their first playoff game.

• Gus Williams banks in the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.

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 aWorld Championship Tennis event. After considering theDallas Convention Center, they elected to play it atMoody 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 offTom 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.^[8]

This was the first playoff meeting between the Mavericks and the SuperSonics.^[9]

This was the 11th playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning five series apiece.

This was the first playoff meeting between the Bucks and the Nets.^[11]

• Pat Cummings hits the game-tying layup with 31 seconds left beforeDerek Harper made a mistake by dribbling out the clock thinking Dallas was ahead by one, when the score was actually tied.

This was the first playoff meeting between the Mavericks and the Lakers.^[12]

• Walter Davis hits the game-tying 3 pointer with 3 seconds left to force OT.

This was the first playoff meeting between the Suns and the Jazz.^[13]

• Bob Lanier's final NBA game.