A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
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| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 17–June 9, 1985 |
| Season | 1984–85 |
| Teams | 16 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Los Angeles Lakers (9th title) |
| Runner-up | Boston Celtics |
| Semifinalists | |
The 1985 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1984–85 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was named NBA Finals MVP for the second time (he had won the award under his birth name, Lew Alcindor, as a Buck in 1971).
The Lakers had been unsuccessful in their previous eight attempts to defeat the Celtics in the NBA Finals, losing 7 times from 1959–1969 and 1984. The Lakers, moreover, won the title in Boston, something no other NBA team would accomplish until 2022, and would be the only road team to clinch the title at Boston Garden.
The Cavaliers made the playoffs for the first time since 1978.
It was also the first time that all three teams from Texas made the playoffs in the same year.
The Denver Nuggets advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 1978 and would not advance that far again until 2009. The Philadelphia 76ers, on the other hand, advanced to the conference finals for the fifth time in six years, but would not reach that level again until 2001.
It was also the first time that Turner Broadcasting was covering the playoffs as TBS was the home for some playoff games.
Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the Spectrum forced a Phil Collins concert at the arena to be rescheduled to the fall of 1985, as noted by Charlie Van Dyke when he sub-hosted an episode of American Top 40 on July 6 of that year.
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Bracket
| First Rounds | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | NBA Finals | ||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| E8 | Cleveland | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Detroit | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Detroit | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| E5 | New Jersey | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Philadelphia | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Philadelphia | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| E6 | Washington | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Philadelphia | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Milwaukee* | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Milwaukee* | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| E7 | Chicago | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Boston* | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | LA Lakers* | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | LA Lakers* | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| W8 | Phoenix | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | LA Lakers* | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| W5 | Portland | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W4 | Dallas | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W5 | Portland | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | LA Lakers* | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Western Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Denver* | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Houston | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| W6 | Utah | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| W6 | Utah | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Denver* | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Denver* | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| W7 | San Antonio | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
- * Division winner
- Bold Series winner
- Italic Team with home-court advantage
First round
Eastern Conference first round
(1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Cleveland Cavaliers
April 18
|
| Cleveland Cavaliers 123, Boston Celtics 126 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–31, 28–39, 40–31, 25–25 | ||
| Pts: Roy Hinson 24 Rebs: Roy Hinson 11 Asts: John Bagley 11 |
Pts: Larry Bird 40 Rebs: Kevin McHale 12 Asts: Dennis Johnson 11 | |
| Boston leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 20
|
| Cleveland Cavaliers 106, Boston Celtics 108 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–30, 28–31, 24–24, 24–23 | ||
| Pts: World B. Free 25 Rebs: Roy Hinson 6 Asts: World B. Free 7 |
Pts: Larry Bird 30 Rebs: Bird, Parish 11 each Asts: Larry Bird 7 | |
| Boston leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 23
|
| Boston Celtics 98, Cleveland Cavaliers 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 24–25, 21–30, 21–21, 32–29 | ||
| Pts: Scott Wedman 30 Rebs: Kevin McHale 11 Asts: Dennis Johnson 10 |
Pts: World B. Free 32 Rebs: Roy Hinson 9 Asts: John Bagley 15 | |
| Boston leads series, 2–1 | ||
April 25
|
| Boston Celtics 117, Cleveland Cavaliers 115 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 32–33, 31–33, 31–23, 23–26 | ||
| Pts: Larry Bird 34 Rebs: Larry Bird 14 Asts: Larry Bird 7 |
Pts: World B. Free 30 Rebs: Lonnie Shelton 8 Asts: John Bagley 10 | |
| Boston wins series, 3–1 | ||
- Dennis Johnson blocks a World B. Free 3 with 2 seconds left.
| Boston won 6–0 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning the first meeting.
| Boston leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
(2) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (7) Chicago Bulls
April 19
|
| Chicago Bulls 100, Milwaukee Bucks 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–31, 24–27, 19–22, 27–29 | ||
| Pts: Quintin Dailey 25 Rebs: David Greenwood 13 Asts: Michael Jordan 10 |
Pts: Sidney Moncrief 30 Rebs: Paul Mokeski 10 Asts: Paul Pressey 9 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 1–0 | ||
April 21
|
| Chicago Bulls 115, Milwaukee Bucks 122 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–30, 22–29, 32–29, 30–34 | ||
| Pts: Michael Jordan 30 Rebs: Jawann Oldham 9 Asts: Michael Jordan 12 |
Pts: Terry Cummings 30 Rebs: Terry Cummings 9 Asts: Terry Cummings 11 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 2–0 | ||
April 24
|
| Milwaukee Bucks 107, Chicago Bulls 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–29, 24–29, 26–24, 26–27 | ||
| Pts: Terry Cummings 37 Rebs: Terry Cummings 9 Asts: Moncrief, Pressey 5 each |
Pts: Michael Jordan 35 Rebs: Sidney Green 9 Asts: Michael Jordan 7 | |
| Milwaukee leads series, 2–1 | ||
- Michael Jordan hits his first playoff game-winner with 22 seconds left.
April 26
|
| Milwaukee Bucks 105, Chicago Bulls 97 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–27, 28–18, 28–25, 22–27 | ||
| Pts: Terry Cummings 29 Rebs: Terry Cummings 12 Asts: Paul Pressey 4 |
Pts: Michael Jordan 29 Rebs: Dave Corzine 9 Asts: Michael Jordan 5 | |
| Milwaukee wins series, 3–1 | ||
| Tied 3–3 in the regular-season series |
|---|
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bucks winning the first meeting.