The 1984 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1983âÂÂ84 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Larry Bird was named NBA Finals MVP.
This was the first postseason allowing 16 teams to qualify, a format still in use though the NBA used a play-in tournament to determine the 7th and 8th seeds since 2021. 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 since 1969; 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 the CelticsâÂÂLakers rivalry arguably inevitable and certainly highly anticipated.
Two teams made their playoff debuts and won their first playoff series: the Utah Jazz (who joined the NBA for the 1974âÂÂ75 season as the New Orleans Jazz) and Dallas Mavericks, a 1980 expansion team. The Jazz did not miss the playoffs again until 2004.
The Detroit Pistons made the playoffs for the first time since 1977, starting a string of nine consecutive appearances that included five straight Conference Finals appearances (1987âÂÂ1991), three consecutive NBA Finals appearances (1988, 1989, and 1990) and two NBA Championships. They did not miss the playoffs again until 1993.
The New Jersey Nets won a playoff series for the first time in their NBA history, upsetting the defending champion Philadelphia 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 until 2002.
This was the final postseason appearance for the Kansas City Kings, as the team moved to Sacramento, California two seasons later. Kemper Arena hosted its final NBA playoff game.
The Kingdome also hosted its final NBA playoff game, as the Seattle SuperSonics moved back full-time to the Seattle Center Coliseum two years later. However, the Kingdome continued to host Sonics regular season games on occasion until .
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 at Joe Louis Arena, as the Pontiac Silverdome was unavailable, with temperatures reaching as high as 120ð. Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Lakers at Boston Garden reached temperatures as high as 100ð, 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.
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.
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the 76ers winning the first meeting.
This was the first playoff meeting between the Pistons and the Knicks.
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.
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.
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 a World Championship Tennis event. After considering the Dallas Convention Center, they elected to play it at Moody 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 off Tom 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 OâÂÂDonnell 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.
This was the first playoff meeting between the Mavericks and the SuperSonics.
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.
This was the first playoff meeting between the Mavericks and the Lakers.
This was the first playoff meeting between the Suns and the Jazz.
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece.
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first three meetings.
This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning the first seven meetings.