1985 NBA Playoffs

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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, four games to two, in the NBA Finals. The Lakers' Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was named NBA Finals MVP for the second time in his long career (he had won the award under his former name, Lew Alcindor, as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971).

The Lakers had been unsuccessful in their eight previous attempts to defeat the Celtics in the NBA Finals, losing seven times from 1959 to 1969 and also in the previous year's championship series. To put the icing on the cake, the Lakers won the championship at the Boston Garden, becoming the only opposing team to win a title on the Celtics' home floor.

The 1985 playoffs marked the return of the Cleveland Cavaliers to the postseason; they had last made the playoffs in 1978.

[edit] Bracket

	First round					Conf. Semifinals					Conf. Finals					NBA Finals
	1	L.A. Lakers	3
	8	Phoenix	0
						1	L.A. Lakers	4
						5	Portland	1
	4	Dallas	1
	5	Portland	3
											1	L.A. Lakers	4
	Western Conference
										2	Denver	1
	3	Houston	2
	6	Utah	3
						6	Utah	1
						2	Denver	4
	2	Denver	3
	7	San Antonio	2
																W1	L.A. Lakers	4
															E1	Boston	2
	1	Boston	3
	8	Cleveland	1
						1	Boston	4
						4	Detroit	2
	4	Detroit	3
	5	New Jersey	0
											1	Boston	4
	Eastern Conference
										3	Philadelphia	1
	3	Philadelphia	3
	6	Washington	1
						3	Philadelphia	4
						2	Milwaukee	0
	2	Milwaukee	3
	7	Chicago	1

[edit] External link

• Basketball-Reference.com's 1985 NBA Playoffs page