1981–82 New Jersey Nets season

The 1981–82 New Jersey Nets season was the Nets' sixth season in the NBA.^[1] The Nets moved their home games from the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway to the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford.

1981–82 New Jersey Nets season
Head coach	Larry Brown
Arena	Brendan Byrne Arena
Results
Record	44–38 (.537)
Place	Division: 3rd (Atlantic) Conference: 4th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	First round (lost to Bullets 0–2)
Stats at Basketball Reference
< 1980–81 1982–83 >

Draft picks

Main article: 1981 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	3	Buck Williams	PF/C	United States	Maryland
1	10	Albert King	SF/SG	United States	Maryland
1	18	Ray Tolbert	PF	United States	Indiana
3	49	David Burns	G	United States	St. Louis
4	72	Edmund Sherod	G	United States	Virginia Commonwealth
5	95	Joe Cooper	C/PF	United States	Colorado
6	118	Kevin Lynam		United States	La Salle
7	141	Rod Robertson		United States	Northwestern
8	164	Ken Webb		United States	Farleigh Dickinson
9	186	Rudy Williams		United States	Providence
10	206	Vic Sison		United States	UCLA

Roster

1981–82 New Jersey Nets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From F 33 James Bailey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1957-05-21 Rutgers G 10 Otis Birdsong  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1955-12-09 Houston G 12 Darwin Cook 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 1958-08-06 Portland F/C 44 Len Elmore 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1952-03-28 Maryland C 42 Mike Gminski 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1959-08-03 Duke F 55 Albert King 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1959-12-17 Maryland C 40 Sam Lacey 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1948-03-28 New Mexico State F 31 Mike O'Koren 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 1958-02-07 North Carolina F 20 Jan van Breda Kolff 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1951-12-16 Vanderbilt G 1 Foots Walker 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 1951-05-21 West Georgia F 52 Buck Williams 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1954-10-14 Maryland G 13 Ray Williams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1954-10-14 Minnesota

Head coach Larry Brown Assistant(s) Bill Blair Mike Schuler Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Boston Celtics	63	19	.768	–	35–6	28–13	20–4
x-Philadelphia 76ers	58	24	.707	5.0	32–9	26–15	16–8
x-New Jersey Nets	44	38	.537	19.0	25–16	19–22	12–12
x-Washington Bullets	43	39	.524	20.0	22–19	21–20	7–17
New York Knicks	33	49	.402	30.0	19–22	14–27	5–19

#	Eastern Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	63	19	.768	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	55	27	.671	8
3	x-Philadelphia 76ers	58	24	.707	5
4	x-New Jersey Nets	44	38	.537	19
5	x-Washington Bullets	43	39	.524	20
6	x-Atlanta Hawks	42	40	.512	21
7	Detroit Pistons	39	43	.476	24
8	Indiana Pacers	35	47	.427	28
9	Chicago Bulls	34	48	.415	29
10	New York Knicks	33	49	.402	30
11	Cleveland Cavaliers	15	67	.183	48

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1981-82 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NYN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	1–5	2–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	0–2	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	3–3	3–2	5–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–4
Boston	5–1	—	4–2	5–0	2–0	1–1	6–0	1–1	1–1	4–1	2–0	1–1	3–3	5–1	5–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	6–0
Chicago	3–2	2–4	—	5–1	1–1	1–1	0–6	0–2	1–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	1–5	2–4	3–2	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–4
Cleveland	2–4	0–5	1–5	—	2–0	0–2	1–5	1–1	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	0–6	0–6	0–6	0–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–5
Dallas	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	—	1–5	1–1	0–5	2–4	1–1	4–2	1–4	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–3	2–3	1–5	2–3	1–4	3–3	1–1
Denver	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	5–1	—	1–1	3–2	5–1	0–2	4–2	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	2–3	2–4	5–0	2–3	3–3	2–0
Detroit	4–2	0–6	6–0	5–1	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	2–0	2–4	2–0	0–2	2–4	2–4	3–3	2–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–4
Golden State	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	5–0	2–3	0–2	—	1–4	2–0	3–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	4–2	2–4	3–2	5–1	1–5	3–2	1–1
Houston	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–2	1–5	0–2	4–1	—	2–0	3–3	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	4–1	3–3	4–1	2–3	6–0	2–0
Indiana	2–4	1–5	3–3	5–1	1–1	2–0	4–2	0–2	0–2	—	1–1	0–2	0–6	4–2	3–2	0–6	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–5
Kansas City	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	2–4	0–2	2–3	3–3	1–1	—	1–4	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–3	0–5	1–5	4–1	2–3	3–3	0–2
Los Angeles	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	4–1	4–1	2–0	3–3	4–1	2–0	4–1	—	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2	5–1	2–3	5–1	4–2	5–0	2–0
Milwaukee	3–3	3–3	5–1	6–0	1–1	1–1	4–2	0–2	1–1	6–0	1–1	2–0	—	4–1	3–3	4–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	3–2
New Jersey	2–3	1–5	4–2	6–0	0–2	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–4	—	4–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	4–2
New York	1–5	1–5	2–3	6–0	1–1	1–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	2–3	0–2	2–0	3–3	2–4	—	1–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–5
Philadelphia	3–3	2–4	5–1	5–0	2–0	1–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	6–0	2–0	1–1	2–4	3–3	5–1	—	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	6–0
Phoenix	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–2	3–2	2–0	2–4	2–3	1–1	3–2	2–4	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	—	3–3	4–1	4–2	3–3	3–2	1–1
Portland	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	3–2	2–0	4–2	1–4	1–1	5–0	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–3	—	3–2	4–2	3–3	4–1	0–2
San Antonio	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	5–1	4–2	2–0	2–3	3–3	0–2	5–1	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–4	2–3	—	3–2	4–1	3–3	1–1
San Diego	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–2	0–5	0–2	1–5	1–4	0–2	1–4	1–5	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–4	2–4	2–3	—	1–5	1–4	0–2
Seattle	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	4–1	3–2	1–1	5–1	3–2	1–1	3–2	2–4	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–4	5–1	—	5–0	1–1
Utah	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–1	2–3	0–6	1–1	3–3	0–5	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–3	1–4	3–3	4–1	0–5	—	1–1
Washington	4–2	0–6	4–2	5–1	1–1	0–2	4–1	1–1	0–2	5–1	2–0	0–2	2–3	2–4	5–1	0–6	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	—

Game log

Regular season

1981–82 game log Total: 44–38 (home: 25–16; road: 19–22)
October: 0–1 (home: 0–1; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 October 30, 1981 New York L 99–103 Brendan Byrne Arena 0–1
November: 3–10 (home: 2–1; road: 1–9) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 2 3 4 5 6 November 10, 1981 @ New York L 99–111 Madison Square Garden 1–5 7 8 November 13, 1981 @ Boston 9 10 11 12 13 14 November 27, 1981 @ San Antonio 15
December: 8–6 (home: 4–4; road: 4–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 16 17 December 5, 1981 Philadelphia L 105–114 Brendan Byrne Arena 4–13 18 19 December 9, 1981 @ Boston 20 21 22 23 24 25 December 23, 1981 New York W 115–99 Brendan Byrne Arena 9–16 26 December 25, 1981 @ New York W 96–95 Madison Square Garden 10–16 27 28 29
January: 8–6 (home: 3–2; road: 5–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 30 31 32 33 34 January 9, 1982 @ Philadelphia W 120–113 The Spectrum 14–20 35 January 11, 1982 Boston 36 37 38 January 17, 1982 Philadelphia W 115–107 Brendan Byrne Arena 16–22 39 January 20, 1982 @ Los Angeles L 113–132 The Forum 16–23 40 41 42 43
February: 10–5 (home: 7–3; road: 3–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 44 45 46 February 5, 1982 @ Philadelphia L 112–116 The Spectrum 21–25 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58
March: 8–7 (home: 5–3; road: 3–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 59 60 March 3, 1982 Los Angeles W 111–103 Brendan Byrne Arena 31–29 61 62 63 64 March 12, 1982 Boston 65 66 March 17, 1982 San Antonio 67 68 69 March 24, 1982 @ Philadelphia W 111–106 The Spectrum 35–34 70 71 72 March 28, 1982 New York W 113–106 Brendan Byrne Arena 36–36 73
April: 7–2 (home: 4–1; road: 3–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 74 75 76 April 7, 1982 Philadelphia L 113–116 Brendan Byrne Arena 39–37 77 April 9, 1982 @ Boston 78 79 April 13, 1982 @ New York W 104–102 Madison Square Garden 41–38 80 81 April 16, 1982 Boston 82
1981–82 schedule

Playoffs

1982 playoff game log
First Round: 0–2 (home: 0–1; road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 20 Washington L 83–96 Buck Williams (23) Buck Williams (13) Ray Williams (8) Brendan Byrne Arena 14,015 0–1 2 April 23 @ Washington L 92–103 Ray Williams (23) Len Elmore (9) Ray Williams (6) Capital Centre 19,035 0–2
1982 schedule

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

• Buck Williams, NBA Rookie of the Year Award
• Buck Williams, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

Transactions