1982–83 Portland Trail Blazers season

The 1982–83 Portland Trail Blazers season was the 13th season of the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Blazers finished 46–36, a four-game improvement from the previous season.

In the 1983 NBA Playoffs, the Blazers won their first playoff series since their championship season of 1976–77, defeating the Seattle SuperSonics in their first-round best-of-three series in a two-game sweep and gaining a measure of revenge for the Sonics' having eliminated them from the postseason in 1978 and 1980.

However, the Blazers were bested in their Western Conference semi-final series against the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one, on the Lakers' way to the 1983 NBA Finals.

The 1982–83 NBA season saw the beginning of an unprecedented playoff streak for the Blazers, as they would go on to qualify for 21 consecutive postseasons. The second longest NBA playoff streak behind the Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers who made the playoffs every year from 1950 to 1971, and the San Antonio Spurs who made the playoffs every year from 1998 to 2019.

Draft picks

Main article: 1982 NBA draft

Note: This is not a complete list; only the first two rounds are covered, as well as any other picks by the franchise who played at least one NBA game.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	11	Lafayette Lever	G	United States	Arizona State

Roster

Portland Trail Blazers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	From
G	10	Buse, Don	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Evansville
F	34	Carr, Kenny	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	NC State
F/C	42	Cooper, Wayne	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	New Orleans
F	22	Judkins, Jeff	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Utah
F	3	Lamp, Jeff	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Virginia
PG	12	Lever, Fat	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Arizona State
SF	33	Natt, Calvin	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Louisiana–Monroe
C	24	Norris, Audie	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jackson State
G	4	Paxson, Jim	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Dayton
F/C	43	Thompson, Mychal	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	226 lb (103 kg)	Minnesota
G	10	Valentine, Darnell	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	Kansas
F	31	Verhoeven, Pete	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fresno State

Head coach

Jack Ramsay

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	58	24	.707	–	33–8	25–16	21–9
x-Phoenix Suns	53	29	.646	5	32–9	21–20	21–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics	48	34	.585	10	29–12	19–22	14–16
x-Portland Trail Blazers	46	36	.561	12	31–10	15–26	16–14
Golden State Warriors	30	52	.366	28	21–20	9–32	11–19
San Diego Clippers	25	57	.305	33	18–23	7–34	7–23

#	Western Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	58	24	.707	–
2	y-San Antonio Spurs	53	29	.646	5
3	x-Phoenix Suns	53	29	.646	5
4	x-Seattle SuperSonics	48	34	.585	10
5	x-Portland Trail Blazers	46	36	.561	12
6	x-Denver Nuggets	45	37	.549	13

7	Kansas City Kings	45	37	.549	13
8	Dallas Mavericks	38	44	.463	20
9	Utah Jazz	30	52	.366	28
9	Golden State Warriors	30	52	.366	28
11	San Diego Clippers	25	57	.305	33
12	Houston Rockets	14	68	.171	44

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1982-83 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAS	SDC	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	–	1–5	5–1	6–0	1–1	1–1	3–3	0–2	2–0	6–0	0–2	0–2	1–4	2–4	3–2	2–4	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	4–2
Boston	5–1	–	3–2	5–1	2–0	2–0	3–3	1–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	2–0	3–3	5–1	3–3	3–3	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–3
Chicago	1–5	2–3	–	5–1	1–1	1–1	2–4	2–0	1–1	4–2	0–2	0–2	1–5	2–4	1–4	1–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–5
Cleveland	0–6	1–5	1–5	–	2–0	0–2	1–5	2–0	2–0	5–1	1–1	0–2	1–5	0–6	1–5	0–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–2
Dallas	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	–	3–3	2–0	3–2	5–1	2–0	3–3	2–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–3	3–2	2–4	5–0	2–3	2–4	0–2
Denver	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	3–3	–	2–0	4–1	5–1	1–1	3–3	1–4	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	4–1	2–3	2–4	3–2	3–2	4–2	1–1
Detroit	3–3	3–3	4–2	5–1	0–2	0–2	–	2–0	2–0	4–2	0–2	0–2	3–3	3–2	1–5	0–6	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	3–2
Golden State	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–3	1–4	0–2	–	3–2	1–1	1–4	1–5	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–4	2–4	1–4	3–3	3–3	3–2	2–0
Houston	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–5	1–5	0–2	2–3	–	2–0	1–5	0–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–5	0–5	1–5	2–3	1–4	0–6	1–1
Indiana	0–6	1–4	2–4	1–5	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–1	0–2	–	1–1	0–2	1–5	0–6	3–3	1–4	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–5
Kansas City	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–3	3–3	2–0	4–1	5–1	1–1	–	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–4	2–3	3–3	4–1	1–4	4–2	2–0
Los Angeles	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	3–2	4–1	2–0	5–1	5–0	2–0	4–1	–	2–0	1–1	2–0	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–4	5–1	5–1	4–1	1–1
Milwaukee	4–1	3–3	5–1	5–1	2–0	0–2	3–3	1–1	2–0	5–1	1–1	0–2	–	3–2	4–2	1–5	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	3–2
New Jersey	4–2	1–5	4–2	6–0	2–0	1–1	2–3	2–0	1–1	6–0	1–1	1–1	2–3	–	4–2	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–2
New York	2–3	3–3	4–1	5–1	2–0	2–0	5–1	1–1	2–0	3–3	1–1	0–2	2–4	2–4	–	1–5	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	4–2
Philadelphia	4–2	3–3	5–1	5–0	2–0	2–0	6–0	2–0	2–0	4–1	2–0	2–0	5–1	3–3	5–1	–	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–2
Phoenix	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	3–2	1–4	1–1	4–2	5–0	1–1	4–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	–	5–1	3–2	4–2	5–1	5–0	0–2
Portland	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	3–2	1–1	4–2	5–0	2–0	3–2	3–3	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–5	–	2–3	5–1	3–3	3–2	1–1
San Antonio	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	4–2	4–2	1–1	4–1	5–1	2–0	3–3	4–1	0–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–3	3–2	–	4–1	1–4	5–1	2–0
San Diego	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–5	2–3	1–1	3–3	3–2	1–1	1–4	1–5	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–4	1–5	1–4	–	0–6	2–3	0–2
Seattle	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–2	2–3	2–0	3–3	4–1	1–1	4–1	1–5	2–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–5	3–3	4–1	6–0	–	5–0	1–1
Utah	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–0	4–2	2–4	2–0	2–3	6–0	0–2	2–4	1–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–5	2–3	1–5	3–2	0–5	–	0–2
Washington	2–4	3–3	5–1	2–3	2–0	1–1	2–3	0–2	1–1	5–1	0–2	1–1	3–3	3–3	2–4	2–4	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	2–0	—

Game log

Playoffs

1983 playoff game log

First round: 2–0 (home: 1–0; road: 1–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 20	@ Seattle	W 108–97	Thompson, Paxson (25)	Calvin Natt (11)	Mychal Thompson (8)	Kingdome 9,211	1–0
2	April 22	Seattle	W 105–96	Jim Paxson (26)	Mychal Thompson (12)	Thompson, Lever (6)	Memorial Coliseum 12,666	2–0

Conference Semi-finals: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 24	@ Los Angeles	L 97–118	Mychal Thompson (22)	Thompson, Natt (9)	three players tied (7)	The Forum 13,891	0–1
2	April 26	@ Los Angeles	L 106–112	Calvin Natt (26)	Wayne Cooper (7)	Darnell Valentine (15)	The Forum 16,239	0–2
3	April 29	Los Angeles	L 109–115 (OT)	Paxson, Natt (22)	Natt, Cooper (10)	Darnell Valentine (14)	Memorial Coliseum 12,666	0–3
4	May 1	Los Angeles	W 108–95	Jim Paxson (20)	Calvin Natt (10)	Darnell Valentine (11)	Memorial Coliseum 12,666	1–3
5	May 3	@ Los Angeles	L 108–116	Jim Paxson (32)	Calvin Natt (11)	Darnell Valentine (8)	The Forum 16,739	1–4

1983 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