1992 NBA Playoffs

1992 NBA playoffs

← 1991

1993 →

The 1992 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament following the National Basketball Association's 1991-92 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls defeating the Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Michael Jordan was named NBA Finals MVP for the second straight year.

The Blazers won their second Western Conference title in the past three years, third overall in franchise history, behind the leadership of Clyde Drexler.

The Jazz made the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. They returned in 1994 and 1996 before finally breaking through in 1997.

The fourth-year Miami Heat became the first of the 1988 and 1989 expansion teams (the Magic, Timberwolves and Hornets were the other 3) to make the playoffs, though they were swept in the first round by the Bulls. In 2006, the Heat would become the first of these teams to win the NBA title.

This was the first year since 1987 that the Bulls and Pistons did not meet in the playoffs. They did not meet again until 2007.

The Clippers made it to the playoffs for the first time since 1976, when they were the Buffalo Braves.

Despite Magic Johnson's stunning retirement due to testing HIV positive prior to the start of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers still managed to make their 16th straight NBA playoff appearance. It was their first appearance since 1979 without Johnson, Michael Cooper, or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Two games were postponed due to the Los Angeles riots following the Rodney King verdict, one being the Trail Blazers at the Lakers and the other was the Jazz at the Clippers. For safety purposes, both the Lakers and Clippers decided to move their home games to a nearby alternate venue; the Lakers played at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada (later host to the 2007 NBA All-Star Game) for Game 4, the Clippers at Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California for Game 4 (the Clippers returned to Anaheim at Arrowhead Pond in 1994 as an alternate venue and played there until 1999 whenever the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was unavailable).

Game 4 of the Blazers-Suns series was the last game ever played at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Celtics' first round sweep of the Pacers would be their last playoff series win until 2002. After losing in the second round to Cleveland, Larry Bird retired after 13 seasons. As for the Cavs, it was their first Conference Finals appearance since 1976, but fell to the Bulls in 6 games. They would not return again until 2007.

Bracket

First Round			Conference Semifinals			Conference Finals			NBA Finals


1	Chicago	3

8	Miami	0
			1	Chicago	4

			4	New York	3
4	New York	3

5	Detroit	2
						1	Chicago	4
Eastern Conference
						3	Cleveland	2
3	Cleveland	3

6	New Jersey	1
			3	Cleveland	4

			2	Boston	3
2	Boston	3

7	Indiana	0
									E1	Chicago	4

									W1	Portland	2
1	Portland	3

8	LA Lakers	1
			1	Portland	4

			4	Phoenix	1
4	Phoenix	3

5	San Antonio	0
						1	Portland	4
Western Conference
						2	Utah	2
3	Golden State	1

6	Seattle	3
			6	Seattle	1

			2	Utah	4
2	Utah	3

7	LA Clippers	2

Western Conference

Champion: Portland Trail Blazers

1st Round

(1) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (8) Los Angeles Lakers: Blazers win series 3–1

Game 1 @ Memorial Coliseum, Portland (April 23): Portland 115, L.A. Lakers 102
Game 2 @ Memorial Coliseum, Portland (April 25): Portland 101, L.A. Lakers 79
Game 3 @ Great Western Forum, Los Angeles (April 29): L.A. Lakers 121, Portland 119 (OT)
Game 4 @ Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas* (May 3): Portland 102, L.A. Lakers 76

(*) Due to 1992 Los Angeles riots

Regular-season series

Portland won 4–1 in the regular-season series

December 28, 1991

1992 NBA Playoffs

Bracket

Western Conference

Eastern Conference

NBA Finals

References

External links