1982–83 Phoenix Suns season

The 1982–83 Phoenix Suns season was the 15th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The Suns were in the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, extending a then-franchise record. The Suns were eliminated in the first round two games to one by the Denver Nuggets, a team they had beaten by the same margin a year earlier. The Suns were led by head coach John MacLeod and played all home games in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

1982–83 Phoenix Suns season
Head coachJohn MacLeod
General managerJerry Colangelo
OwnersKarl Eller, Don Pitt, Don Diamond, Marvin Meyer, Richard L. Bloch
ArenaArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record53–29 (.646)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Pacific)
Conference: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finishFirst round
(lost to Nuggets 1–2)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
RadioKTAR

Walter Davis led the Suns in scoring with 19 points per game. Second-year player Larry Nance, who finished the season fourth in the NBA in blocks per game, was second in team scoring at 16.7, while fellow big man Maurice Lucas averaged a double-double with 16.5 points and 10.4 rebounds a contest. Lucas, a 30-year-old veteran who had played for four NBA teams and one ABA team before reaching the Suns, returned to his first All-Star Game after two seasons when he suited up with Phoenix. Point guard Dennis Johnson earned another spot on the NBA All-Defensive First Team.

Offseason

NBA draft
Main article: 1982 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 15 David Thirdkill Forward  United States Bradley
2 39 Kevin Magee Forward  United States UC Irvine
3 61 Charles Pittman Forward  United States Maryland
4 86 Rory White Forward  United States South Alabama
5 108 Marvin McCrary Guard  United States Missouri
6 130 Jake Bethany Center  United States Hardin–Simmons
7 155 Phil Ward Guard  United States North Carolina Charlotte
8 177 Rick Elrod Guard  United States Georgetown (KY)
9 199 Ken Lyles Forward  United States Washington
10 221 Dale Wilkinson Center  United States Idaho State

Roster
Phoenix Suns roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOB (Y-M-D)From
C 33 United States Adams, Alvan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1954-07-19 Oklahoma
G 6 United States Davis, Walter 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1954-09-09 North Carolina
C 53 United States Edwards, James 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1955-11-22 Washington
G 11 United States High, Johnny 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1957-04-25 Nevada
G 24 United States Johnson, Dennis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1954-09-18 Pepperdine
F/C 50 United States Kramer, Joel 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1955-11-30 San Diego State
F 20 United States Lucas, Maurice 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1952-02-18 Marquette
G 4 United States Macy, Kyle 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1957-04-09 Kentucky
F 22 United States Nance, Larry 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1959-02-12 Clemson
F 32 United States Pittman, Charles 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1958-03-23 Maryland
F 14 United States Scott, Alvin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1955-09-14 Oral Roberts
F 40 United States Thirdkill, David 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1960-04-12 Bradley
F 7 United States White, Rory 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1959-08-16 South Alabama
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Regular season

Standings
Pacific Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 5824.707–33–825–1621–9
x-Phoenix Suns 5329.646532–921–2021–9
x-Seattle SuperSonics 4834.5851029–1219–2214–16
x-Portland Trail Blazers 4636.5611231–1015–2616–14
Golden State Warriors 3052.3662821–209–3211–19
San Diego Clippers 2557.3053318–237–347–23
#
Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Los Angeles Lakers5824.707–
2 y-San Antonio Spurs5329.6465
3 x-Phoenix Suns5329.6465
4 x-Seattle SuperSonics4834.58510
5 x-Portland Trail Blazers4636.56112
6 x-Denver Nuggets4537.54913
7 Kansas City Kings4537.54913
8 Dallas Mavericks3844.46320
9 Utah Jazz3052.36628
9 Golden State Warriors3052.36628
11 San Diego Clippers2557.30533
12 Houston Rockets1468.17144

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 —1–55–16–01–11–13–30–22–06–00–20–21–42–43–22–41–11–10–21–11–12–04–2
Boston 5–1—3–25–12–02–03–31–12–04–11–12–03–35–13–33–32–01–12–01–11–12–03–3
Chicago 1–52–3—5–11–11–12–42–01–14–20–20–21–52–41–41–50–21–10–21–10–21–11–5
Cleveland 0–61–51–5—2–00–21–52–02–05–11–10–21–50–61–50–50–21–10–21–11–10–23–2
Dallas 1–10–21–10–2—3–32–03–25–12–03–32–30–20–20–20–22–33–22–45–02–32–40–2
Denver 1–10–21–12–03–3—2–04–15–11–13–31–42–01–10–20–24–12–32–43–23–24–21–1
Detroit 3–33–34–25–10–20–2—2–02–04–20–20–23–33–21–50–61–11–11–11–10–20–23–2
Golden State 2–01–10–20–22–31–40–2—3–21–11–41–51–10–21–10–22–42–41–43–33–33–22–0
Houston 0–20–21–10–21–51–50–22–3—2–01–50–50–21–10–20–20–50–51–52–31–40–61–1
Indiana 0–61–42–41–50–21–12–41–10–2—1–10–21–50–63–31–41–10–20–21–11–12–01–5
Kansas City 2–01–12–01–13–33–32–04–15–11–1—1–41–11–11–10–21–42–33–34–11–44–22–0
Los Angeles 2–00–22–02–03–24–12–05–15–02–04–1—2–01–12–00–23–33–31–45–15–14–11–1
Milwaukee 4–13–35–15–12–00–23–31–12–05–11–10–2—3–24–21–51–12–02–02–00–22–03–2
New Jersey 4–21–54–26–02–01–12–32–01–16–01–11–12–3—4–23–31–11–10–21–12–01–13–2
New York 2–33–34–15–12–02–05–11–12–03–31–10–22–42–4—1–50–21–12–00–21–11–14–2
Philadelphia 4–23–35–15–02–02–06–02–02–04–12–02–05–13–35–1—2–00–21–12–02–02–04–2
Phoenix 1–10–22–02–03–21–41–14–25–01–14–13–31–11–12–00–2—5–13–24–25–15–00–2
Portland 1–11–11–11–12–33–21–14–25–02–03–23–30–21–11–12–01–5—2–35–13–33–21–1
San Antonio 2–00–22–02–04–24–21–14–15–12–03–34–10–22–00–21–12–33–2—4–11–45–12–0
San Diego 1–11–11–11–10–52–31–13–33–21–11–41–50–21–12–00–22–41–51–4—0–62–30–2
Seattle 1–11–12–01–13–22–32–03–34–11–14–11–52–00–21–10–21–53–34–16–0—5–01–1
Utah 0–20–21–12–04–22–42–02–36–00–22–41–40–21–11–10–20–52–31–53–20–5—0–2
Washington 2–43–35–12–32–01–12–30–21–15–10–21–13–33–32–42–42–01–10–22–01–12–0—

Playoffs

Game log
1983 playoff game log
First Round: 1–2 (home: 1–1; road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 19 Denver W 121–108 Dennis Johnson (28) Dennis Johnson (12) Dennis Johnson (8) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
11,901		 1–0
2 April 21 @ Denver L 99–113 Walter Davis (31) James Edwards (9) Dennis Johnson (5) McNichols Sports Arena
15,903		 1–1
3 April 24 Denver L 112–117 (OT) Walter Davis (29) Larry Nance (12) Alvan Adams (9) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
14,660		 1–2
1983 schedule

Awards and honors

All-Star
  • Maurice Lucas was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. Lucas finished first in voting among Western Conference forwards with 431,288 votes. It was his fifth All-Star selection.
  • The other Suns player receiving All-Star votes was Dennis Johnson (306,470).

Season

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
Phoenix Suns statistics
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Alvan Adams807530.6.486.333.8296.94.71.4.914.2
Jeff Cook*45212.2.430.000.7592.91.3.3.33.6
Walter Davis807931.1.516.304.8182.55.01.5.219.0
James Edwards*16117.8.487..6603.71.7.3.38.8
Johnny High82214.1.461.200.4631.81.91.0.43.2
Dennis Johnson777433.1.462.161.7914.45.01.3.514.2
Joel Kramer5448.5.423.000.875^1.60.7.3.11.9
Maurice Lucas777133.6.474.333.78110.42.8.7.616.5
Kyle Macy82922.4.517.303.872^2.03.4.8.19.9
Larry Nance828235.5.550.333.6728.72.41.22.616.7
Charles Pittman2806.1.475.000.6761.10.3.1.32.3
Alvin Scott81914.1.479.000.7362.81.2.6.44.1
David Thirdkill49210.6.435.143.5771.50.7.4.14.0
Rory White6509.6.543.000.6421.60.5.2.05.0

* – Stats with the Suns.
^ – Minimum 125 free throws made.

Playoffs
Phoenix Suns statistics
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Alvan Adams3328.0.469..7146.04.7.71.711.7
Walter Davis3337.7.435.500.8105.04.32.01.726.0
James Edwards3018.0.423.1.0006.01.3.3.39.3
Johnny High3015.0.455.000.0003.32.01.0.33.3
Dennis Johnson3336.0.458.000.8337.75.71.7.718.0
Joel Kramer203.0.000..0.00.0.0.00.0
Maurice Lucas2228.5.571..5006.04.01.5.013.0
Kyle Macy3024.0.429.000.7142.73.0.3.011.7
Larry Nance3334.3.400..8008.31.01.02.012.0
Charles Pittman101.0...0.00.0.0.00.0
Alvin Scott3120.7.462.1.0004.01.7.71.74.7
Rory White3013.3.500.000.5003.30.0.0.05.3

Transactions

Trades
June 21, 1982 To Denver Nuggets---- To Phoenix Suns----
July 7, 1982 To New York Knicks---- To Phoenix Suns----
February 7, 1983---- To Cleveland Cavaliers---- To Phoenix Suns----

Additions
Date Player Contract Old Team
May 17, 1982 Art Housey Undisclosed
July 7, 1982 Johnny High Undisclosed Phoenix Suns
February 7, 1983 Charles Pittman Undisclosed Phoenix Suns

Subtractions
Date Player Reason Left New Team
July 1, 1982 Dudley Bradley Waived Chicago Bulls
October 21, 1982 Art Housey Waived
October 28, 1982 Charles Pittman Waived Phoenix Suns
December 21, 1982 Craig Dykema Waived

References
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