The 1981–82 Phoenix Suns season was the 14th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The Suns were in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, extending a then-franchise record. In the first round, Denver was taken down by the Suns, two games to one. Phoenix would find a tougher opponent, however, in the Western Conference Semifinals, getting swept four games to zero by the eventual league champions, Los Angeles Lakers. The Suns were led by head coach John MacLeod and played all home games in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Dennis Johnson again earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors and was the lone All-Star Game participant from the Suns. Additionally, he led the Suns in scoring with his 19.5 points average, a personal career-high. Truck Robinson was not far behind with his 19.1 average, and paired that with rebounding average of 9.7 a game. Fellow big man Alvan Adams brought in 7 rebounds and 15 points a contest.
Offseason
NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 20 Larry Nance Forward Clemson 3 62 Sam Clancy Jr. Forward Pittsburgh 3 66 Craig Dykema Forward Long Beach State 5 112 Paul Heuerman Center Michigan 6 135 Pete Harris Guard Northeastern 7 158 David Williams Forward Southern 8 180 Steve Risley Forward Indiana 9 200 Brian Johnson Forward Colorado 10 220 Felton Sealey Forward Oregon
Roster
Regular season
Standings
Playoffs
Game log
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 20 | @ Denver | L 113–129 | Kyle Macy (22) | Truck Robinson (13) | Truck Robinson (6) | McNichols Sports Arena17,298 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | April 23 | Denver | W 126–110 | Dennis Johnson (29) | Alvan Adams (9) | Dennis Johnson (8) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum12,798 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | April 24 | @ Denver | W 124–119 | Dennis Johnson (26) | Truck Robinson (9) | Rich Kelley (7) | McNichols Sports Arena17,443 | 2–1
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 27 | @ Los Angeles | L 96–115 | Johnson, Adams (20) | Truck Robinson (14) | three players tied (4) | The Forum13,623 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 28 | @ Los Angeles | L 98–117 | Dennis Johnson (27) | Larry Nance (11) | Dennis Johnson (6) | The Forum15,558 | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | April 30 | Los Angeles | L 106–114 | Alvan Adams (23) | Alvan Adams (12) | three players tied (5) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum14,660 | 0–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | May 2 | Los Angeles | L 107–112 | Dennis Johnson (31) | Macy, Nance (6) | Alvan Adams (8) | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum11,932 | 0–4
Awards and honors
All-Star Dennis Johnson was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. Johnson finished fourth in voting among Western Conference guards with 220,914 votes. It was his fourth consecutive All-Star selection. The other Suns player who received All-Star votes was Alvan Adams (134,441).
Season Kyle Macy led the league in free throw percentage with .899%. Dennis Johnson was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. Johnson also finished 21st in MVP voting.
Player statistics
Season
|- align="center" bgcolor="" | || 79 || 75 || 30.3 || .494 || .000 || .781 || 7.4 || 4.5 || 1.4 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 1.0 || 15.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | || 64 || 3 || 14.6 || .445 || .250 || .740 || 1.4 || 1.3 || 1.2 || .2 || 5.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | || 76 || 22 || 17.1 || .422 || .000 || .664 || 4.0 || 1.3 || .5 || .3 || 5.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | || 55 || 12 || 21.5 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .523† || .188 || .820 || 1.9 || 2.9 || .8 || .1 || 14.4 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | || 32 || 0 || 3.2 || .459 || .500^ || .778 || 0.4 || 0.5 || .1 || .0 || 1.3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | || 80 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 77 || 36.7 || .470 || .190 || .806 || 5.1 || 4.6 || 1.3 || .7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 19.5 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | || 81 || 39 || 23.4 || .467 || .000 || .749 || 6.1 || 3.6 || .8 || .9 || 7.9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | || 56 || 0 || 9.8 || .414 || . || .786 || 1.9 || 0.9 || .3 || .2 || 2.6 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 82 || 72 || 34.7 || .514 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .390^ || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .899 || 3.2 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 4.7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 1.7 || .1 || 14.2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | || 8 || 0 || 2.9 || .692† || . || .600 || 0.5 || 0.4 || .3 || .0 || 2.6 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | || 80 || 0 || 14.8 || .521 || .000 || .641 || 3.2 || 1.0 || .5 || .9 || 6.6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | || 74 || 72 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 37.1 || .513 || 1.000^ || .687 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 9.7 || 2.4 || .6 || .4 || 19.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | || 81 || 38 || 21.5 || .497 || .000 || .730 || 3.6 || 1.8 || .7 || .9 || 6.0
† – Minimum 300 field goals made. ^ – Minimum 25 three-pointers made.
Playoffs
|- align="center" bgcolor="" | || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 33.3 || .522 || . || .786 || 7.3 || 3.7 || 2.0 || 1.4 || 16.9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 0 || 3.4 || .250 || . || 1.000^ || 0.1 || 0.7 || .1 || .1 || 0.7 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 0 || 6.4 || .500 || . || . || 1.3 || 1.0 || .3 || .3 || 1.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 0 || 24.7 || .448 || .333 || .917 || 3.1 || 4.3 || .7 || .1 || 18.1 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | || 6 || 0 || 2.0 || .167 || . || . || 0.7 || 0.3 || .0 || .0 || 0.3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 38.7 || .477 || .000 || .769 || 4.4 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 4.6 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 2.1 || .6 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 22.3 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 27.3 || .500 || . || .700 || 6.9 || 4.3 || .9 || .4 || 9.7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | || 4 || 0 || 5.0 || .714† || . || .667 || 1.3 || 0.3 || .3 || .0 || 3.0 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 34.7 || .427 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .364 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .938^ || 3.1 || 4.0 || 1.0 || .1 || 13.6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 0 || 18.3 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .610† || . || .500 || 4.6 || 1.0 || 1.4 || 1.6 || 7.7 |- align="center" bgcolor="" | || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 30.4 || .563 || . || .300 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7.6 || 2.7 || .7 || .1 || 13.3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 7 || 0 || 18.1 || .438 || .000 || .500 || 2.3 || 2.0 || 1.1 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 1.9 || 4.6
† – Minimum 20 field goals made. ^ – Minimum 10 free throws made.
Transactions
Trades June 8, 1981 To Indiana Pacers 1981 second-round draft pick ( El Leslie) 1982 second-round draft pick ( Jose Slaughter) Relinquished right to swap 1983 first round picks To Phoenix Suns Dudley Bradley October 1, 1981 To Chicago Bulls Johnny High To Phoenix Suns 1983 third-round draft pick ( Winfred King)
Free agents
Additions Date Player Contract Old Team June 19, 1981 Alvin Scott Re-signed to four-year contract Phoenix Suns October 26, 1981 John McCullough Undisclosed
Subtractions Date Player Reason left New team June 18, 1981 Mike Niles Waived December 18, 1981 John McCullough Waived Billings Volcanos (CBA)
References Standings on Basketball Reference