1980–81 New York Knicks season

The 1980–81 New York Knicks season was the 35th season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the regular season, the Knicks finished in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 50–32 win–loss record, qualifying for the 1981 NBA Playoffs. New York lost in the best-of-three first round to the Chicago Bulls in a two-game sweep.^[3]

1980–81 New York Knicks season
Head coach	Red Holzman
General manager	Eddie Donovan
Owners	Gulf+Western / Paramount Communications
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Results
Record	50–32 (.610)
Place	Division: 3rd (Atlantic) Conference: 4th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	First round (lost to Bulls 0–2)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WOR-TV^[1] MSG Network^[1]
Radio	WNEW^[2]
< 1979–80 1981–82 >

NBA draft

Main article: 1980 NBA draft

Note: This is not an extensive list; it only covers the first and second rounds, and any other players picked by the franchise that played at least one game in the league.^[4]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	12	Mike Woodson	G/F	United States	Indiana
2	36	DeWayne Scales	F	United States	LSU
3	58	Kurt Rambis	F	United States	Santa Clara

Roster

1980–81 New York Knicks roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From SG 35 Carter, Reggie 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1957-10-10 St. John's C 25 Cartwright, Bill 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1957-07-30 San Francisco PF 42 Demic, Larry 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1957-06-27 Arizona PG 34 Glenn, Mike 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1955-09-10 Southern Illinois SF 43 Knight, Toby (IN) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1955-05-03 Notre Dame SG 20 Richardson, Micheal Ray 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 189 lb (86 kg) 1955-04-11 Montana SF 21 Russell, Campy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1952-01-12 Michigan PF 31 Scales, DeWayne 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 1958-12-28 LSU C 40 Webster, Marvin 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1952-04-13 Morgan State PG 13 Williams, Ray 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1954-10-14 Minnesota PF 33 Williams, Sly 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1958-01-26 Rhode Island SG 44 Woodson, Mike 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1958-03-24 Indiana

Head coach Red Holzman Assistant coach(es) Butch Beard Hal Fischer Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended   Injured Roster Last transaction: January 30, 1981

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Boston Celtics	62	20	.756	–	35–6	27–14	19–5
x-Philadelphia 76ers	62	20	.756	–	37–4	25–16	15–9
x-New York Knicks	50	32	.610	12.0	28–13	22–19	14–10
Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	23.0	26–15	13–28	8–16
New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	38.0	16–25	8–33	8–16

#	Eastern Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	60	22	.732	2
3	x-Philadelphia 76ers	62	20	.756	–
4	x-New York Knicks	50	32	.610	12
5	x-Chicago Bulls	45	37	.549	17
6	x-Indiana Pacers	44	38	.537	18
7	Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	23
8	Atlanta Hawks	31	51	.378	31
9	Cleveland Cavaliers	28	54	.341	34
10	New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	38
11	Detroit Pistons	21	61	.256	41

Notes

• z, y – division champions
• x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1980–81 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	—	2–4	2–4	1–5	2–0	1–1	4–2	2–0	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	1–5	3–2	2–4	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–4
Boston	4–2	—	5–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	4–1	1–1	2–0	3–3	1–1	2–0	3–3	6–0	5–1	3–3	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	5–1
Chicago	4–2	1–5	—	5–1	1–1	1–1	5–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	3–3	3–2	3–3	2–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	5–1
Cleveland	5–1	1–4	1–5	—	2–0	1–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	2–4	0–2	0–2	0–6	3–3	0–5	0–6	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2
Dallas	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	—	3–3	0–2	2–3	0–6	0–2	0–6	0–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–4	1–4	1–5	2–3	1–4	1–5	0–2
Denver	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	—	2–0	3–2	2–4	1–1	4–2	3–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–4	2–3	2–4	3–2	3–2	2–4	0–2
Detroit	2–4	1–4	1–5	3–3	2–0	0–2	—	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–5	3–3	1–5	1–4	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–5
Golden State	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–3	2–0	—	3–2	1–1	5–0	1–5	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–4	2–4	1–4	2–4	3–3	4–1	1–1
Houston	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	6–0	4–2	1–1	2–3	—	1–1	2–4	2–3	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–4	3–2	3–3	1–4	4–1	4–2	0–2
Indiana	5–1	3–3	2–3	4–2	2–0	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	0–2	2–4	5–1	3–2	0–6	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2
Kansas City	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	6–0	2–4	1–1	0–5	4–2	0–2	—	0–5	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–2	3–2	2–4	3–2	2–3	5–1	1–1
Los Angeles	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	5–0	2–3	2–0	5–1	3–2	2–0	5–0	—	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–4	3–3	2–3	3–3	6–0	3–2	1–1
Milwaukee	5–1	3–3	3–3	6–0	2–0	1–1	5–1	1–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	2–0	—	5–1	3–3	3–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–1
New Jersey	2–3	0–6	2–3	3–3	1–1	1–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	1–5	0–2	0–2	1–5	—	0–6	1–5	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3
New York	4–2	1–5	3–3	5–0	1–1	2–0	5–1	0–2	2–0	2–3	1–1	0–2	3–3	6–0	—	3–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–2
Philadelphia	5–1	3–3	4–2	6–0	2–0	1–1	4–1	2–0	2–0	6–0	2–0	1–1	2–3	5–1	3–3	—	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–2
Phoenix	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	4–1	2–0	4–2	4–1	1–1	2–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	—	3–3	3–2	6–0	5–1	5–0	1–1
Portland	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	4–1	3–2	2–0	4–2	2–3	2–0	2–3	3–3	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	—	2–3	4–2	4–2	2–3	2–0
San Antonio	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	5–1	4–2	2–0	4–1	3–3	0–2	4–2	3–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–3	3–2	—	4–1	3–2	5–1	1–1
San Diego	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–3	1–1	4–2	4–1	1–1	2–3	3–3	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–6	2–4	1–4	—	5–1	3–2	0–2
Seattle	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	4–1	2–3	2–0	3–3	1–4	2–0	3–2	0–6	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–5	2–4	2–3	1–5	—	4–1	1–1
Utah	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	5–1	4–2	2–0	1–4	2–4	1–1	1–5	2–3	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–5	3–2	1–5	2–3	1–4	—	0–2
Washington	4–1	1–5	1–5	2–4	2–0	2–0	5–1	1–1	2–0	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–4	3–3	2–4	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	—

Game log

Playoffs

1981 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 March 31 Chicago L 80–90 Ray Williams (19) Micheal Ray Richardson (13) Micheal Ray Richardson (6) Madison Square Garden 14,822 0–1 2 April 3 @ Chicago W 114–115 (OT) Campy Russell (29) three players tied (6) three players tied (5) Chicago Stadium 19,901 0–2
1981 schedule

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

• Micheal Ray Richardson, NBA All-Defensive First Team^[5]

Transactions

References

1. The Fourth Estate (PDF). New York Knicks. 2003. p. 331. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
2. The Fourth Estate (PDF). New York Knicks. 2003. p. 330. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
3. "1980–81 New York Knickerbockers Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
4. "1980 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
5. "NBA & ABA All-Defensive Teams". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved September 21, 2013.