The 1982–83 Phoenix Suns season was the 15th season for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. The Suns were in the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

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 The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

, a team they had beaten by the same margin a year earlier. The Suns were led by

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

John MacLeod and played all home games in

Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, also called the Madhouse Coliseum or Phoenix Memorial Coliseum, is a 14,870-seat multi-purpose indoor arena in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, located at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. It hosted the Phoenix Su ...

. Walter Davis led the Suns in scoring with 19

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

per game. Second-year player

Larry Nance Larry Donnell Nance Sr. (born February 12, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. A forward from Clemson University, Nance played 14 seasons (1981–1994) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Phoen ...

, 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 Maurice Lucas (February 18, 1952 – October 31, 2010) was an American professional basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a four-time NBA All-Star and won ...

averaged a

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...

with 16.5 points and 10.4

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

a contest. Lucas, a 30-year-old veteran who had played for four NBA teams and one

ABA ABA may refer to: Aviation * AB Aerotransport, former Scandinavian airline * IATA airport code for Abakan International Airport in Republic of Khakassia, Russia Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, Uni ...

team before reaching the Suns, returned to his first

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

after two seasons when he suited up with Phoenix.

Point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

Dennis Johnson Dennis Wayne Johnson (September 18, 1954 – February 22, 2007), nicknamed "DJ", was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns, and Boston Celtics. He was a c ...

earned another spot on the

NBA All-Defensive First Team The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of ten players in tw ...

Offseason

NBA draft

Roster

Regular season

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Playoffs

Game log

, - bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , April 19 ,

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

W 121–108
,

(28) ,

(12) ,

(8) ,

11,901 , 1–0 , - bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , April 21 , @

L 99–113
, Walter Davis (31) , James Edwards (9) ,

(5) ,

McNichols Sports Arena McNichols Sports Arena was an indoor arena located in Denver, Colorado, United States. Located adjacent to Mile High Stadium and completed in 1975, at a cost of $16 million, it seated 16,061 for hockey games and 17,171 for basketball games. Sp ...

15,903 , 1–1 , - bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , April 24 ,

L 112–117 (OT)
, Walter Davis (29) ,

(12) ,

Alvan Adams Alvan Leigh Adams (born July 19, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player. He spent his entire 13-year career with the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Adams was named as the NBA Rookie of the Year in ...

(9) ,

14,660 , 1–2 , -

Awards and honors

All-Star

was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the

. 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

(306,470).

Season

was named to the

. *

finished 14th in

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

voting.

Player statistics

Season

, - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 80 , , 75 , , 30.6 , , .486 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , .333 , , .829 , , 6.9 , , 4.7 , , 1.4 , , .9 , , 14.2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , * , , 45 , , 2 , , 12.2 , , .430 , , .000 , , .759 , , 2.9 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .3 , , 3.6 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 80 , , 79 , , 31.1 , , .516 , , .304 , , .818 , , 2.5 , , 5.0 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 1.5 , , .2 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 19.0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , * , , 16 , , 1 , , 17.8 , , .487 , , . , , .660 , , 3.7 , , 1.7 , , .3 , , .3 , , 8.8 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 82 , , 2 , , 14.1 , , .461 , , .200 , , .463 , , 1.8 , , 1.9 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 3.2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , 77 , , 74 , , 33.1 , , .462 , , .161 , , .791 , , 4.4 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 5.0 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , 14.2 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 54 , , 4 , , 8.5 , , .423 , , .000 , , .875^ , , 1.6 , , 0.7 , , .3 , , .1 , , 1.9 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , 77 , , 71 , , 33.6 , , .474 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , .333 , , .781 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 10.4 , , 2.8 , , .7 , , .6 , , 16.5 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 82 , , 9 , , 22.4 , , .517 , , .303 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , .872^ , , 2.0 , , 3.4 , , .8 , , .1 , , 9.9 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 82 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 82 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 35.5 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , .550 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , .333 , , .672 , , 8.7 , , 2.4 , , 1.2 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 2.6 , , 16.7 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 28 , , 0 , , 6.1 , , .475 , , .000 , , .676 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , .1 , , .3 , , 2.3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , 81 , , 9 , , 14.1 , , .479 , , .000 , , .736 , , 2.8 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .4 , , 4.1 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 49 , , 2 , , 10.6 , , .435 , , .143 , , .577 , , 1.5 , , 0.7 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , 65 , , 0 , , 9.6 , , .543 , , .000 , , .642 , , 1.6 , , 0.5 , , .2 , , .0 , , 5.0 * – Stats with the Suns.
^ – Minimum 125 free throws made.

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , 28.0 , , .469 , , . , , .714 , , 6.0 , , 4.7 , , .7 , , 1.7 , , 11.7 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 37.7 , , .435 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , .500 , , .810 , , 5.0 , , 4.3 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 2.0 , , 1.7 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 26.0 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , 0 , , 18.0 , , .423 , , . , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 1.000 , , 6.0 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .3 , , 9.3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , 0 , , 15.0 , , .455 , , .000 , , .000 , , 3.3 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 3.3 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , 36.0 , , .458 , , .000 , , .833 , , 7.7 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 5.7 , , 1.7 , , .7 , , 18.0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , 2 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .000 , , . , , . , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 0.0 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , 2 , , 2 , , 28.5 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , .571 , , . , , .500 , , 6.0 , , 4.0 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , 13.0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , 0 , , 24.0 , , .429 , , .000 , , .714 , , 2.7 , , 3.0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 11.7 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , 34.3 , , .400 , , . , , .800 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 8.3 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 2.0 , , 12.0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , . , , . , , . , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 0.0 , - align="center" bgcolor="" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , 1 , , 20.7 , , .462 , , . , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 1.000 , , 4.0 , , 1.7 , , .7 , , 1.7 , , 4.7 , - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" , , , style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" , 3 , , 0 , , 13.3 , , .500 , , .000 , , .500 , , 3.3 , , 0.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 5.3

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

References

Standings on Basketball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:1982-83 Phoenix Suns season Phoenix Suns seasons Phoe