The 1985–86 New Jersey Nets season was the Nets' 10th season in the

NBA 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 ...

.1985–86 New Jersey Nets
/ref> After starting the first half of the season strong with a 23–14 record, the Nets lost star

Micheal Ray Richardson Michael Ray Richardson (born April 11, 1955), known as Micheal Ray Richardson, is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. He played college basketball for the Montana Grizzlies. The No. 4 overall pick in the 1978 NBA dr ...

due to a lifetime ban from the NBA due to repeated drug offenses and

Darryl Dawkins Darryl R. Dawkins (January 11, 1957 – August 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He was particularly known for his tenure with the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, althoug ...

to injuries, and then stumbled and went 16–29, finishing with a 39–43 record and barely making it into the playoffs.

Draft picks

Roster

;Roster notes * The Nets let F Rod Higgins's 10-day contract expire. * C Yvon Joseph was waived after playing 1 game in the NBA. * G

received a lifetime ban on February 25 after he violated the league's drug policy three times.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , April 18 , @

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

L 107–119
,

Buck Williams Charles Linwood "Buck" Williams (born March 8, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player and former assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers. He was well known for his rebounding ability and trademark goggles. Williams, ...

(27) ,

(14) ,

Birdsong Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs (often simply ''birdsong'') are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs (relatively complex vocalization ...

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

(7) , MECCA Arena
11,052 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , April 20 , @

L 97–111
,

Mike Gminski Michael Thomas Gminski (born August 3, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player and a college basketball TV analyst for the CW Courtside Saturday, ACC on The CW and CBS Sports. In 2003, Gminski, of Polish descent, was inducted i ...

(28) ,

(13) , Darwin Cook (7) , MECCA Arena
11,052 , 0–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , April 22 ,

L 113–118
, Otis Birdsong (28) ,

(10) , Kelvin Ransey (4) ,

Brendan Byrne Arena Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor sports and concert venue located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. Since closing, ...

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Transactions

References

See also