Full NBA season
2001-02
Explore the indexed regular season, conference races, divisions, and every playoff matchup from the 2001-02 NBA season.
1260indexed games
15playoff series
The season, told as it happened
Sacramento comes closest to breaking the three-peat
The Kings won 61 games with basketball built on passing and spacing, New Jersey rose from 26 wins to the East's top seed and Los Angeles no longer looked invulnerable—then Horry's rebound and an overtime Game 7 preserved the dynasty.
Full-season spoilers ahead
Begin the guided season story
This walkthrough reveals trades, playoff results, injuries and the champion as they happened. The regular archive below remains spoiler-safe.
Editorial sources and methodology
Athlore season stories are written as chronological editorial guides, checked against the linked season sources, and connected to the app's verified games, series, awards and exact player-season archives.
Postseason map
Playoff bracket
Follow every series from the opening round toward the NBA Finals.
Swipe through the bracket
1 / 4
First round
Conference semifinals
Conference finals
NBA Finals
Season honors
Awards and leaders
Open an award winner’s season or sort the verified leaders by any column.
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Midseason showcase
All-Star weekend
The event format follows what the league actually used that season, from East–West and captain drafts to multi-game tournaments.
East vs West
The classic conference matchup
The Eastern and Western Conference selections met in the traditional NBA All-Star Game format.
Selected rosters
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Regular season
Conference standings
Western Conference
Conference standings| Seed | Team | W | L | Pct | PF/G | PA/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sacramento Kings | 61 | 21 | .744 | 104.6 | 97.0 |
| 3 | Los Angeles Lakers | 58 | 24 | .707 | 101.3 | 94.1 |
| 2 | San Antonio Spurs | 58 | 24 | .707 | 96.7 | 90.5 |
| 4 | Dallas Mavericks | 57 | 25 | .695 | 105.2 | 101.0 |
| 5 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 50 | 32 | .610 | 99.3 | 96.0 |
| 6 | Portland Trail Blazers | 49 | 33 | .598 | 96.6 | 93.7 |
| 7 | Seattle SuperSonics | 45 | 37 | .549 | 97.7 | 94.7 |
| 8 | Utah Jazz | 44 | 38 | .537 | 96.0 | 95.1 |
| — | Los Angeles Clippers | 39 | 43 | .476 | 95.7 | 96.1 |
| — | Phoenix Suns | 36 | 46 | .439 | 95.1 | 95.8 |
| — | Houston Rockets | 28 | 54 | .341 | 92.3 | 97.2 |
| — | Denver Nuggets | 27 | 55 | .329 | 92.2 | 98.0 |
| — | Memphis Grizzlies | 23 | 59 | .280 | 89.9 | 97.3 |
| — | Golden State Warriors | 21 | 61 | .256 | 97.7 | 103.1 |
Eastern Conference
Conference standings| Seed | Team | W | L | Pct | PF/G | PA/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Jersey Nets | 52 | 30 | .634 | 96.2 | 92.0 |
| 2 | Detroit Pistons | 50 | 32 | .610 | 94.3 | 92.2 |
| 3 | Boston Celtics | 49 | 33 | .598 | 96.4 | 94.1 |
| 4 | Charlotte Hornets | 44 | 38 | .537 | 93.9 | 92.9 |
| 5 | Orlando Magic | 44 | 38 | .537 | 100.5 | 98.9 |
| 6 | Philadelphia 76ers | 43 | 39 | .524 | 91.0 | 89.4 |
| 8 | Indiana Pacers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 96.8 | 96.5 |
| 7 | Toronto Raptors | 42 | 40 | .512 | 91.4 | 91.8 |
| — | Milwaukee Bucks | 41 | 41 | .500 | 97.5 | 97.7 |
| — | Washington Wizards | 37 | 45 | .451 | 92.8 | 94.2 |
| — | Miami Heat | 36 | 46 | .439 | 87.2 | 88.7 |
| — | Atlanta Hawks | 33 | 49 | .402 | 94.0 | 98.3 |
| — | New York Knicks | 30 | 52 | .366 | 91.6 | 95.6 |
| — | Cleveland Cavaliers | 29 | 53 | .354 | 95.3 | 98.6 |
| — | Chicago Bulls | 21 | 61 | .256 | 89.5 | 98.0 |
Around the league