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What a strange year that was. Houston made the finals despite having a losing regular season record. They beat the then-KC Kings in the Western Conference Finals, who also had a losing regular season record. The best-of-three first round format no doubt helped them advance, but Malone was really a dominant force back then.
That 1981 Laker team was also a mess. Magic started to get a big head and Buss helped it. He was out for 1/2 the year and came back like he owned the place and really pissed off KAJ and the team. Westhead pisses off Magic by calling him out for being a diva and eventually he was fired.
In 1982 Magic tells his hooker provider, owner Dr Jerry Buss hire little known Pat Riley and away they go....