NBA 1999/2000

	National Basketball Association
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Duration		November 1999 - June 2000
Season games per team		82
Number of teams		29
Regular season
Best record		United States Los Angeles Lakers
Season MVP		United States Shaquille O'Neal
Top scorer		United States Shaquille O'Neal
Playoffs
Eastern - Champion		Indiana Pacers
Runner-up team		New York Knicks
Western - Champion		Los Angeles Lakers
Runner-up team		Portland Trail Blazers
Finals
NBA champions		United States Los Angeles Lakers
Runner-up		United States Indiana Pacers
Finals MVP		United States Shaquille O'Neal

The 1999/2000 NBA season marked the National Basketball Association's 54th season . A total of 29 teams took part in the regular season . Each team played 82 games. The eight best in each conference qualified for the NBA playoffs . The season ended on June 19th with the NBA Finals.

The Los Angeles Lakers won the 2000 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers 4-2 and won the NBA championship for the twelfth time in the team's long history.

Season Notes

The 1999/2000 season was the first in which the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers held their home games at the Staples Center . The Atlanta Hawks ( Philips Arena ), Denver Nuggets ( Pepsi Center ), Indiana Pacers ( Conseco Fieldhouse ) and the Miami Heat ( American Airlines Arena ) also played their first games in new home halls.

The NBA All-Star Game was held in Oakland ( California instead), home of the Golden State Warriors . The Western Conference won with 137: 126. Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs and Shaquille O'Neal of the LA Lakers shared the MVP honor.

Michael Jordan assumed the post of President of Basketball Operations with the Washington Wizards on January 19 .

The Los Angeles Lakers had meanwhile won a series of 19 games in a row (February 4 to March 13). This was the third longest winning streak in NBA history to date.

The San Antonio Spurs' Sean Elliott , who received a kidney transplant eight months earlier , returned to the NBA on March 14 against the Atlanta Hawks. He was the first professional athlete to make a comeback after such an operation. Even Kevin Johnson came back during the season out of retirement. After Jason Kidd broke his ankle, the Phoenix Suns needed a replacement in the point guard position. Johnson played six regular season games and nine play-off games. In the Western Conference semi-final series, the LA Lakers eliminated the Suns and Johnson returned to retirement.

Charles Barkley's career ended after 16 years . Back in October, Barkley announced that he would be stepping down after the season. In the game against the Philadelphia 76ers on December 8th, he tore the quadriceps tendon in his left knee and missed the rest of the season. Barkley only returned to the NBA floor for the last game of the season and made two points in his last NBA game in six minutes.

Final results

S = wins, N = defeats, PCT = percentage of wins, P = deficit on division leaders

The placements in the seed lists of the respective conference playoffs are listed in brackets.

#	team	S.	N	PCT	P
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
1	Miami Heat (2)	52	30th	.634	-
2	New York Knicks (3)	50	32	.610	2
3	Philadelphia 76ers (5)	49	33	.598	3
4th	Orlando Magic	41	41	.500	11
5	Boston Celtics	35	47	.427	17th
6th	New Jersey Nets	31	51	.378	21st
7th	Washington Wizards	29	53	.354	23
Central Division
#	team	S.	N	PCT	P
1	Indiana Pacers (1)	56	26th	.683	-
2	Charlotte Hornets (4)	49	33	.598	7th
3	Toronto Raptors (6)	45	37	.549	11
4th	Detroit Pistons (7)	42	40	.512	14th
5	Milwaukee Bucks (8)	42	40	.512	14th
6th	Cleveland Cavaliers	32	50	.390	24
7th	Atlanta Hawks	28	54	.341	28
8th	Chicago Bulls	17th	65	.207	39

#	team	S.	N	PCT	P
Western Conference
Midwest Division
1	Utah Jazz (2)	55	27	.6741	-
2	San Antonio Spurs (4)	53	29	.646	2
3	Minnesota Timberwolves (6)	50	32	.610	5
4th	Dallas Mavericks	40	42	.488	15th
5	Denver nuggets	35	47	.427	20th
6th	Houston Rockets	34	48	.415	21st
7th	Vancouver grizzlies	22nd	60	.268	33
Pacific Division
#	team	S.	N	PCT	P
1	Los Angeles Lakers (1)	67	15th	.817	-
2	Portland Trail Blazers (3)	59	23	.720	8th
3	Phoenix Suns (5)	53	29	.646	14th
4th	Seattle SuperSonics (7)	45	37	.549	22nd
5	Sacramento Kings (8)	44	38	.537	23
6th	Golden State Warriors	19th	63	.232	48
7th	Los Angeles Clippers	15th	67	.183	52

Leading the player stats


category	player	team	value
Points per game	Shaquille O'Neal	Los Angeles Lakers	29.7
Rebounds per game	Dikembe Mutombo	Atlanta Hawks	14.1
Assists per game	Jason Kidd	Phoenix Suns	10.1
Steals per game	Eddie Jones	Charlotte Hornets	2.7
Blocks per game	Alonzo Mourning	Miami Heat	3.7
Field throw quota	Shaquille O'Neal	Los Angeles Lakers	57.4%
Free throw rate	Jeff Hornacek	Utah Jazz	95.0%
Three-point throw quota	Hubert Davis	Dallas Mavericks	49.1%

Play-offs 2000

The first play-off round was played in the best-of-five format. All other rounds were best-of-seven series.

First round			Conference semifinals			Conference Finals			NBA finals

1	LA Lakers	3
8th	Sacramento	2
			1	LA Lakers	4th

			5	Phoenix	1
4th	San Antonio	1

5	Phoenix	3
						1	LA Lakers	4th
Western Conference
						3	Portland	3
3	Portland	3

6th	Minnesota	1
			3	Portland	4th

			2	Utah	1
2	Utah	3

7th	Seattle	2
									W1	LA Lakers	4th

									E1	Indiana	2
1	Indiana	3

8th	Milwaukee	2
			1	Indiana	4th

			5	Philadelphia	2
4th	Charlotte	1

5	Philadelphia	3
						1	Indiana	4th
Eastern Conference
						3	new York	2
3	new York	3

6th	Toronto	0
			3	new York	4th

			2	Miami	3
2	Miami	3

7th	Detroit	0

Play-off notes

The five-year-old Toronto Raptors made their NBA play-offs debut this season . They lost in the first round against the New York Knicks, however, 3-0.
The Indiana Pacers moved into the NBA Finals for the first time in the club's history. Before that, they reached the final series of the Eastern Conference three times , but could never win it.

NBA Finals 2000


game	date	Home team	Away team	Result	was standing
1	June 7th	los Angeles	Indiana	104: 87	1-0
2	June 9th	los Angeles	Indiana	111: 104	2-0
3	June 11th	Indiana	los Angeles	100: 91	1: 2
4th	14th June	Indiana	los Angeles	118: 120 a.d.	1: 3
5	June 16	Indiana	los Angeles	120: 87	2: 3
6th	June 19th	los Angeles	Indiana	116: 111	4: 2

Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers was named Finals MVP .
It was the first championship for Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant , both of whom are being traded as future Hall of Famers . It was also the Lakers' first title win since their Magic Johnson - and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - eras.
After an ankle injury in the first quarter of Game 2, Kobe Bryant had to take a break for the rest of the game and the entire third game.

Web links

NBA website