1982–83 Phoenix Suns season

The 1982–83 Phoenix Suns season was the 15th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The Suns were in the playoffs 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, a team they had beaten by the same margin a year earlier. The Suns were led by head coach John MacLeod and played all home games in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Walter Davis led the Suns in scoring with 19 points per game. Second-year player Larry Nance, 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 averaged a double-double with 16.5 points and 10.4 rebounds a contest. Lucas, a 30-year-old veteran who had played for four NBA teams and one ABA team before reaching the Suns, returned to his first All-Star Game after two seasons when he suited up with Phoenix. Point guard Dennis Johnson earned another spot on the NBA All-Defensive First Team.

Roster
{| class="toccolours" style="font-size: 85%; width: 100%;" ! colspan="2" style="background-color: #423189; color: #FF8800; text-align: center;" | Phoenix Suns roster ! Players !! Coaches {| class="sortable" style="background:transparent; margin:0px; width:100%;" ! Pos. !! # !! Name !! Height !! Weight !! DOB (Y-M-D) !! From
 * - style="background-color: #FF8800; color: #423189;  text-align: center;"
 * valign="top" |
 * valign="top" |

Game log

 * - bgcolor="#ccffcc"
 * 1
 * April 19
 * Denver
 * W 121–108
 * Dennis Johnson (28)
 * Dennis Johnson (12)
 * Dennis Johnson (8)
 * Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11,901
 * 1–0
 * - bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 2
 * April 21
 * @ Denver
 * L 99–113
 * Walter Davis (31)
 * James Edwards (9)
 * Dennis Johnson (5)
 * McNichols Sports Arena 15,903
 * 1–1
 * - bgcolor="#ffcccc"
 * 3
 * April 24
 * Denver
 * L 112–117 (OT)
 * Walter Davis (29)
 * Larry Nance (12)
 * Alvan Adams (9)
 * Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,660
 * 1–2

All-Star

 * Maurice Lucas was voted as a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. 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 Dennis Johnson (306,470).

Season

 * Dennis Johnson was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team.
 * Maurice Lucas finished 14th in MVP voting.

Season

 * - align="center" bgcolor=""
 * Alvan Adams || 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"
 * Jeff Cook* || 45 || 2 || 12.2 || .430 || .000 || .759 || 2.9 || 1.3 || .3 || .3 || 3.6
 * - align="center" bgcolor=""
 * Walter Davis || 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"
 * James Edwards* || 16 || 1 || 17.8 || .487 || . || .660 || 3.7 || 1.7 || .3 || .3 || 8.8
 * - align="center" bgcolor=""
 * Johnny High || 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"
 * Dennis Johnson || 77 || 74 || 33.1 || .462 || .161 || .791 || 4.4 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 5.0 || 1.3 || .5 || 14.2
 * - align="center" bgcolor=""
 * Joel Kramer || 54 || 4 || 8.5 || .423 || .000 || .875 ^ || 1.6 || 0.7 || .3 || .1 || 1.9
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
 * Maurice Lucas || 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=""
 * Kyle Macy || 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"
 * Larry Nance || 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=""
 * Charles Pittman || 28 || 0 || 6.1 || .475 || .000 || .676 || 1.1 || 0.3 || .1 || .3 || 2.3
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
 * Alvin Scott || 81 || 9 || 14.1 || .479 || .000 || .736 || 2.8 || 1.2 || .6 || .4 || 4.1
 * - align="center" bgcolor=""
 * David Thirdkill || 49 || 2 || 10.6 || .435 || .143 || .577 || 1.5 || 0.7 || .4 || .1 || 4.0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
 * Rory White || 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=""
 * Alvan Adams || 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"
 * Walter Davis || 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=""
 * James Edwards || 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"
 * Johnny High || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 3 || 0 || 15.0 || .455 || .000 || .000 || 3.3 || 2.0 || 1.0 || .3 || 3.3
 * - align="center" bgcolor=""
 * Dennis Johnson || 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"
 * Joel Kramer || 2 || 0 || 3.0 || .000 || . || . || 0.0 || 0.0 || .0 || .0 || 0.0
 * - align="center" bgcolor=""
 * Maurice Lucas || 2 || 2 || 28.5 || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | .571 || . || .500 || 6.0 || 4.0 || 1.5 || .0 || 13.0
 * - align="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
 * Kyle Macy || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 3 || 0 || 24.0 || .429 || .000 || .714 || 2.7 || 3.0 || .3 || .0 || 11.7
 * - align="center" bgcolor=""
 * Larry Nance || 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"
 * Charles Pittman || 1 || 0 || 1.0 || . || . || . || 0.0 || 0.0 || .0 || .0 || 0.0
 * - align="center" bgcolor=""
 * Alvin Scott || 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"
 * Rory White || style="background:#FF8800;color:#423189;" | 3 || 0 || 13.3 || .500 || .000 || .500 || 3.3 || 0.0 || .0 || .0 || 5.3
 * }