This season would prove to be
Magic Johnson's last full season as a player, as he announced he was HIV positive and retired early the following season (Johnson would play part of the
1995-96 NBA season with
the Lakers before permanently retiring).
The
Trent Tucker Rule was adopted. When
Trent Tucker hit a walk-off three-point field goal at the buzzer in the previous season, the clock had started with 0.1 left. It prevents any shot to be taken with up to 0.2 seconds left in the period; the lone exception was a tip-in.
For the first time since 1981, the Los Angeles Lakers were not the Number 1 seed in the Western Conference. However they still reached the NBA Finals by upsetting the heavily favored
Portland Trail Blazers in six games. They would go on to lose to the
Chicago Bulls in five games, their last NBA Finals appearance until
2000.
During the season, all NBA teams sport patches featuring the
American flag on their warmups as an honor to the American soldiers fighting during the
Persian Gulf War.
Champion became the league's official outfitter.
The
Golden State Warriors became the only seventh seeded team to beat the second seed twice since the 16-team playoff field was introduced seven years earlier. The Warriors defeated the
San Antonio Spurs in four games.
The NBA becomes the first major professional sports league to play outside North America, as the
Phoenix Suns and
Utah Jazz open the season against each other in
Tokyo, Japan.
The
New York Knicks slightly changed their uniforms replacing their alternate "NY" logo on the left leg of their shorts with their current primary logo.
The
Sacramento Kings changed their uniforms, adding a darker blue color from their primary logo.
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk.
Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.