The 1982 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1981–82 season, the top level of competition in men's professional basketball in North America. The series saw the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers face the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers. It was a rematch of the 1980 NBA Finals. The Lakers won 4 games to 2. The 1982 NBA Finals documentary "Something to Prove" recaps all the action of this series. It was the last NBA video documentary to exclusively use film in all on-court action. Dick Stockton narrated the documentary, with the condensed USA Network version narrated by Al Albert. This was the first Finals to be claimed on the winning team's home court since 1977. The series ended June 8, later than any previous NBA Finals. The previous record was June 7, 1978. This record was eclipsed two years later when the finals ended on June 12, 1984. Background Los Angeles Lakers The Lakers were stunned in the 1981 NBA Playoffs by the Houston Rockets in a 3-game mini-series. The previous season saw the Lakers in a state of uncertainty, after Magic Johnson missed 45 games due to a knee injury. Their problems continued early in the new season, and with the team at 7–4 the Lakers decided to fire head coach Paul Westhead. Taking over as head coach was Pat Riley, and his promotion to the job led to the birth of the Showtime offense. With a healthy Johnson and the additions of Kurt Rambis and Bob McAdoo, the Lakers rallied to finish with a 57–25 record, best in the Western Conference. They were even more flawless in the playoffs as they both swept the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Semifinals, and the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. Philadelphia 76ers Like the Lakers, the 76ers were coming off a heartbreaking playoff defeat, as they blew a 3–1 lead and lost to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. Not much was changed for the 76ers roster-wise and record-wise in the new season, however, as the team finished second behind the Celtics in the Atlantic Division for the third straight year. Due to a then-existing rule where division winners would earn a first-round bye, the 76ers were forced to play a best-of-three miniseries, even though their 58–24 record was three games better than the