The 1980–81 Philadelphia 76ers season was the team's 32nd season in the NBA and 18th season in Philadelphia The team finished the regular season with a 62-20 record, however they lost the tie breaker with the Boston Celtics who had the home court advantage with the same regular season record. In the playoffs, they lost a seven-game series to the Boston Celtics, in the Eastern Conference finals, after having a three games to one series lead. This was the second time this occurred between the two teams (other in 1968), and the final 3 games of the series were decided by 5 points total. Julius Erving would win the Most Valuable Player of the League.
Draft picks
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
z - clinched division title
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot
Record vs. opponents
Game log
Regular season
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Playoffs
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | March 31 | Indiana | W 124–108 | Julius Erving (32) | Caldwell Jones (12) | Andrew Toney (11) | Spectrum7,288 | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | April 2 | @ Indiana | W 96–85 | Julius Erving (23) | Caldwell Jones (11) | Maurice Cheeks (6) | Market Square Arena8,921 | 2–0 |-