1981–82 Yugoslav First Basketball League
The 1981–82 Yugoslav First Basketball League season was the 38th season of the Yugoslav First Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in SFR Yugoslavia. The season ended with Cibona winning the league championship by beating Partizan two games to none in the playoffs final best-of-three series.
| Yugoslav First Basketball League | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 1981–82 | |||
| Number of games | 132 | |||
| Number of teams | 12 | |||
| Regular season | ||||
| Top seed | Partizan | |||
| Promoted | Jugoplastika Kvarner | |||
| Relegated | Sloboda Tuzla Rabotnički | |||
| Finals | ||||
| Champions | Cibona (1st title) | |||
| Runners-up | Partizan | |||
| Semifinalists | Zadar Crvena zvezda | |||
| Statistical leaders | ||||
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← 1980–81 1982–83 →
All statistics correct as of 27 April 2017. | ||||
The season was another milestone for club basketball in Yugoslavia as the sport began to be played with playoffs at the end of the regular league season, meaning that postseason would determine the league champion rather than regular season as was the case prior to the 1981–82 campaign.
KK Partizan finished the regular season on top with an 18–4 record just ahead of Cibona's 17–5; additionally, Partizan won both regular season games against Cibona. The same two teams made the playoff finals, having the home court advantage at every stage of the playoffs. Heading into the final series, Partizan had the home court advantage, but lost it after game 1 at Belgrade's Hala sportova in front of a packed crowd of 4,000—a hard-fought contest that visiting Cibona won 108–112 after triple overtime. Game 2 was played in Zagreb on Cibona's home court and Cibona won it assuredly to claim its first-ever Yugoslav title.