1981–82 Yugoslav First Basketball League
| Season | 1981–82 |
|---|---|
| Champions |
Cibona (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Partizan |
| Semifinalists |
Zadar Crvena zvezda |
| Promoted |
Jugoplastika Kvarner |
| Relegated |
Sloboda Tuzla Rabotnički |
| Teams | 12 |
| Games played | 132 |
| Top seed | Partizan |
| Statistical leaders | |
| Points |
 Dražen Dalipagić31.5
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← 1980–81
1982–83 →
All statistics correct as of 27 April 2017.
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The 1981–82 Yugoslav First Basketball League season was the 51st 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 2 games to none in the playoffs final best-of-3 series.
The season was another milestone for basketball in Yugoslavia as the very first time league basketball in the country 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 managed to win 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.
The first ever Yugoslav First League playoffs were played in the following format: the top six regular season teams clinched a playoff spot automatically while the 7th and 8th placed teams had to play a one-off game against the Yugoslav Second League 2nd and 1st placed teams, respectively, with the winners of these two games (played at a neutral venue) clinching a playoff spot.
The top two teams from the 1981-82 Yugoslav Second League were KK Jugoplastika from Split and KK Kvarner from Rijeka. They thus faced Yugoslav First League clubs — 8th placed KK Budućnost from Titograd and 7th placed KK Bosna from Sarajevo, respectively — with the winner of each game clinching a playoff spot.
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