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1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers season

Pro basketball team season (won NBA championship) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The 1987–88 NBA season was the 42nd season for the Los Angeles Lakers as a franchise, their 40th season in the National Basketball Association, and their 28th season in Los Angeles, California.[1] The Lakers entered the regular season as the defending NBA champion, having defeated the Boston Celtics in six games in the 1987 NBA Finals; following their championship win, Lakers head coach Pat Riley promised the team would repeat as champions.[2]

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The Lakers got off to a fast start by winning their first eight games of the regular season, then later on posting a 15-game winning streak between December and January, and holding a 35–8 record at the All-Star break.[3] The Lakers then posted a 10-game winning streak in February, and won the Pacific Division title with a league-best 62–20 record, which earned them the first seed in the Western Conference.[4]

Byron Scott led the Lakers in scoring averaging 21.7 points, 4.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game, while James Worthy averaged 19.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, and Magic Johnson provided the team with 19.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 11.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team. In addition, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar contributed 14.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, while A.C. Green provided with 11.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Off the bench, Mychal Thompson averaged 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, while defensive guard Michael Cooper contributed 8.7 points and 4.7 assists per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, Wes Matthews provided with 5.7 points and 2.7 assists per game, and Kurt Rambis averaged 4.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.[5]

Johnson, Worthy and Abdul-Jabbar were all selected for the 1988 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago, Illinois, while Riley was selected to coach the Western Conference.[6][7][8] Johnson also finished in third place in Most Valuable Player voting, behind Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls, and Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics;[9][10] Scott finished tied in eighth place in Most Improved Player voting,[10] while Cooper finished tied in fifth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting,[10] and Riley finished in second place in Coach of the Year voting.[11][10]

Before the Lakers could make good on Riley's guarantee in the 1988 NBA playoffs, they swept the San Antonio Spurs in three straight games in the Western Conference First Round.[12] However, the following two rounds would not be as easy for the Lakers, as they trailed 2–1 to the 5th-seeded Utah Jazz in the Western Conference Semi-finals, but managed to defeat them in seven games,[13] and then defeated the Dallas Mavericks in another tough seven-game series in the Western Conference Finals.[14]

In the 1988 NBA Finals, the Lakers defeated the Detroit Pistons in a hard-fought seven game series, winning their eleventh NBA championship; Worthy, who had a triple-double of 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a 108–105 Game 7 win, was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. The Lakers also became the NBA's first repeat champions since the Boston Celtics did it in the 1968–69 NBA season.[15][16][17] Following the season, Rambis signed as a free agent with the Charlotte Hornets expansion team.[18][19][20]

By the time the Lakers had finished their season, they had played an NBA record of 106 games, including another record of 24 playoff games, winning 77 and losing 29; the team went 62–20 in the regular season and 15–9 in the playoffs, en route to their sixth NBA championship in Los Angeles, and their 11th overall in franchise history. HoopsHype would later rank this squad as the team with the 13th easiest route to the NBA Finals championship (in terms of team records of their opponents), primarily due to the record that the Spurs had this season.[21]

The 1988 NBA Finals was the last time the Showtime-era Lakers won an NBA championship; it was also the final time that the franchise won a championship at the Great Western Forum. The Lakers did not win another championship until 2000, when they were playing at the Staples Center (now known as the Crypto.com Arena).

The Lakers, and the Pistons scoring 100 points or more in Game 7 of the NBA Finals would not happen again until 2025, when the Oklahoma City Thunder did so.

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Draft picks

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Roster

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Regular season

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A ticket for Game 1 of the 1988 NBA Finals at The Forum.
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A ticket for Game 1 of the 1988 Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.

Season standings

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z – clinched division title
y – clinched division title
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

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Game log

Regular season

More information 1987–88 game log Total: 62–20 (Home: 36–5; Road: 26–15), Game ...

Playoffs

More information 1988 playoff game log Total: 15–9 (Home: 12–2; Road: 3–7), Game ...
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Player statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Season

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Playoffs

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Player Statistics Citation:[5]

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Awards and records

Awards

All-Star

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Transactions

Trades

Free Agents

References

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