1988 NBA Finals

1988 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Los Angeles Lakers Pat Riley 4 Detroit Pistons Chuck Daly 3
Dates	June 7–21
Western Finals	Lakers defeated Mavericks, 4–3
← 1987 NBA Finals 1989 →

The 1988 NBA Finals was the championship round of the

4 games to 3 to win their eleventh title.

One of Los Angeles Lakers head coach Pat Riley's most famous moments came when he promised the crowd a repeat championship during the Lakers' 1987 championship parade in downtown Los Angeles. With every team in the league now gunning for them, the Los Angeles Lakers still found a way to win, taking their seventh consecutive Pacific Division title. While the 1988 Lakers did not produce as many wins in the regular season as the 1987 Lakers, they were just as successful in the playoffs, becoming the first team in 19 years to repeat as champions.

One of Pistons guard Isiah Thomas's career-defining performances came in Game 6. Despite badly twisting his ankle midway through the period, Thomas scored an NBA Finals record 25 third-quarter points, as Detroit fell valiantly, 103–102, to the Lakers at the Forum.

Thomas still managed to score 10 first-half points in Game 7, as Detroit built a 5-point lead. In the 3rd quarter, the Lakers, inspired by Finals MVP

(14 3rd-quarter points), exploded as they built a 10-point lead entering the final period. The lead swelled to 15 before Detroit mounted a furious 4th-quarter rally, trimming the lead to two points on several occasions. The Lakers ultimately prevailed and captured their 5th championship in the last 9 seasons.

This was the first NBA Finals since 1983 not to feature the Boston Celtics.

Background

Los Angeles Lakers

During the 1987 championship parade in

(109–110) on January 13, 1988. They also had another double-digit winning streak (10-game winning streak) from February 11 until February 28.

The playoffs proved to be a difficult climb for the Lakers, however. They swept the San Antonio Spurs in the first round. They came back from a 2–1 deficit against the Utah Jazz in the semifinals round before beating them in Game 7. They then defeated the Dallas Mavericks in 7 games in the Conference Finals round. The Lakers eventually prevailed in both series thanks to their championship experience.^[1]

Detroit Pistons

The Pistons of head coach Chuck Daly were an up-and-coming team that gradually moved up the Eastern Conference ranks. Known as the "Bad Boys" for their physical and defensive-minded style of play, the Pistons' core featured guards Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars, forwards Adrian Dantley and Rick Mahorn, center Bill Laimbeer, and bench players Vinnie Johnson, Dennis Rodman and John Salley. Midway through the season, Detroit gained a valuable backup to Laimbeer and Mahorn when they acquired James Edwards.

The 1987–88 season marked a further ascension for the franchise, as Detroit won the Central Division title with a 54–28 record. The second-seeded Pistons overcame the Washington Bullets and the Chicago Bulls in five games each, before facing the Boston Celtics once again in the conference finals. This time, the Pistons were the better team, eliminating the Celtics in six games for their first NBA Finals appearance since 1956.

Road to the Finals

Los Angeles Lakers (Western Conference champion)		Detroit Pistons (Eastern Conference champion)
# Western Conference v t e Team W L PCT GB 1 z-Los Angeles Lakers 62 20 .756 – 2 y-Denver Nuggets 54 28 .659 8 3 x-Dallas Mavericks 53 29 .646 9 4 x-Portland Trail Blazers 53 29 .646 9 5 x-Utah Jazz 47 35 .573 15 6 x-Houston Rockets 46 36 .561 16 7 x-Seattle SuperSonics 44 38 .537 18 8 x-San Antonio Spurs 31 51 .378 31 9 Phoenix Suns 28 54 .341 34 10 Sacramento Kings 24 58 .293 38 11 Golden State Warriors 20 62 .244 42 12 Los Angeles Clippers 17 65 .207 45 1st seed in the West, best league record	Regular season		# Eastern Conference v t e Team W L PCT GB 1 c-Boston Celtics 57 25 .695 – 2 y-Detroit Pistons 54 28 .659 3 3 x-Chicago Bulls 50 32 .610 7 4 x-Atlanta Hawks 50 32 .610 7 5 x-Milwaukee Bucks 42 40 .512 15 6 x-Cleveland Cavaliers 42 40 .512 15 7 x-Washington Bullets 38 44 .463 19 8 x-New York Knicks 38 44 .463 19 9 Indiana Pacers 38 44 .463 19 10 Philadelphia 76ers 36 46 .439 21 11 New Jersey Nets 19 63 .232 38 2nd seed in the East, 4th best league record
Defeated the (8) San Antonio Spurs, 3–0	First Round		Defeated the (7) Washington Bullets, 3–2
Defeated the (5) Utah Jazz, 4–3	Conference Semifinals		Defeated the (3) Chicago Bulls, 4–1
Defeated the (3) Dallas Mavericks, 4–3	Conference Finals		Defeated the (1) Boston Celtics, 4–2

Regular season series

The Los Angeles Lakers won both games in the regular season series:

Series summary

Game	Date	Road team	Result	Home team
Game 1	June 7	Detroit Pistons	105–93 (1–0)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 2	June 9	Detroit Pistons	96–108 (1–1)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 3	June 12	Los Angeles Lakers	99–86 (2–1)	Detroit Pistons
Game 4	June 14	Los Angeles Lakers	86–111 (2–2)	Detroit Pistons
Game 5	June 16	Los Angeles Lakers	94–104 (2–3)	Detroit Pistons
Game 6	June 19	Detroit Pistons	102–103 (3–3)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 7	June 21	Detroit Pistons	105–108 (3–4)	Los Angeles Lakers

Game 1

The Pistons had just dispatched the Celtics in six games, while the Lakers were coming off back-to-back seven-game wins over the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers were tired, and it showed. Adrian Dantley scored 34 points, hitting 14 of 16 shots from the field. The Pistons took control of the game with four seconds left in the first half when Bill Laimbeer hit a three-point shot to put the Pistons up 54–40. Isiah Thomas then stole Kareem's inbound pass at half court and let fly with another three-pointer which hit nothing but net at the halftime buzzer. The Pistons had a 57–40 halftime lead and never looked back, stealing Game 1 with a 105–93 win.

Game 2

Facing the possibility of going down 2–0 with three games to play in Detroit, the veteran Lakers found resolve with a 108–96 win.

23 despite battling the flu.

Game 3

CBS

June 12 3:30 pm EDT

Los Angeles Lakers 99, Detroit Pistons 86
Scoring by quarter: 23–21, 24–25, 31–18, 21–22
Pts: James Worthy 24 Rebs: James Worthy 9 Asts: Magic Johnson 14		Pts: Isiah Thomas 28 Rebs: Dennis Rodman 12 Asts: Isiah Thomas 9
Los Angeles leads the series, 2–1

Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan Attendance: 39,188 Referees: No. 12 Earl Strom No. 25 Hugh Evans

With Magic still battling the flu, the Lakers got a key win in Detroit, 99–86, to go up 2–1 in games. The Lakers took control of the game in the third period, outscoring the Pistons 31–18. Despite his illness, Magic had 18 points, 14 assists, and six rebounds.

Game 4

CBS

June 14 9:00 pm EDT

Los Angeles Lakers 86, Detroit Pistons 111
Scoring by quarter: 29–32, 22–26, 14–25, 21–28
Pts: Magic Johnson 23 Rebs: A.C. Green 10 Asts: Magic Johnson 6		Pts: Adrian Dantley 27 Rebs: Isiah Thomas 9 Asts: Isiah Thomas 12
Series tied, 2–2

Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan Attendance: 34,276 Referees: No. 11 Jake O'Donnell No. 14 Jack Madden

In front of their home fans, the Pistons tied the series at 2–2 with a 111–86 win. The Pistons decided to attack the basket and make Magic Johnson defend. Johnson wound up on the bench early in the second half with foul trouble.

With Magic out of the game, the Pistons built a substantial lead. During timeouts, Bill Laimbeer was almost frantic. He kept saying, "No letup! We don't let up!" They didn't, and blew out the defending NBA champions by 25 points.

Left open by the trapping Lakers defense, Dantley led the team with 27 points. Vinnie Johnson came off the bench to add 16 while James Edwards had 14 points and five rebounds off the bench.

Game 5

The Pistons' 104–94 victory was a perfect farewell to the Pontiac Silverdome. Bill Laimbeer told Joe Dumars with a minute left in the game to "look around and enjoy this because you'll never see anything like it again". He went on to say, "Forty-one thousand people waving towels and standing. It was awesome."

The Lakers opened Game 5 with a fury of physical intimidation, scoring the game's first 12 points. But that approach soon backfired, as the Laker big men got into foul trouble.

Dantley played a major role in the turnaround, scoring 25 points, 19 of them in the first half, to rally the Pistons to a 59–50 halftime lead. Vinnie Johnson added 12 of his 16 points in the first half to keep Detroit moving.

Joe Dumars added 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting to send the Pistons back to Los Angeles, one win away from their first NBA title.

Games 3, 4, and 5 were the last NBA Finals games to be contested in a domed stadium built primarily for football until the 1999 NBA Finals in which Games 1 and 2 were played at the

.

Game 6

The Lakers led 56–48 in the third quarter when Isiah Thomas suddenly began a classic performance. He scored his team's next 14 points, hitting two free throws, a driving layup, four jump shots, and a running bank shot.

With a little less than 5 minutes left in the period and the score 70–64, Lakers, Thomas rolled his right ankle while passing off to Joe Dumars for a basket. Thomas tried to run upcourt, but collapsed while the Lakers scored again. Despite a severe sprain, Thomas returned to the game with 3:44 left and the Lakers up 74–66. Thomas, with his bad ankle, scored 11 of the Pistons' last 15 points of the quarter to finish with 25, an NBA Finals record for one quarter, on 11-of-13 shooting. During this time, the Pistons outscored the Lakers 15–5 to take an 81–79 lead.

The fourth quarter was nip-and-tuck; with 1:30 left, Thomas, sore ankle and all, hit a baseline jumper for his 42nd and 43rd points to give the Pistons a 100–99 lead. The Lakers came down and Magic Johnson got the ball inside to James Worthy, but his layup attempt was blocked by Dennis Rodman. Joe Dumars penetrated inside on the ensuing possession, was fouled, and hit the two free throws for a three-point lead at 102–99 with a minute left.

The Lakers called timeout, and on the next possession,

Abdul-Jabbar then proceeded to sink two high-pressure free throws providing the Lakers with a one-point lead.

After a time out, the Pistons set up for a final shot. Thomas collided with Dantley after inbounding the ball, but Dumars penetrated in the paint and put up a shot that missed after he was forced to by A.C. Green to alter it. After a scramble, Scott came up with the ball for the Lakers and was shoved out of bounds by Rodman, inciting a near-fight, with 5 seconds left on the clock. Scott missed both free throw attempts, but the Pistons, who had no timeouts remaining, lost precious seconds trying to secure the loose rebound and could not get a shot off before time expired.

Thomas would end up with 43 points and eight assists in a heroic performance.

Game 7

This was the first Game 7 since 1984, and the first to be played under the 2–3–2 format, adopted in 1985.

In the final game, Thomas' ankle was still sore, as evidenced by his limping badly in warm-ups. He did manage to play the first half, scoring 10 points and leading the Pistons to a 52–47 halftime lead. But, the delay between halves caused the ankle to stiffen, and Thomas played little in the second half. With Isiah on the bench, the Lakers turned the halftime deficit into a 90–75 lead early in the 4th quarter. A key factor was Laker guard Michael Cooper; he had been mired in a terrible shooting slump all series, but suddenly caught fire, hitting three 3-point baskets.

fans nervous.

With 1:17 left, Dumars hit a jump shot to cut the lead to 102–100.

had a chance to essentially clinch the victory after being fouled, but he missed both free throws, and the Lakers' lead remained at five.

After Dumars made a layup, James Worthy hit a free throw and Bill Laimbeer canned a 28-foot three-pointer, pushing the score to 106–105 with six seconds showing. A.C. Green completed the scoring with a layup off a length-of-the court pass from Magic, making it 108–105. Laimbeer made a long desperate pass to Thomas who caught the ball trying to shoot a three to send the game to overtime, but Thomas fell to the floor in a collision with Johnson, losing the ball as time ran out. Fans were already beginning to storm onto the floor even though time had not expired, but the officials ignored this. Pat Riley and the Laker players hurried back to their dressing room as the players and coaches on both teams were pummeled by the storming fans.

Worthy racked up a monster

For that and his earlier efforts in the series, he was named the Finals MVP, cementing his nickname "Big Game James".

Michael Cooper, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the only members of all 5 Lakers championship teams from the 1980s. Pat Riley is the only coach that was on all 5 Lakers championship teams from the 1980s, he was an assistant coach on the 1980 championship team, and head coach on the other four championship teams.

This was the Lakers' first Game 7 Finals victory since 1954; however, it was their first ever Game 7 win in the championship series since moving to Los Angeles in 1960; they were 0–5 in previous Game 7's since moving (1962, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1984). This would end up being the Lakers' last home win in the championship series until 2000.

Team rosters

Los Angeles Lakers

1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From C 33 Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1947–04–16 UCLA G/F 19 Campbell, Tony 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1962–05–17 Ohio State G/F 21 Cooper, Michael 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1956–04–15 New Mexico PF 45 Green, A.C. 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1963–10–04 Oregon State PG 32 Johnson, Magic 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1959–08–14 Michigan State G/F 3 Lamp, Jeff 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1959–03–09 Virginia PG 1 Matthews, Wes 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1959–08–24 Wisconsin PF 31 Rambis, Kurt 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 213 lb (97 kg) 1958–02–25 Santa Clara SG 4 Scott, Byron 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1961–03–28 Arizona State C 52 Smrek, Mike 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1962–08–31 Canisius SF 55 Thompson, Billy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1963–12–01 Louisville C 43 Thompson, Mychal 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 226 lb (103 kg) 1955–01–30 Minnesota SG 20 Wagner, Milt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1963–02–20 Louisville SF 42 Worthy, James 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1961–02–27 North Carolina	Head coach Pat Riley Assistant coach(es) Bill Bertka Randy Pfund Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Detroit Pistons

1987–88 Detroit Pistons roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From C 00 Bedford, William 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1963–12–14 Memphis SF 45 Dantley, Adrian 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 1955–02–28 Notre Dame C 50 Dawkins, Darryl 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 251 lb (114 kg) 1957–01–11 Maynard Evans (HS) SG 4 Dumars, Joe 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1963–05–24 McNeese State F/C 53 Edwards, James 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1955–11–22 Washington PG 15 Johnson, Vinnie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1956–09–01 Baylor C 40 Laimbeer, Bill 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1957–05–19 Notre Dame SG 35 Lewis, Ralph 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1963–03–08 La Salle F/C 44 Mahorn, Rick 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1958–09–21 Hampton C 54 Moore, Ron 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 260 lb (118 kg) 1962–06–16 West Virginia State C 42 Nevitt, Chuck 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) 217 lb (98 kg) 1959–06–13 NC State SF 10 Rodman, Dennis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1961–05–13 SE Oklahoma State SG 23 Russell, Walker 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1960–10–26 Western Michigan PF 22 Salley, John 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1964–05–16 Georgia Tech PG 11 Thomas, Isiah 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1961–04–30 Indiana	Head coach Chuck Daly Assistant coach(es) Brendan Malone Brendan Suhr Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Player statistics

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

Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	7	7	29.6	.414	.000	.714	4.1	1.0	0.6	1.1	13.1
Tony Campbell	2	0	7.0	.667	.000	1.000	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	4.0
Michael Cooper	7	0	25.1	.205	.150	.625	1.6	2.1	0.9	0.3	3.7
A.C. Green	7	7	34.6	.558	.000	.733	8.7	0.6	0.4	0.0	10.0
Magic Johnson	7	7	41.4	.550	.333	.866	5.7	13.0	2.0	0.1	21.1
Wes Matthews	4	0	2.3	.333	.000	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.0	1.5
Kurt Rambis	5	0	6.6	.667	.000	.400	1.6	0.0	0.2	0.0	1.2
Byron Scott	7	7	40.1	.476	.455	.771	4.9	2.0	1.0	0.4	18.9
Mike Smrek	2	0	3.0	.000	.000	.000	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Mychal Thompson	7	0	21.6	.500	.000	.412	3.6	0.3	0.0	0.4	7.0
Milt Wagner	2	0	2.5	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0
James Worthy	7	7	38.0	.492	.000	.735	7.4	4.4	0.7	0.6	22.0

Detroit Pistons

Detroit Pistons statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Adrian Dantley	7	7	36.4	.573	.000	.859	5.0	2.3	0.6	0.1	21.3
Joe Dumars	7	7	33.3	.513	.500	.929	2.3	4.6	0.6	0.0	13.4
James Edwards	7	0	13.7	.477	.000	.636	3.0	1.0	0.1	0.4	7.0
Vinnie Johnson	7	0	23.4	.405	.167	.444	3.7	3.0	0.7	0.1	11.0
Bill Laimbeer	7	7	33.6	.391	.333	1.000	8.9	1.9	0.4	1.0	9.4
Ralph Lewis	3	0	1.3	.500	.000	.000	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7
Rick Mahorn	7	7	10.6	.409	.000	.833	2.4	0.1	0.0	0.6	3.3
Chuck Nevitt	1	0	1.0	.500	.000	.000	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0
Dennis Rodman	7	0	24.9	.629	.000	.524	6.9	0.6	0.9	1.0	7.9
Walker Russell	3	0	1.7	.333	.000	1.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.3
John Salley	7	0	25.3	.581	.000	.700	6.3	0.9	0.7	1.3	7.1
Isiah Thomas	7	7	37.4	.426	.294	.833	4.4	9.0	2.9	0.3	19.7

Television coverage

The Detroit Pistons season documentary "Bad Boys", narrated by George Blaha recaps Detroit's run to the Finals and how they garnered the "Bad Boys" moniker while the Los Angeles Lakers documentary "Back To Back", narrated by Chick Hearn recaps the Lakers quest to become the first team since the Bill Russell-led Celtics to achieve NBA championships in consecutive years.

That year,

was promoted the following season.

See also

• 1988 NBA Playoffs

References

External links

• NBA History