1986–87 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
TV partner/s	CBS, TBS
Regular season
Season MVP	Magic Johnson (L.A. Lakers)
Top scorer	Michael Jordan (Chicago)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Boston Celtics
Eastern runners-up	Detroit Pistons
Western champions	Los Angeles Lakers
Western runners-up	Seattle SuperSonics
Finals
Finals champions	Los Angeles Lakers
Runners-up	Boston Celtics
Finals MVP	Magic Johnson (L.A. Lakers)
NBA seasons
← 1985–86	1987–88 →

The 1986–87 NBA season was the 41st season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their fourth championship of the decade, beating the Boston Celtics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.

Contents 1 Notable occurrences 2 Final standings 2.1 Eastern Conference 2.2 Western Conference 3 1986-87 NBA statistics leaders 4 NBA awards 5 See also

[edit] Notable occurrences

• The 1987 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington, with the West defeating the East 154-149 in overtime. It was the highest scoring All-Star Game in NBA history with 303 total points. To the delight of the Seattle crowd, the SuperSonics' Tom Chambers won the game's MVP award. Michael Jordan won his first Slam Dunk Contest.
• This was the final NBA season for Philadelphia's Julius Erving who announced his retirement that year. NBA arenas paid tribute to Erving's retirement by staging special events for him.
• Michael Jordan joined Wilt Chamberlain as only the second player in NBA history to score 3000 points in a season.
• This was the last season the Lakers and Celtics matched up in the NBA Finals until 2008.
• The 1986-87 season was also known as the "Golden Era" of the NBA. The 1987 NBA season featured up to 20 Hall Of Fame players such as Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Moses Malone, Julius Erving, Isiah Thomas, Dominique Wilkins, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Alex English, Patrick Ewing, Adrian Dantley, and Joe Dumars.
• The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals in 6 games.
• Despite finishing with a sub-.500 reacord, the Seattle Supersonics were able to upset the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets before bowing down to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals in a four-game sweep.
• In a game on February 4th, 1987, the Los Angeles Lakers set an NBA record by leading the Sacramento Kings 40 to 4 at the end of the first quarter.

[edit] Final standings

[edit] Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Boston Celtics	59	23	.720	-
Philadelphia 76ers	45	37	.549	14
Washington Bullets	42	40	.512	17
New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	35
New York Knicks	24	58	.293	35

Central Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Atlanta Hawks	57	25	.695	-
Detroit Pistons	52	30	.634	5
Milwaukee Bucks	50	32	.610	7
Indiana Pacers	41	41	.500	16
Chicago Bulls	40	42	.488	17
Cleveland Cavaliers	31	51	.378	26

[edit] Western Conference

Midwest Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Dallas Mavericks	55	27	.671	-
Utah Jazz	44	38	.537	11
Houston Rockets	42	40	.512	13
Denver Nuggets	37	45	.451	18
Sacramento Kings	29	53	.354	26
San Antonio Spurs	28	54	.341	27

Pacific Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Los Angeles Lakers C	65	17	.793	-
Portland Trail Blazers	49	33	.598	16
Golden State Warriors	42	40	.512	23
Seattle SuperSonics	39	43	.476	26
Phoenix Suns	36	46	.439	29
Los Angeles Clippers	12	70	.146	53

C - NBA Champions

[edit] 1986-87 NBA statistics leaders

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Michael Jordan	Chicago Bulls	37.1
Rebounds per game	Charles Barkley	Philadelphia 76ers	14.6
Assists per game	Magic Johnson	Los Angeles Lakers	12.2
Steals per game	Alvin Robertson	San Antonio Spurs	3.2
Blocks per game	Mark Eaton	Utah Jazz	4.1
FG%	Kevin McHale	Boston Celtics	60.4
FT%	Larry Bird	Boston Celtics	91.0
3FG%	Kiki Vandeweghe	Portland Trail Blazers	48.1

[edit] NBA awards

• Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
• Rookie of the Year: Chuck Person, Indiana Pacers
• Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers
• Sixth Man of the Year: Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee Bucks
• Most Improved Player: Dale Ellis, Seattle SuperSonics
• Coach of the Year: Mike Schuler, Portland Trail Blazers
• All-NBA First Team:
  • F - Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
  • F - Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
  • C - Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets
  • G - Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls
  • G - Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • F - Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta Hawks
  • F - Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 76ers
  • C - Moses Malone, Washington Bullets
  • G - Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons
  • G - Fat Lever, Denver Nuggets
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • John Williams, Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Roy Tarpley, Dallas Mavericks
  • Chuck Person, Indiana Pacers
  • Brad Daugherty, Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Ron Harper, Cleveland Cavaliers
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
  • Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets
  • Alvin Robertson, San Antonio Spurs
  • Dennis Johnson, Boston Celtics
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • Paul Pressey, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Rodney McCray, Houston Rockets
  • Mark Eaton, Utah Jazz
  • Maurice Cheeks, Philadelphia 76ers
  • Derek Harper, Dallas Mavericks

Note: All information on this page were obtained on the History section on NBA.com

[edit] See also

v • d • e NBA seasons Also this year: 1986 Draft • 1987 Playoffs • 1987 Finals  • 1987 All-Star Game 1940s 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1950s 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1960s 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1970s 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1980s 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1990s 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 2000s 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2010s 2009–10

v • d • e 1986–87 NBA season by team 1986 NBA Draft • All-Star Game • Playoffs • Finals • Transactions Eastern Atlantic Boston • New Jersey • New York • Philadelphia • Washington Central Atlanta • Chicago • Cleveland • Detroit • Indiana • Milwaukee Western Midwest Dallas • Denver • Houston • Sacramento • San Antonio • Utah Pacific Golden State • L.A. Clippers • L.A. Lakers • Phoenix • Portland • Seattle