1986–87 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 1986–87 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 41st season of the franchise, 39th in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 27th in Los Angeles. Coming from a shocking defeat to the Houston Rockets in the previous season's Western Conference Finals in five games, where they won the first game, but proceeded to drop the next four, the Lakers avenged their playoff upset by making the NBA Finals for the sixth time in the 1980s. Prior to reaching the NBA Finals, in the playoffs, the Lakers swept the Denver Nuggets in three games in the First Round, defeated the Golden State Warriors in five games in the Semifinals, and swept the Seattle SuperSonics in four games in the Conference Finals. This team was named one of the 10 greatest teams in NBA history.

1986–87 Los Angeles Lakers season
NBA champions
Conference champions
Division champions
Head coachPat Riley
OwnersJerry Buss
ArenaThe Forum
Results
Record65–17 (.793)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Pacific)
Conference: 1st (Western)
Playoff finishNBA Champions
(Defeated Celtics 4–2)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionPrime Ticket, KHJ
RadioAM 570 KLAC

The highlight of the season saw the Lakers winning the NBA Finals, and their tenth NBA title over the defending NBA champions and rivals, the Boston Celtics, in six games. This marked the third and final time the Lakers and Celtics faced off against each other in the NBA Finals in the 1980s, as well as the last time the Lakers and Celtics faced off against each other in the NBA Finals until 2008, where the Celtics defeated the Lakers 4–2 to win their 17th NBA championship. The two teams would then meet again in 2010, where the Lakers defeated the Celtics 4–3 to win their 16th NBA championship.

Draft picks
Round Pick Player Nationality School/Club Team
1 23 Ken Barlow  United States Notre Dame
3 69 Andre Turner  United States Memphis State

Roster
Roster listing
Los Angeles Lakers roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
C 33 Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem (C) 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) UCLA
F 24 Branch, Adrian 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Maryland
G/F 21 Cooper, Michael 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) New Mexico
F/C 45 Green, A.C. 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Oregon State
G 32 Johnson, Magic 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Michigan State
G 1 Matthews, Wes 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) University of Wisconsin
F 31 Rambis, Kurt 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 213 lb (97 kg) Santa Clara University
G 4 Scott, Byron 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Arizona State
C 52 Smrek, Mike 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Canisius
F 55 Thompson, Billy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Louisville
F/C 43 Thompson, Mychal 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 226 lb (103 kg) University of Minnesota
F 42 Worthy, James 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) North Carolina
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

Season standings
Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 6517.793–37–428–1324–6
x-Portland Trail Blazers 4933.5981634–715–2617–13
x-Golden State Warriors 4240.5122325–1617–2417–13
x-Seattle SuperSonics 3943.4762625–1614–2715–15
Phoenix Suns 3646.4392926–1510–3114–16
Los Angeles Clippers 1270.146539–323–383–27
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Los Angeles Lakers6517.793–
2 y-Dallas Mavericks5527.67110
3 x-Portland Trail Blazers4933.59816
4 x-Utah Jazz4438.53721
5 x-Golden State Warriors4240.51223
6 x-Houston Rockets4240.51223
7 x-Seattle SuperSonics3943.47626
8 x-Denver Nuggets3745.45128
9 Phoenix Suns3646.43929
10 Sacramento Kings2953.35436
11 San Antonio Spurs2854.34137
12 Los Angeles Clippers1270.14653


Record vs. opponents
1986-87 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS CHI CLE DAL DEN DET GSW HOU IND LAC LAL MIL NJN NYK PHI PHO POR SAC SAS SEA UTA WAS
Atlanta —3–34–24–22–02–03–31–11–13–32–01–13–35–05–13–31–11–12–02–02–02–05–0
Boston 3–3—6–03–22–02–03–22–02–05–12–00–23–34–24–23–32–02–02–02–02–01–14–2
Chicago 2–40–6—5–11–11–13–30–20–23–22–00–24–23–24–23–31–11–11–11–12–00–23–3
Cleveland 2–42–31–5—0–21–11–51–10–23–32–00–21–54–24–12–41–11–11–11–11–10–22–4
Dallas 0–20–21–12–0—4–21–15–03–30–25–03–22–02–02–02–03–22–35–14–25–03–31–1
Denver 0–20–21–11–12–4—0–24–13–31–12–30–51–12–02–00–23–23–22–45–12–32–41–1
Detroit 3–32–33–35–11–12–0—1–11–13–32–01–13–35–16–05–01–10–21–11–12–01–13–3
Golden State 1–10–22–01–10–51–41–1—4–10–26–02–40–22–02–01–11–54–24–14–14–22–30–2
Houston 1–10–22–02–03–33–31–11–4—2–04–11–40–21–11–10–23–22–35–15–11–43–31–1
Indiana 3–31–52–33–32–01–13–32–00–2—2–00–22–45–13–22–41–10–21–12–01–11–14–2
L.A. Clippers 0–20–20–20–20–53–20–20–61–40–2—0–60–21–10–20–21–50–61–41–42–42–30–2
L.A. Lakers 1–12–02–02–02–35–01–14–24–12–06–0—1–12–02–02–05–15–15–04–14–23–21–1
Milwaukee 3–33–32–45–10–21–13–32–02–04–22–01–1—4–24–22–32–00–22–01–12–01–14–1
New Jersey 0–52–42–32–40–20–21–50–21–11–51–10–22–4—5–13–31–10–20–20–20–21–12–4
New York 1–52–42–41–40–20–20–60–21–12–32–00–22–41–5—3–31–10–22–01–10–21–12–4
Philadelphia 3–33–33–34–20–22–00–51–12–04–22–00–23–23–33–3—1–12–02–01–12–01–13–3
Phoenix 1–10–21–11–12–32–31–15–12–31–15–11–50–21–11–11–1—2–42–32–31–54–10–2
Portland 1–10–21–11–13–22–32–02–43–22–06–01–52–02–02–00–24–2—3–24–14–23–21–1
Sacramento 0–20–21–11–11–54–21–11–41–51–14–10–50–22–00–20–23–22–3—3–32–31–51–1
San Antonio 0–20–21–11–12–41–51–11–41–50–24–11–41–12–01–11–13–21–43–3—1–42–40–2
Seattle 0–20–20–21–10–53–20–22–44–11–14–22–40–22–02–00–25–12–43–24–1—3–21–1
Utah 0–21–12–02–03–34–21–13–23–31–13–22–31–11–11–11–11–42–35–14–22–3—1–1
Washington 0–52–43–34–21–11–13–32–01–12–42–01–11–44–24–23–32–01–11–12–01–11–1—

Game log

Playoffs

West First Round

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Denver Nuggets: Lakers win series 3–0

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 128, Denver 95
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 139, Denver 127
  • Game 3 @ Denver: Los Angeles 140, Denver 103

West Conference Semifinals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (5) Golden State Warriors: Lakers win series 4–1

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 125, Golden State 116
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 116, Golden State 101
  • Game 3 @ Golden State: Los Angeles 133, Golden State 108
  • Game 4 @ Golden State: Golden State 129, Los Angeles 121
  • Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 118, Golden State 106

West Conference Finals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (7) Seattle SuperSonics: Lakers win series 4–0

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 92, Seattle 87
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 112, Seattle 104
  • Game 3 @ Seattle: Los Angeles 122, Seattle 121
  • Game 4 @ Seattle: Los Angeles 133, Seattle 102

NBA finals
Main article: 1987 NBA Finals

The Celtics remained competitive in 1986–87, going 59–23 and again winning the Eastern Conference Championship. The Lakers at home dominated the great Celtics team, in Boston the games were much more competitive. Eventually, the Celtics would lose 4 games to 2.

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (1) Boston Celtics Lakers win series 4–2

  • Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 126, Boston 113
  • Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 141, Boston 122
  • Game 3 @ Boston: Boston 109, Los Angeles 103
  • Game 4 @ Boston: Los Angeles 107, Boston 106
  • Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 123, Los Angeles 108
  • Game 6 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 106, Boston 93

Player statistics

Note: GP= Games played; MPG= Minutes per Game; REB = Rebounds; AST = Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; PPG = Points per Game

Season
Player GP MPG REB AST STL BLK PTS PPG
Magic Johnson8036.350497713836190923.8
James Worthy8234.446622610883159419.4
Byron Scott8233.328628112518139717.0
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar7831.35232034997136617.5
Michael Cooper8227.5254373784385910.5
A. C. Green7928.461584708085210.8
Kurt Rambis7819.44536374414465.7
Mychal Thompson3320.613628143033310.1
Billy Thompson5912.91716015303325.6
Wes Matthews5010.6471002342084.2
Frank Brickowski3710.997121441463.9
Adrian Branch326.853161631384.3
Mike Smrek356.7375413762.2

Playoffs

Award winners

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References
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