1989–90 NBA season

The 1989–90 NBA season was the 44th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Detroit Pistons winning their second NBA Championship, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.

1989–90 NBA season
LeagueNational Basketball Association
SportBasketball
DurationNovember 3, 1989 – April 22, 1990
April 26 – June 3, 1990 (Playoffs)
June 5 – 14, 1990 (Finals)
Number of teams27
TV partner(s)CBS, TBS, TNT
Draft
Top draft pickPervis Ellison
Picked bySacramento Kings
Regular season
Top seedLos Angeles Lakers
Season MVPMagic Johnson (L.A. Lakers)
Top scorerMichael Jordan (Chicago)
Playoffs
Eastern championsDetroit Pistons
  Eastern runners-upChicago Bulls
Western championsPortland Trail Blazers
  Western runners-upPhoenix Suns
Finals
ChampionsDetroit Pistons
  Runners-upPortland Trail Blazers
Finals MVPIsiah Thomas (Detroit)

Notable occurrences
Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 1988–89 coach 1989–90 coach
Chicago Bulls Doug Collins Phil Jackson
Minnesota Timberwolves Expansion Bill Musselman
New Jersey Nets Willis Reed Bill Fitch
New York Knicks Rick Pitino Stu Jackson
Orlando Magic Expansion Matt Guokas
In-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach
Sacramento Kings Jerry Reynolds Dick Motta
Dallas Mavericks John MacLeod Richie Adubato
Charlotte Hornets Dick Harter Gene Littles
  • The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Orlando Magic entered the NBA as the league's 26th and 27th franchises. The Timberwolves played their preseason schedule at the Met Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington home of the NHL's Minnesota North Stars. They played their regular season schedule at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, former home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and MLB's Minnesota Twins. They would move to smaller-capacity Target Center for the 1990–91 season. The Magic would play at Orlando Arena (later known as TD Waterhouse Centre and Amway Arena) for the next 21 years.
  • The NBA All-Star Weekend was in Miami Arena in Miami. In the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, the East defeated the West 130–113. Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers took home the game's MVP award. Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks edged out Kenny Smith of the Sacramento Kings to win the Slam Dunk Contest.
  • The Charlotte Hornets were aligned in the Midwest Division in the Western Conference. Charlotte would be aligned in the Central Division for good starting the next year. The league had placed the four new teams in different divisions to spread them out over their first few seasons.
  • The NBA on CBS concluded its 17-year run (dating back to 1973). The program was succeeded by The NBA on NBC.
  • The NBA adopted the FIBA rule that game clocks register tenths of seconds in the final minute of a quarter. This rule turns controversial during the season because of clock calibration problems in many venues; following a January 15, 1990, game at Madison Square Garden between the New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls where Trent Tucker sank a three-point basket with the ball put in play with one-tenth of a second remaining, the NBA mandated clock calibration and prohibited any shot made when the ball is put in play with less than three-tenths of a second remaining from counting unless it is a dunk or a tip-in. The Trent Tucker Rule would be established the following year as a result of this incident.
  • All three Texas-based teams made the playoffs. This would not happen again until 2004.
  • This was the last of nine consecutive seasons in which the Lakers finished as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. They would not return there until 2000.
  • Long-time Boston Celtics announcer Johnny Most retired after 37 years behind the microphone. Most was best known for his call of "Havlicek stole the ball!!" in the 1965 Eastern Division Finals between the Celtics and the Sixers.
  • The Philadelphia 76ers won their first Atlantic Division title since the 1982–83 championship season, and the first in the post-Julius Erving era. They lost to the Bulls in the second round of the playoffs.
  • Several players from Eastern Bloc countries in Europe made an impact in the NBA. Yugoslavia's Vlade Divac and Dražen Petrović, and the Soviet Union's Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Alexander Volkov were among the pioneering players from Eastern Europe who made the jump to the NBA.
  • On March 28, 1990, near the end of the 1989–90 season, the Cleveland Cavaliers faced their new nemesis Michael Jordan. Needing the victory to clinch a playoff berth, Jordan set his career high with 69 points in an overtime win and putting a dent in the Cavaliers' playoff plans.
  • During their first round Western Conference playoff game on the 9th of April, 1990, the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz combined for 121 free throws during the game. The Suns had 80 free throws, and scored from 61 of them in their 119-115 victory, meaning that over half of their score came from free throws. The Suns 61 free throws is still the record for the most free throws made by a team in an NBA game. The Jazz also committed 52 fouls during the game - still a record for the most fouls by a team in an NBA game.[1]

Final standings

By division
Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Philadelphia 76ers 5329.646–34–719–2219–7
x-Boston Celtics 5230.634130–1122–1919–7
x-New York Knicks 4537.549829–1216–2517–9
Washington Bullets 3151.3782220–2111–3010–16
Miami Heat 1864.2203511–307–344–22
New Jersey Nets 1765.2073613–284–379–17
Central Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Detroit Pistons 5923.720–35–624–1722–8
x-Chicago Bulls 5527.671436–519–2220–10
x-Milwaukee Bucks 4438.5371527–1417–2414–16
x-Cleveland Cavaliers 4240.5121727–1415–2614–16
x-Indiana Pacers 4240.5121728–1314–2716–14
Atlanta Hawks 4141.5001825–1616–2515–15
Orlando Magic 1864.2204112–296–354–26
Midwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-San Antonio Spurs 5626.683–34–722–1919–9
x-Utah Jazz 5527.671136–519–2221–7
x-Dallas Mavericks 4735.573930–1117–2417–11
x-Denver Nuggets 4339.5241328–1315–2615–13
x-Houston Rockets 4141.5001531–1010–3113–15
Minnesota Timberwolves 2260.2683417–245–366–22
Charlotte Hornets 1963.2323713–286–357–21
Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 6319.768–37–426–1522–6
x-Portland Trail Blazers 5923.720435–624–1720–8
x-Phoenix Suns 5428.659932–922–1920–8
Seattle SuperSonics 4141.5002230–1111–3011–17
Golden State Warriors 3745.4512627–1410–3111–17
Los Angeles Clippers 3052.3663320–2110–317–21
Sacramento Kings 2359.2804016–257–347–21

By conference
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Detroit Pistons5923.720–
2 y-Philadelphia 76ers5329.6466
3 x-Chicago Bulls5527.6714
4 x-Boston Celtics5230.6347
5 x-New York Knicks4537.54914
6 x-Milwaukee Bucks4438.53715
7 x-Cleveland Cavaliers4240.51217
8 x-Indiana Pacers4240.51217
9 Atlanta Hawks4141.50018
10 Washington Bullets3151.37828
11 Miami Heat1864.22041
12 Orlando Magic1864.22041
13 New Jersey Nets1765.20742
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Los Angeles Lakers6319.768–
2 y-San Antonio Spurs5626.6837
3 x-Portland Trail Blazers5923.7204
4 x-Utah Jazz5527.6718
5 x-Phoenix Suns5428.6599
6 x-Dallas Mavericks4735.57316
7 x-Denver Nuggets4339.52420
8 x-Houston Rockets4141.50022
9 Seattle SuperSonics4141.50022
10 Golden State Warriors3745.45126
11 Los Angeles Clippers3052.36633
12 Sacramento Kings2359.28040
13 Minnesota Timberwolves2260.26841
14 Charlotte Hornets1963.23244

Notes

  • z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
  • c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
  • y – Clinched division title
  • x – Clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.

First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
            
1 Detroit 3
8 Indiana 0
1 Detroit 4
5 New York 1
4 Boston 2
5 New York 3
1 Detroit 4
Eastern Conference
3 Chicago 3
3 Chicago 3
6 Milwaukee 1
3 Chicago 4
2 Philadelphia 1
2 Philadelphia 3
7 Cleveland 2
E1 Detroit 4
W3 Portland 1
1 L.A. Lakers 3
8 Houston 1
1 L.A. Lakers 1
5 Phoenix 4
4 Utah 2
5 Phoenix 3
5 Phoenix 2
Western Conference
3 Portland 4
3 Portland 3
6 Dallas 0
3 Portland 4
2 San Antonio 3
2 San Antonio 3
7 Denver 0

Statistics leaders
CategoryPlayerTeamStat
Points per gameMichael JordanChicago Bulls33.6
Rebounds per gameAkeem OlajuwonHouston Rockets14.0
Assists per gameJohn StocktonUtah Jazz14.5
Steals per gameMichael JordanChicago Bulls2.77
Blocks per gameAkeem OlajuwonHouston Rockets4.59
FG%Mark WestPhoenix Suns.625
FT%Larry BirdBoston Celtics.930
3FG%Steve KerrCleveland Cavaliers.507

NBA awards

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

Player of the week

The following players were named NBA Player of the Week.

Week Player
Nov. 3 – Nov. 12 Vern Fleming (Indiana Pacers)
Nov. 13 – Nov. 19 John Stockton (Utah Jazz)
Nov. 20 – Nov. 26 Clyde Drexler (Portland Trail Blazers)
Nov. 27 – Dec. 3 Patrick Ewing (New York Knicks)
Dec. 4 – Dec. 10 Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
Dec. 11 – Dec. 17 Chris Mullin (Golden State Warriors)
Dec. 18 – Dec. 23 Terry Cummings (San Antonio Spurs)
Dec. 25 – Dec. 30 Karl Malone (Utah Jazz)
Jan. 2 – Jan. 7 Terry Teagle (Golden State Warriors)
Jan. 8 – Jan. 14 Ron Harper (Los Angeles Clippers)
Jan. 15 – Jan. 21 Alvin Robertson (Milwaukee Bucks)
Jan. 22 – Jan. 28 Karl Malone (Utah Jazz)
Jan. 29 – Feb. 4 Tim Hardaway (Golden State Warriors)
Feb. 5 – Feb. 18 Tom Chambers (Phoenix Suns)
Feb. 19 – Feb. 25 David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs)
Feb. 26 – Mar. 4 Akeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)
Mar. 5 – Mar. 11 Rony Seikaly (Miami Heat)
Mar. 12 – Mar. 18 Kevin Johnson (Phoenix Suns)
Mar. 19 – Mar. 25 David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs)
Mar. 26 – Apr. 1 Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
Apr. 2 – Apr. 8 Charles Barkley (Philadelphia 76ers)
Apr. 9 – Apr. 15 Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
Apr. 16 – Apr. 22 David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs)

Player of the month

The following players were named NBA Player of the Month.

Month Player
November Patrick Ewing (New York Knicks)
December Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
January Karl Malone (Utah Jazz)
February Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
March Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls)
April Akeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets)

Rookie of the month

The following players were named NBA Rookie of the Month.

Month Rookie
November David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs)
December David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs)
January David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs)
February David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs)
March David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs)
April David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs)

Coach of the month

The following coaches were named NBA Coach of the Month.

Month Coach
November Dick Versace (Indiana Pacers)
December Stu Jackson (New York Knicks)
January Jim Lynam (Philadelphia 76ers)
February Cotton Fitzsimmons (Phoenix Suns)
March Rick Adelman (Portland Trail Blazers)
April Jimmy Rodgers (Boston Celtics)

References
  1. Hanna-Riggs, Scott. "April 9th, 1990: Phoenix Suns Make NBA Record 61 Free Throws". valleyofthesuns.com. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
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