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 Semi-finals, 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 at 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
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
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—

Playoffs
1987 playoff game log
First round: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 23 Denver W 128–95 James Worthy (28) Mychal Thompson (9) Magic Johnson (14) The Forum
17,505		 1–0
2 April 25 Denver W 139–127 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (28) A. C. Green (13) Magic Johnson (15) The Forum
17,297		 2–0
3 April 29 @ Denver W 140–103 Byron Scott (25) A. C. Green (10) Magic Johnson (14) McNichols Sports Arena
15,137		 3–0
Conference Semi-finals: 4–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 May 5 Golden State W 125–116 James Worthy (28) Magic Johnson (12) Magic Johnson (14) The Forum
17,505		 1–0
2 May 7 Golden State W 116–101 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (25) three players tied (8) Michael Cooper (12) The Forum
17,505		 2–0
3 May 9 @ Golden State W 133–108 James Worthy (28) Mychal Thompson (12) Magic Johnson (14) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
15,025		 3–0
4 May 10 @ Golden State L 121–129 Byron Scott (28) A. C. Green (12) Michael Cooper (10) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
15,025		 3–1
5 May 12 Golden State W 116–108 James Worthy (23) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (9) Magic Johnson (13) The Forum
17,505		 4–1
Conference Finals: 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 May 16 Seattle W 87–82 James Worthy (27) Magic Johnson (7) Magic Johnson (11) The Forum
17,505		 1–0
2 May 19 Seattle W 112–104 James Worthy (30) A. C. Green (14) Magic Johnson (10) The Forum
17,505		 2–0
3 May 23 @ Seattle W 122–121 James Worthy (39) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (10) Magic Johnson (11) Seattle Center Coliseum
14,657		 3–0
4 May 25 @ Seattle W 133–102 James Worthy (26) A. C. Green (13) Magic Johnson (12) Seattle Center Coliseum
14,477		 4–0
NBA Finals: 4–2 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 June 2 Boston W 126–113 James Worthy (33) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (10) Magic Johnson (13) The Forum
17,505		 1–0
2 June 4 Boston W 141–122 Byron Scott (24) Johnson, Rambis (5) Magic Johnson (20) The Forum
17,505		 2–0
3 June 7 @ Boston L 103–109 Magic Johnson (32) Magic Johnson (11) Magic Johnson (9) Boston Garden
14,890		 2–1
4 June 9 @ Boston W 107–106 Magic Johnson (29) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (11) Cooper, Johnson (5) Boston Garden
14,890		 3–1
5 June 11 @ Boston L 108–123 Magic Johnson (29) Magic Johnson (8) Magic Johnson (12) Boston Garden
14,890		 3–2
6 June 14 Boston W 106–93 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (32) Mychal Thompson (9) Magic Johnson (19) The Forum
17,505		 4–2
1987 schedule

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

Award winners

References
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