An Alternate history of the NBA and ABA from 1969

[Jezza1998]

The beginning of a new era in the NBA would commence with the 1984 NBA Draft which is regarded as one of the greatest NBA draft classes of all time with 5 hall of fame players, 4 of whom would earn the status by starring in the NBA. The 1st pick would once again belong to the Phoenix Suns as they would once again get the 1st pick in the draft and would take Hakeem Olujawon from the University of Houston to play alongside Steve Stepinaovich in the front court.

The team that owned the 2nd pick in the draft were the Indiana Pacers who hadn’t traded their 1984 1st round pick for Tom Owens as Portland needed to keep Owens beyond 1981 because Mychal Thompson who was their center was now in Philadelphia and looking at the Indiana Pacers team they already had Rodney McCray at Small Forward, Clark Kellogg who was still healthy at power forward, Herb Williams at Center and were planning on taking Vern Fleming who was to be their point guard with the pick they got from New York. That left a hole at shooting guard that they needed to fill and so with the 2nd Pick of the 1984 NBA Draft the Indiana Pacers would select Michael Jordan from North Carolina.

Dallas would own the 3rd pick in the draft as this was the second of 4 consecutive 1st round picks that they would get from Cleveland and with this pick they would select Sam Perkins from North Carolina to provide a big man to play alongside Dale Ellis, Mark Aguirre and Dominique Wilkins San Diego with the 4th pick of the draft needed a center and would take Sam Bowie as their current center. Bill Walton was a free agent and would leave the Clippers this offseason. Philadelphia would still select Charles Barkley with the 5th pick in the draft. Denver would select future DOPY winner Alvin Robertson at 7. John Stockton would still be selected by the Jazz this time at 9th with Otis Thorpe going to Washington at 10 and Kevin Willis would go to Utah at 12, the final notable pick in the draft would be at 23 when the Lakers would take Jerome Kersey to be their new small forward as Jamaal Wilkes was on the downswing of his career.

1

1

Akeem Olajuwon^ [1]

C

Nigeria[2]

Phoenix Suns

Houston (Jr.)

1	2	Michael Jordan^	G/F	United States	Indiana Pacers	North Carolina (Jr.)
1	3	Sam Perkins	F/C	United States	Dallas Mavericks (from Cleveland)[e]	North Carolina (Sr.)

1

4

Sam Bowie

C

United States

Los Angeles Clippers

Kentucky (Sr.)

1

7

Alvin Robertson*

G

United States

Denver Nuggets

Arkansas (Sr.)

1

9

John Stockton^

G

United States

Orlando Magic

Gonzaga (Sr.)

1

10

Otis Thorpe+

F/C

United States

Washington Bullets

Providence (Sr.)

1

12

Kevin Willis*

F/C

United States

Utah Stars

Michigan State (Sr.)

1

23

Jerome Kersey

F

United States

Los Angeles Lakers

Longwood (Sr.)

The offseason would then take place and Red Auerbach would show once again why he was the best GM in the league with 3 great moves the first one was that with the retirement of Tiny Archibald and Magic Johnson’s game 7 performance in the 1984 NBA Finals made Boston trade backup center Wayne Cooper to the Houston Rockets for 1982 Finals MVP Dennis Johnson.
The second trade the Celtics made was put in motion because Cedric Maxwell was a free agent and he wanted to leave as he wanted a bigger role and Boston couldn’t give him that so had a look at what they needed and they saw that they needed a backup center and with the Clippers having just drafted Sam Bowie, Red knew that Bill Walton was available with him also being a free agent Boston would give the Clippers Maxwell and Micheal Young who was their 1984 1st round pick while the Clippers would give them Walton who would be their new backup center and who they had played most of the last 2 seasons but he had missed 4 seasons with his various injuries so it was certainly a risk but when Walton had been healthy he had won an MVP. The third move that Red made was that he traded Gerald Henderson to the Seattle Supersonics in exchange for their 1986 first round draft pick.

After 10 season the New Orleans Jazz would relocate to Orlando and become the Magic as the Jazz had poor attendances in New Orleans coupled with some disastrous front office moves which set the team back which led to the decision to relocate the Orlando as the league was considering expansion and Orlando was chosen as the New City for the Jazz to move to though they would change their name to the Magic due to the fact that Disneyland is in Orlando. Amway Arena as the Magic’s venue would be called had a capacity of 17,000 as the venue had been fast tracked by a few years in anticipation of an NBA team relocating there or in the unlikely event that the NBA would award them an expansion team over a bid from Miami.

The 1985 season was dominated once again by Boston as they would win 71 games as Larry Bird would win his 2nd straight MVP award while Kevin McHale would win his 2nd straight 6th man of the Year award and KC Jones would be named as Coach of the Year. Milwaukee would once again be the 2nd seed with 50 wins while New Jersey would dip once again and win only 53 games for the 3rd seed in the East. Detroit and Chicago would prove that last year wasn't a fluke as they would get the 4th and 5th seed respectively and meet in the 1st round. Washington would once again make the playoffs as the 6th seed, Cleveland would surprise everyone and make the playoffs as the 7th seed and Indiana led by Rookie of the Year Michael Jordan would be the 8th seed.

While in the West it would be the Lakers once again as the 1st seed with 55 wins as Jamaal Wilkes started to struggle with injuries and Jerome Kersey was only a rookie and would take time to develop his game, the winner of the midwest division would be the Houston Rockets as they would win 51 games and claim the 2nd seed behind Houston would be both of it’s local rivals as the Mavericks would win 47 games and the Spurs would win 46 with George Gervin certainly in the winter of his career by this point. From 5 to 8 would be Portland with Clyde Drexler taking more of a starting role, Denver who exceeded expectations, Utah in the 7th seed once again and New Orleans who made their 1st playoff appearance after over a decade in the NBA.

In the East playoffs the Celtics would sweep the Pacers but not before Jordan showed the league that he would be a force for years to come with 63 points in the second game of the series. Milwaukee would easily dispatch Cleveland in 4 games while the Bullets were eliminated by the Nets in 4 games and in the matchup of the 1st round the Pistons would beat the Bulls in 5 games. Boston would teach Detroit a lesson as they would beat the Pistons in 5 games, while New Jersey would beat Milwaukee in 5 games to once again set up a Boston vs New Jersey matchup which the Celtics would win in 4 games to definitely show the East that they were the top dogs now and they waited to see if their newest rivals would come out of the West.

As for the West the Lakers would predictably beat New Orleans in 3 games while Houston would defeat Utah who were at the end of their run this time, as for the other 2 Texas teams Dallas would dispatch of Denver in 3 while San Antonio would once again end Portland’s season. This once again set up Lakers vs Spurs and once again Los Angeles would win the series with Ralph Sampson getting the better of Moses Malone. As for the Texas matchup it would go to 7 games but Dallas would win out and make its first western conference finals appearance after just 5 seasons of existence. That would be as far as it went for Dallas however as Los Angeles would win in 5 games to set up a rematch between Boston and Los Angeles.

Even though the matchup was the same the pendulum had swung as the Celtics had gotten better while the Lakers had gotten slightly worse and the Celtics would dominate the series winning it in 5 games with Larry Bird just dominating Jerome Kersey, Dennis Johnson doing a good job against Magic and off the bench Kevin McHale was unstoppable Bird would win his 1st finals MVP trophy and the 85 Celtics are now regarded as one of the greatest teams of all time.

Eastern Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	71	11	.878	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	50	32	.610	21
3	x-New Jersey Nets	53	29	.646	18
4	x-Detroit Pistons	46	36	.561	25
5	x-Chicago Bulls	44	38	.536	27
6	x-Washington Bullets	40	42	.488	31
7	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	36	46	.439	32
8	x-Indiana Pacers	34	48	.415	37
9	Philadelphila 76ers	32	50	.391	41
10	Kentucky Colonels	30	52	.366	41
11	New York Knicks	29	53	.353	42

12

Atlanta Hawks

27

55

.328

44

#	Western Conference --v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	55	27	.671	–
2	y-Houston Rockets	51	31	.622	4
3	x-Dallas Mavericks	47	35	.573	8
4	x-San Antonio Spurs	46	36	.561	9
5	x-Portland Trail Blazers	42	40	.512	13
6	x-Denver Nuggets	41	41	.500	14
7	x-Utah Stars	39	43	.476	16
8	x-Orlando Magic	36	46	.439	19
9	Seattle SuperSonics	33	49	.403	22
10	Los Angeles Clippers	31	51	.378	24
11	Kansas City Kings	31	51	.378	24
12	Golden State Warriors	28	54	.341	27

13

Phoenix Suns

26

56

.317

29

Western Conference[edit]​

Player, Team	MIN	FGM	FGA	FTM	FTA	REB	AST	PTS
Starters
Adrian Dantley, Kansas City Kings	23	2	6	6	6	2	1	10
Moses Malone, San Antonio Spurs	29	10	15	4	6	10	1	24
Ralph Sampson, Los Angeles Lakers	23	5	10	1	2	6	1	11
Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers	31	7	14	7	8	5	15	21
George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs	25	10	12	3	4	3	1	23
Reserves
Kiki Vandeweghe, Denver Nuggets	14	0	3	0	0	2	1	0
Rolando Blackman, Los Angeles Clippers	19	5	7	1	2	2	8	11
Terry Cummings, Orlando Magic	15	7	8	2	2	5	0	16
Mark Aguirre, Dallas Mavericks	23	7	14	1	2	3	2	15
Jack Sikma, Houston Rockets	12	0	2	0	0	2	0	0
Calvin Natt, Seattle SuperSonics	11	1	3	1	2	3	1	3
Akeem Olajuwon, Phoenix Suns	15	2	2	2	6	5	1	6
Totals	240	56	96	28	40	48	32	140

Eastern Conference[edit]​

Player, Team	MIN	FGM	FGA	FTM	FTA	REB	AST	PTS
Starters
Julius Erving, New Jersey Nets	23	5	15	2	2	4	3	12
Larry Bird, Boston Celtics	31	8	16	5	6	8	2	21
Kareem Abdul Jabbar, New Jersey Nets	33	2	10	3	6	12	1	7
Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons	25	9	14	1	1	2	5	22
Michael Jordan, Indiana Pacers	22	2	9	3	4	6	2	7
Reserves
Norm Nixon, Washington Bullets	13	2	8	1	2	2	1	5
Robert Parish, Boston Celtics	10	2	5	0	0	6	1	4
Bernard King, New York Knicks	22	6	10	1	2	7	1	13
Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks	22	1	5	6	6	5	4	8
Larry Nance, Milwaukee Bucks	16	7	17	3	4	7	0	17
Dennis Johnson, Boston Celtics	12	3	7	2	2	6	3	8
Alex English, Boston Celtics	11	2	4	1	2	3	1	5
Totals	240	49	120	28	37	68	24	129

Western Conference​

Champion: Los Angeles Lakers



Western Conference Quarterfinals


(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Orlando Magic : Lakers win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 142, Orlando 114
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles : Los Angeles 147, Orlando 130
• Game 3 @ Orlando: Los Angeles 119, Orlando 103

(2) Houston Rockets vs. (7) Utah Stars : Mavericks win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Houston: Houston 141, Utah 111
• Game 2 @ Houston: Houston 113 , Utah 111
• Game 3 @ Utah: Utah 115, Houston 112
• Game 4 @ Utah: Dallas 116, Utah 111

(3) Dallas Mavericks vs. (6) Denver Nuggets : Mavericks win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Dallas: Dallas 115, Denver 101
• Game 2 @ Dallas: Denver 122, Dallas 96
• Game 3 @ Denver: Dallas 96, Denver 94
• Game 4 @ Denver: Dallas 104, Denver 97

(4) San Antonio Spurs vs (5) Portland Trail Blazers : Spurs win series 3-1

• Game 1 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 139, Portland 131 (2OT)
• Game 2 @ San Antonio: Portland 124, San Antonio121
• Game 3 @ Portland: San Antonio 122, Portland 109
• Game 4 @ Portland: San Antonio 115, Portland 113

Western Conference Semifinals


(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) San Antonio Spurs : Lakers win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 125 , San Antonio 101
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 134, San Antonio 118
• Game 3 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 130, Los Angeles 126
• Game 4 @ San Antonio: Los Angeles 115, San Antonio 107
• Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 139, San Antonio 120

(2) Houston Rockets vs. (3) Dallas Mavericks : Dallas win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Dallas: Dallas 130, Houston 113
• Game 2 @ Dallas: Dallas 131, Houston 123 (OT)
• Game 3 @ Houston: Houston 131, Dallas 123
• Game 4 @ Houston: Dallas 125, Houston 118
• Game 5 @ Dallas: Dallas 116, Houston 104

Western Conference Finals


(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Dallas Mavericks : Lakers win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 129, Dallas 122
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles : Dallas 136, Los Angeles 114
• Game 3 @ Houston: Los Angeles 136, Dallas 114
• Game 4 @ Houston: Los Angeles 120, Dallas 116
• Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 153 Dallas 109

Eastern Conference​

Champion: Boston Celtics



Eastern Conference Quarterfinals


(1) Boston Celtics VS. (8) Indiana Pacers : Celtics win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Boston : Boston 108, Indiana 106
• Game 2 @ Boston : Boston 126, Indiana 123 (2OT) Jordan scores 63 points
• Game 3 @ Indiana : Boston 105, Indiana 98

(2) Milwaukee Bucks VS. (7) Cleveland Cavaliers : Bucks win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Milwaukee : Milwaukee 109, Cleveland 100
• Game 2 @ Milwaukee : Milwaukee 122, Cleveland 115
• Game 3 @ Cleveland : Cleveland 115, Milwaukee 108
• Game 4 @ Cleveland : Milwaukee 106, Chicago 93

(3) New Jersey Nets VS. (6) Washington Bullets : Nets win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ New Jersey : New Jersey 104, Washington 97
• Game 2 @ New Jersey : New Jersey 113, Washington 94
• Game 3 @ Washington : Washington 118, New Jersey 100
• Game 4 @ Washington : New Jersey 106, Kentucky 98

(4) Detroit Pistons vs. (5) Chicago Bulls : Pistons win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Detroit: Detroit 125, Chicago 105
• Game 2 @ Detroit: Detroit 121, Chicago 111
• Game 3 @ Chicago: Detroit 116, Chicago 115

.







Eastern Conference Semifinals



(1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Detroit Pistons : Celtics win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 133, Detroit 99
• Game 2 @ Boston : Boston 121, Detroit 114
• Game 3 @ Detroit : Detroit 125, Boston 117
• Game 4 @ Detroit : Boston 128, Detroit 119
• Game 5 @ Boston : Boston 123, Detroit 111

(2) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (3) New Jersey Nets : Bucks win series 4–0

• Game 1 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 127, Milwaukee 105
• Game 2 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 112, Milwaukee 108
• Game 3 @ Milwaukee: New Jersey 109, Milwaukee 104
• Game 4 @ Milwaukee: New Jersey 121 Milwaukee 112

Eastern Conference Finals


(1) Boston Celtics vs. (3) New Jersey Nets : Celtics win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 108, New Jersey 93
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 106, New Jersey 98
• Game 3 @ New Jersey: Boston 105, New Jersey 94
• Game 4 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 115, Boston 104
• Game 5 @ Boston : Boston 104 New Jersey 100

NBA Finals​

(W1) Los Angeles Lakers VS. (E1) Boston Celtics : Celtics win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 148, Los Angeles 114 Memorial Day Massacre
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 109, Los Angeles 102
• Game 3 @ Los Angeles: Boston 136, Los Angeles 111
• Game 4 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 107 , Boston 105
• Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 120, Los Angeles 111
• Most Valuable Player: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
• Rookie of the Year: Michael Jordan, Indiana Pacers
• Defensive Player of the Year: Mark Eaton, Utah Jazz
• Sixth Man of the Year: Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
• Coach of the Year: KC Jones, Boston Celtics
• All-NBA First Team:
  • F – Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
  • F – Bernard King, New York Knicks
  • C – Moses Malone, San Antonio Spurs
  • G – Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons
  • G – Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • F – Terry Cummings, Orlando Magic
  • F – Ralph Sampson, Los Angeles Lakers
  • C – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
  • G – Michael Jordan, Indiana Pacers
  • G – Sidney Moncrief, Boston Celtics
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Charles Barkley (F), Philadelphia 76ers
  • Sam Perkins (F), Dallas Mavericks
  • Akeem Olajuwon (C), Phoenix Suns
  • Sam Bowie (C), Los Angeles Clippers
  • Michael Jordan (G), Indiana Pacers
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Paul Pressey, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Mark Eaton, Utah Jazz
  • Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Maurice Cheeks, Philadelphia 76ers
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • Bobby Jones, Houston Rockets
  • Danny Vranes, Seattle SuperSonics
  • Akeem Olajuwon, Phoenix Suns
  • Dennis Johnson, Houston Rockets
  • T. R. Dunn, Denver Nuggets

Week	Player
Oct. 26 – Nov. 4	Larry Nance (Milwaukee Bucks)
Nov. 5 – Nov. 11	Alex English (Boston Celtics)
Nov. 12 – Nov. 18	Moses Malone (San Antonio Spurs)
Nov. 19 – Nov. 25	Bernard King (New York Knicks)
Nov. 26 – Dec. 2	Jack Sikma (Houston Rockets)
Dec. 3 – Dec. 9	Orlando Woolridge (Chicago Bulls)
Dec. 10 – Dec. 16	Derek Smith (Los Angeles Clippers)
Dec. 17 – Dec. 23	Terry Cummings (Orlando Magic)
Dec. 25 – Dec. 30	Micheal Ray Richardson (Atlanta Hawks)
Jan. 1 – Jan. 6	Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons)
Jan. 7 – Jan. 13	World B. Free (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Jan. 14 – Jan. 20	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
Jan. 21 – Jan. 27	Tom McMillen (Washington Bullets)
Jan. 28 – Feb. 3	Dominique Wilkins (Dallas Mavericks)
Feb. 4 – Feb. 17	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
Feb. 18 – Feb. 24	Mark Aguirre (Dallas Mavericks)
Feb. 25 – Mar. 3	Sleepy Floyd (Golden State Warriors)
Mar. 4 – Mar. 10	Darrell Griffith (Golden State Warriors)
Mar. 11 – Mar. 17	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
Mar. 18 – Mar. 24	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (New Jersey Nets)
Mar. 25 – Mar. 31	Calvin Natt (Los Angeles Clippers)
Apr. 1 – Apr. 7	Derek Smith (Los Angeles Clippers)
Apr. 8 – Apr. 14	Micheal Ray Richardson (Atlanta Hawks)

Month	Player
November	Alex English (Boston Celtics)
December	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
January	Terry Cummings (New Orleans Jazz)
February	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
March	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)

Month	Rookie
November	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
December	Akeem Olajuwon (Phoenix Suns)
January	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
February	Akeem Olajuwon (Phoenix Suns)
March (tie)	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
March (tie)	Akeem Olajuwon (Phoenix Suns)

Month	Coach
November	Doug Moe (Denver Nuggets)
December	KC Jones (Boston Celtics)
January	Chuck Daly (Detroit Pistons)
February	George Karl (Cleveland Cavaliers)
March	Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers)

​

 

[Jezza1998]

In the middle of the 3rd game of the Eastern Conference finals between Boston and New Jersey the first NBA Draft Lottery took place and the prize was a 7 foot center from Georgetown named Patrick Ewing and here is how the first NBA Draft lottery would turn out Golden State, Atlanta, Seattle, Los Angeles, Sacramento, New York, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Kentucky which meant that Golden State would get the biggest prize as Ewing would join a team containing Sleepy Floyd and Walter Davis . Atlanta would select Wayman Tisdale while Seattle and Los Angeles would swap their picks with Xavier Mcdaniel going to Los Angeles while the Supersonics hoped that Benoit Benjamin would be their new center. Sacramento would still select Joe Kleine and New York would select local college star Chris Mullin at 6. Phoenix needed a perimeter player to complinet Hakeem and they would select Detlef Schrempf from Washington. Philadelphia would select Jon Koncak as they needed a center to complement Charles Barkley and Kentucky would select Charles Oakley to be their new power forward as Dan Issel had just retired. Cleveland got given an extra 1st round pick due to the Stepien debale and they would select Keith Lee. Karl Malone went to Indiana at the 11th pick as Clark Kellogg was starting to get injuries which would end his career. Joe Dumars would still end up being selected by the Detroit Pistons to start the bad boys era, LA and Boston would take future all stars AC Green and Terry Porter respectively.

Due to the Orlando Magic being forced to relocate to the Eastern Conference that would mean that the Milwaukee Bucks would once again be in the Western Conference.

1	1	Patrick Ewing^	C	United States[2]	Golden State Warriors	Georgetown (Sr.)
1	2	Wayman Tisdale	PF	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Oklahoma (Jr.)
1	3	Benoit Benjamin	C	United States	Seattle Super Sonics	Creighton (Jr.)
1	4	Xavier McDaniel+	PF	United States	Los Angeles Clippers	Wichita State (Sr.)
1	5	Joe Kleine	C	United States	Sacramento Kings	Arkansas (Sr.)
1	6	Chris Mullin^	SF	United States	New York Knicks	St. John's (Sr.)
1	7	Detlef Schrempf*	SF/PF	West Germany	Phoenix Suns	Washington (Sr.)
1	8	Jon Koncak	C	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	SMU (Sr.)

1

9

Charles Oakley+

PF

United States

Kentucky Colonels *

Virginia Union (Sr.)

1

11

Karl Malone^

PF

United States

Indiana Pacers

Louisiana Tech (Jr.)

1

24

Terry Porter+

PG

United States

Boston Celtics

Wisconsin–Stevens Point (Sr.)

The 86 season was very similar to the 85 season in the East as Boston would once again dominate and won 73 games which was the best record in NBA History up to that point with Larry Bird winning his 3rd consecutive MVP award and Bill Walton winning the 6th man of the Year award after Kevin McHale became a starter for the first time. Detroit would once again be the 2nd seed with 47 wins as Central Division champions with Milwaukee being switched to the west but it was becoming increasingly clear that they were going to have to make some changes if they wanted to win an NBA title New Jersey would once again be the 3rd seed with 52 wins although it was becoming increasingly clear that they were going to have to rebuild as Gus Williams had noticeably dropped off compared to 2 years earlier and with Erving and Kareem about to retire it seemed only a matter of time before it would end.. Orlando would be the 4th seed on 45 wind and would face Chicago who would be the 5th seed again with 44 wins but were hoping for a different result in their 1st round matchup. Washington would once again be the 6th seed on 40 wins and just behind them would be the New York Knicks with 37 wins with the return of both King and Carroll and in the 8th seed would be the Indiana Pacers on 36 wins .

It was also very similar in the West with the Lakers once again getting the 1st seed with 58 wins as Jerome Kersey continued to slowly integrate himself into the starting lineup due to this both Jamaal Wilkes and Bob Mcadoo stayed with the Lakers and don't retire till 1986 for Mcadoo and 1987 for Wilkes, another thing that takes place is that Sampson doesn't have a freak fall which would cause his injuries to happen the way that they did. Dallas would be the 2nd seed firmly entrenching themselves as the 2nd best team in the Western Conference with 50 wins behind them would be the Milwaukee Bucks on 49 wins and then it would be the other 2 Texas teams in the Spurs on 44 wins and the Rockets on 43 wins. Adrian Dantley led Sacramento to 40 wins and the 6th seed but it would be his last season playing for the Kings. Portland would register 38 wins and be the 7th seed as once again foot injuries would strike as Andrew Toney would start to struggle with injuries which would ultimately end his career and this was the season where Clyde Drexler would start to emerge as one of the league’s best shooting guards. And in the 8th seed would be the Golden State Warriors led by the Rookie of the Year in Patrick Ewing who led them to 36 wins.

In the East playoffs it would be another Boston wrecking crew as they would once again sweep Indiana, while the Bulls would beat the Magic while both the Bucks and Nets won their expected matchups against the Knicks and Bullets respectively. In the 2nd round it would be Chicago who would gain the privilege of being humiliated by the Celtics in another sweep the 4th game being particularly dominant as Boston went on a 36-6 third quarter including a 24-0 while Detroit would lose to New Jersey in 5 games to set up a Boston vs New Jersey series which Boston would of course win easily in 5 games to advance to the NBA Finals with a 11-1 record and waited to see if there would be a third round against their rivals from the West.

As for the West the Lakers would beat Golden State in 3 games as Ewing and Sampson had their 1st matchup in the playoffs, Dallas would easily beat Portland in 4 games, While in the battle of Texas it would be the Rockets that would win as Moses Malone was out due to injury and with the retirement of George Gervin rumours of Moses Malone’s departure began. Milwaukee would defeat Sacramento in 4 games even with Sidney Moncreif being out through injury . Los Angeles would once again defeat Houston in the 2nd round and would once again meet Dallas in the conference finals after they beat the Jazz in their 2nd round matchup. In their 2nd consecutive conference finals matchup it would once again be Los Angeles who would win out this time in 6 games as Ralph Sampson would prove to be the difference in this series as the Mavericks didn't have enough depth in the team to beat the Lakers yet.

So for the 3rd time in a row it would be the Lakers vs the Celtics in the NBA Finals and unfortunately for Los Angeles it would be another Celtics victory as they would win the series in 5 games with the Lakers only winning game 3 in a series which the Celtics had dominated and as a result Larry Bird would win his 2nd consecutive finals MVP trophy and which would prompt some changes for Los Angeles in the offseason.

​ Pos. Player Team Appearance Coach HC K.C. Jones Boston Celtics 4th Starters PG Isiah Thomas Detroit Pistons 5th SG Michael JordanDNP Indiana Pacers 2nd SF Julius Erving New Jersey Nets 10th PF Larry Bird Boston Celtics 7th C Kareem Abdul Jabbar New Jersey Nets 12th Reserves PF Buck Williams Chicago Bulls 3rd PF Kevin McHale Boston Celtics 2nd SG Alex Engilsh Boston Celtics 5th PG Maurice Cheeks Philadelphia 76ers 2nd C Artis Gilmorte Kentucky Colonels 6th SG Jeff Malone Chicago Bulls 1st C Robert Parish Boston Celtics 6th

​ Pos. Player Team Appearance Coach HC Pat Riley Los Angeles Lakers 5th Starters PG Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 6th SG Alvin Robertson Denver Nuggets 1st SF James Worthy Los Angeles Clippers 1st PF Ralph Sampson Los Angeles Lakers 3rd C Moses Malone San Antonio Spurs 8th Reserves SG Rolando Blackman Los Angeles Clippers 2nd SF/SG Adrian Dantley Sacramento Kings 6th SF Dominique Wilkins Dallas Mavericks 1st SG Clyde Drexler Portland Trail Blazers 1st C Akeem Olajuwon Phoenix Suns 2nd C Patrick Ewing DNP Golden State Warriors 1st SG Sidney Moncrief Milwaukee Bucks 5th

Eastern Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	73	9	.89-	–
2	y-Detroit Pistons	47	35	.573	26
3	x-New Jersey Nets	52	30	.635	21
4	x-Orlando Magic	45	37	.549	28
5	x-Chicago Bulls	44	38	.536	29
6	x-Washington Bullets	40	42	.488	33
7	x-New York Knicks	37	45	.452	36
8	x-Indiana Pacers	35	47	.427	38
9	Philadelphia 76ers	33	49	.402	40
10	Atlanta Hawks	29	53	.354	44
11	Cleveland Cavaliers	26	56	.317	47

12

Kentucky Colonels

25

57

.304

48

#	Western Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	58	24	.707	–
2	y-Dallas Mavericks	50	32	.610	8
3	x-Milwaukee Bucks	49	33	.598	9
4	x-San Antonio Spurs	44	38	.537	14
5	x-Houston Rockets	43	39	.525	15
6	x-Sacramento Kings	40	42	.488	18
7	x-Portland Trail Blazers	38	44	.464	20
8	x-Golden State Warriors	36	46	.439	22
9	Phoenix Suns	34	48	.414	24
10	Los Angeles Clippers	33	49	.402	25
11	Seattle SuperSonics	31	51	.378	27
12	Utah Stars	30	52	.366	28

13

Denver Nuggets

28

54

.341

30

Yearly awards[edit]​

• Most Valuable Player: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
• Rookie of the Year: Patrick Ewing, Golden State Warriors
• Defensive Player of the Year: Alvin Robertson, Denver Nuggets
• Sixth Man of the Year: Bill Walton, Boston Celtics
• Most Improved Player: Alvin Robertson, Denver Nuggets
• Coach of the Year: Frank Layden, Orlando Magic
• All-NBA First Team:
  • F – Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
  • F – Dominique Wilkins, Dallas Mavericks
  • C – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, New Jersey Nets
  • G – Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons
  • G – Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • F – Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 76ers
  • F – Alex English, Boston Celtics
  • C – Akeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets
  • G – Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks
  • G – Alvin Robertson, Denver Nuggets
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons
  • Charles Oakley, Kentucky Colonels
  • Patrick Ewing, Golden State Warriors
  • Xavier McDaniel, Los Angeles Clippers
  • Karl Malone, Indiana Pacers
• NBA All-Defensive Team:
• First Team:
  • Paul Pressey, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
  • Mark Eaton, Orlando Magic
  • Sidney Moncrief,Milwaukee Bucks
  • Maurice Cheeks, Philadelphia 76ers
• Second Team:
  • Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Bill Hanzlik, Denver Nuggets
  • Manute Bol, Washington Bullets
  • Alvin Robertson, Denver Nuggets
  • Dennis Johnson, Boston Celtics

Week	Player
Oct. 25 – Nov. 3	Derek Smith (Los Angeles Clippers)
Nov. 4 – Nov. 10	Buck Williams (Chicago Bulls)
Nov. 11 – Nov. 17	Patrick Ewing (Golden State Warriors)
Nov. 17 – Nov. 24	Alex English (Boston Celtics)
Nov. 25 – Dec. 1	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
Dec. 2 – Dec. 8	Jeff Ruland (Washington Bullets)
Dec. 9 – Dec. 15	Alvin Robertson (Denver Nuggets)
Dec. 16 – Dec. 22	Larry Nance (Milwaukee Bucks)
Dec. 23 – Dec. 29	Dominique Wilkins (Dallas Mavericks)
Dec. 30 – Jan. 5	Clyde Drexler (Portland Trail Blazers)
Jan. 6 – Jan. 12	Calvin Natt (Seattle Supersonics)
Jan. 13 – Jan. 19	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
Jan. 20 – Jan. 26	Charles Barkley (Philadelphia 76ers)
Jan. 27 – Feb. 2	Alex English (Boston Celtics)
Feb. 3 – Feb. 16	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
Feb. 17 – Feb. 23	Sidney Moncrief (Boston Celtics)
Feb. 24 – Mar. 2	Charles Barkley (Philadelphia 76ers)
Mar. 3 – Mar. 9	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
Mar. 10 – Mar. 16	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
Mar. 17 – Mar. 23	Adrian Dantley (Sacramento Kings)
Mar. 24 – Mar. 30	Charles Barkley (Philadelphia 76ers)
Mar. 31 – Apr. 6	Herb Williams (Indiana Pacers)
Apr. 7 – Apr. 13	Dominique Wilkins (Dallas Mavericks)

Month	Player
November	Akeem Olajuwon (Phoenix Suns)-
December	Alvin Robertson (Denver Nuggets)
January	Dominique Wilkins (Dallas Mavericks)
February	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
March	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)

Month	Rookie
November	Patrick Ewing (Golden State Warriors)
December	Karl Malone (Indiana Pacers)
January	Patrick Ewing (Golden State Warriors)
February	Charles Oakley (Kentucky Colonels)
March	Benoit Benjamin (Seattle Supersonics)

Month	Coach
November	Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers)
December	Cotton Fitzsimmons (San Antonio Spurs)
January	Frank Layden (Orlando Magic)
February	Chuck Daly (Detroit Pistons)
March	K.C. Jones (Boston Celtics)

Western Conference​

Champion: Los Angeles Lakers



Western Conference Quarterfinals


(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Golden State Warriors : Lakers win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 135, Golden State 88
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles : Los Angeles 122, Golden State 94
• Game 3 @ Oakland: Los Angeles 114, Golden State 94

(2) Dallas Mavericks vs. (7) Portland Trail Blazers : Mavericks win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Dallas: Dallas 107, Portland 87
• Game 2 @ Dallas: Dallas 113 , Portland 103
• Game 3 @ Portland: Dallas 115, Portland 98

(3) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (6) Sacramento Kings : Bucks win series 3–1

• Game 1 @Milwaukee: Milwaukee 133, Sacramento 126
• Game 2 @ Milwaukee: Sacramento 108, Milwaukee 106
• Game 3 @ Sacramento: Milwaukee 115, Sacramento 104
• Game 4 @ Sacramento: Milwaukee 116, Sacramento 112

(4) San Antonio Spurs vs (5) Houston Rockets : Rockets win series 3-1

• Game 1 @ San Antonio: Houston 101,San Antonio 93
• Game 2 @ San Antonio: San Antonio 113, Houston 106
• Game 3 @ Houston: Houston 100, San Antonio 98
• Game 4 @ Houston: Houston 117, San Antonio 113

Western Conference Semifinals


(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Houston Rockets : Lakers win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 120 , Houston 116
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 117, Houston 113
• Game 3 @ Houston: Houston 117, Los Angeles 113
• Game 4 @ Houston: Los Angeles 116, Houston 113
• Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 120, Houston 107

(2) Dallas Mavericks vs. (3) Milwaukee Bucks : Dallas win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Dallas: Dallas 126, Milwaukee 119
• Game 2 @ Dallas: Dallas 119, Houston 101
• Game 3 @ Milwaukee: Milwaukee 116, Dallas 115
• Game 4 @ Milwaukee: Milwaukee 114, Dallas 111 (OT)
• Game 5 @ Dallas: Dallas 131, Milwaukee 103
• Game 6 @ Milwaukee: Dallas 126, Milwaukee 122 (2OT)

Western Conference Finals


(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Dallas Mavericks : Lakers win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 119, Dallas 107
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles : Los Angeles 112, Dallas 102
• Game 3 @ Dallas: Dallas 117, Los Angeles 109
• Game 4 @ Dallas: Dallas 105, Dallas 95
• Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 121 Dallas 117
• Game 6 @ Dallas: Los Angeles 116 Dallas 111

Eastern Conference​

Champion: Boston Celtics



Eastern Conference Quarterfinals


(1) Boston Celtics VS. (8) Indiana Pacers : Celtics win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Boston : Boston 122, Indiana 104
• Game 2 @ Boston : Boston 126, Indiana 113
• Game 3 @ Indiana : Boston 123, Indiana 104

(2) Detroit Pistons VS. (7) New York Knicks : Pistons win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Detroit : Detroit 119, New York 107
• Game 2 @ Detroit : Detroit 111, New York 97
• Game 3 @ New York : Detroit 115, New York 113

(3) New Jersey Nets VS. (6) Washington Bullets : Nets win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ New Jersey : New Jersey 96, Washington 94
• Game 2 @ New Jersey : New Jersey 102, Washington 97
• Game 3 @ Washington : Washington 118, New Jersey 110
• Game 4 @ Washington : New Jersey 134, Kentucky 109

(4) Orlando Magic vs. (5) Chicago Bulls : Bulls win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Orlando: Chicago 140, Orlando 122
• Game 2 @ Orlando: Chicago 137, Orlando 111
• Game 3 @ Chicago: Orlando 106, Chicago 97
• Game 4 @ Chicago: Chicago 114, Orlando 113 (2OT)

.







Eastern Conference Semifinals



(1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Chicago Bulls : Celtics win series 4–0

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 103, Chicago 91
• Game 2 @ Boston : Boston 119, Chicago 108
• Game 3 @ Chicago : Boston 111, Chicago 107
• Game 4 @ Chicago : Boston 132, Chicago 99

(2) Detroit Pistons vs. (3) New Jersey Nets : Nets win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 118, Detroit 112
• Game 2 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 119, Detroit 107
• Game 3 @ Detroit: Detroit 109, New Jersey 104
• Game 4 @ Detroit: New Jersey 109 Detroit 102
• Game 4 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 126 Detroit 112

Eastern Conference Finals


(1) Boston Celtics vs. (3) New Jersey Nets : Celtics win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 128, New Jersey 93
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 126, New Jersey 108
• Game 3 @ New Jersey: Boston 115, New Jersey 104
• Game 4 @ New Jersey: New Jersey 106, Boston 104
• Game 5 @ Boston : Boston 114 New Jersey 96

NBA Finals​

(W1) Los Angeles Lakers VS. (E1) Boston Celtics : Celtics win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 112, Los Angeles 100
• Game 2 @ Boston: Los Angeles 111, Boston 100
• Game 3 @ Los Angeles: Boston 117, Los Angeles 95
• Game 4 @ Los Angeles: Boston 106 , Los Angeles 103
• Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 114, Los Angeles 97

 

[Jezza1998]

The 1986 NBA Draft was held on the 17th June less than a week after Boston won it’s 2nd second consecutive NBA title and they would hold a top draft pick due to that trade for Gerald Henderson which had given them Seattle’s 1986 1st round draft pick. The results of the lottery were as follows: Seattle, Utah, Atlanta, Cleveland, Kentucky, Denver, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Phoenix. But Seattle owed their pick to Boston from that Gerald Henderson trade and so for the 2nd time in the Larry Bird era Boston would have the 1st pick in the NBA Draft and in this draft they knew exactly who they were after in Maryland forward Len Bias as Red Auerbach had been planning to take him for 3 years as one of the Celtics scouts had compared him to Michael Jordan and with the 1st pick in the 1986 NBA Draft the Celtics would select Len Bias but he would still decide to dabble in cocaine but wouldn't overdose as his good friend in Brian Tribble would be the one to overdose on that fateful night. Utah would select Chuck Person as they still had Alvin Adams at center and were looking for positional need over best available. Brad Daugherty would be selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 3rd pick Cleveland would once again owe their pick to Dallas and Dallas would take Roy Tarpley at 4 to be their spark off the bench. Kentucky and Denver would bust with Chris Washburn and William Bedford respectively. All 3 of these players would eventually experience drug issues during their NBA Career. Philadelphila would then get 2 draft picks as they had their own and the Clippers 1st round pick due to a trade in 1980 involving Joe Bryant with these 2 picks the 76ers would select their backcourt of the future to complement Charles Barkley in Ron Harper and Johnny Dawkins. There would be no notable picks till the 25th pick in which Portland would take a center from the then Soviet Union in Arvydas Sabonis who was said to be a 7 foot 4 Bill Walton who could shoot 3s but who wouldn't be in the NBA for the foreseeable future. Mark Price would still be traded from Dallas but not to Cleveland. Dennis Rodman still ends up at the Pistons while Jeff Hornacek would be selected by the Los Angeles Lakers at the 46th pick.

1

1

Len Bias

SF

United States

Boston Celtics (from Seattle)

Maryland (Sr.)

1

2

Chuck Person

SF

United States

Indiana Pacers

Auburn (Sr.)

1

3

Brad Daugherty*

C

United States

Cleveland Cavaliers

North Carolina (Sr.)

1

4

Roy Tarpley

C

United States

Dallas Mavericks (from Cleveland)

Michigan (Sr.)

1

7

Ron Harper

SG

United States

Philadelphia 76ers (from L.A. Clippers)

Miami (OH) (Sr.)

1

8

Johnny Dawkins

PG

United States

Philadelphia 76ers

Duke (Sr.)

There were to be some major trades in this offseason with Jack Sikma being traded from Houston to Milwaukee with Houston signalling their intent to rebuild Another move that took place was Sacramento traded Adrian Dantley to Detroit in exchange for Cliff Robinson, Kent Benson and a future 1st round draft pick. But the biggest trade of the offseason was Dallas trading Mark Aguirre, James Donaldson, Mark Price and a future 1st round pick to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Moses Malone as Dallas felt that he would put them over the top against the Lakers and San Antonio were planning to be in the David Robinson sweepstakes and felt that this would be the best time for a rebuild.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles it was time for a change in the team as they had lost the last 2 NBA Finals series and needed with Bird having 3 rings compared to Magic’s 1 Pat Riley made it clear to Magic that he was to become more of a scorer if LA had any chance of dethroning Boston who had just added Len Bias. Magic would listen to Pat Riley and lead the Lakers to 62 wins which was the best record in the League and Magic would win his 1st MVP award. Behind them would once again be the Dallas Mavericks with 58 wins with the addition of Moses Malone to a core of Wilkins, Harper and Dale Ellis who would win the most improved player award . The 3rd seed would be the Golden State Warriors with 50 wins with Patrick Ewing starting to assert himself as one of the best centers in the league.Milwaukee on 48 wins as the addition of Jack Sikma down low gave the Bucks a better option, Then it would be Portland on 45 wins with Clyde Drexler asserting himself as the star of the team, Phoenix on 40 wins led by Hakeem Olujawon won was justifying to Phoenix that he was still a good choice from him even with MJ available, Sacramento on 38 wins with help from the pieces acquired from the Adrian Dantley trade and Seattle led by Tom Chambers who would get 35 wins as the 8th seed.

As for the East Boston would finally get a challenge that wasn't by the Nets as the Detroit Pistons would get the 2nd seed with 54 wins as they were starting to form the Bad Boys persona that they would hold for the next 5 years.Boston would have some injuries with Bill Walton missing part of the season, Kevin McHale hurting his foot late in the season but their further depth and the addition of Len Bias who was on the bench for this season as he would slowly develop as Kevin McHale did the Celtics would once again get the best record in the East with 61 Wins as with the addition of Bias Boston was able to rest it’s players a lot more so they would be much fresher for the playoffs. Orlando would be the 3rd seed with 48 wins with John Stockton becoming their starting point guard, New Jersey would win 47 games in what could have been Julius Erving’s last season but he would opt to stay for one more year to retire with Kareem. Philadelphia would be the 5th seed with 45 wins as Charles Barkley had a breakout season and became the best power forward in the league. Michael Jordan would lead Indiana to a 44 wins season as Karl Malone solidified himself as the second option next to MJ who finished 2nd in the MVP vote. New York would be the 7th seed with 41 wins and Chicago would noticeably dip as Tripucka noticeably declined and the Bulls would only win 40 games to obtain the 8th seed.

In the West playoffs Los Angeles would sweep Seattle, while their most likely opponents in Dallas would beat the Kings in 4 games. In the first playoff matchup between Olujawon and Ewing Ewing would win the matchup in 4 games as the Sun's twin towers experiment wasn't working out as well as they had hoped and they would make changes in the offseason. Portland would lose in 5 games to the Bucks, setting up a Lakers vs Bucks matchup in which Los Angeles would win in 6 games. As for Dallas vs Golden State that series would go to 6 games with the help of the Sleepy Floyd game but Dallas would advance to the Conference finals matchup against the Lakers. This would be a close series but the Lakers would pull it out in 7 games with Magic showing exactly why he won the MVP with a 40 point triple double in Game 7 to advance to their 6th straight NBA Finals and they were hoping that their East coast rivals would show up.

As for the East it appeared as it would be another Boston domination after the first 2 rounds with the Celtics sweeping the Bulls and beating New Jersey in 5 games after they beat Philadelphia in 4 games. As for the other series Detroit would once again defeat New York by beating them in 3 games. Indiana would beat Orlando in 4 games as the Pacers were led by Jordan and Malone . Detroit would beat Indiana in 5 games with an Isiah Thomas buzzer beater sealing the series victory which would advance the Pistons to a meeting with Boston in the Eastern Conference finals. In the first competitive Eastern Conference finals series for a few years Boston would weather the Bad Boys this time to win the series in 6 games with Larry Bird adding to Boston’s resume of clutch plays with his steal and pass to Dennis Johnson for a game winning basket at the end of Game 5.

For the 4th time in a row it would be the Boston Celtics vs the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals and the Lakers wanted to square the ledger while the Celtics wanted to extend their lead to 3-1, and for the first time there wasn't a favourite as even though the Celtics were still deeper the Lakers had the best record and the MVP and had traded for Mychal Thompson as a backup big men whose main job was to neutralise Kevin McHale who hadn't broken his foot this season due to the addition of Bias. The Lakers would win the first 2 games at the Forum and the Celtics would bounce back in game 3 and were ahead by 15 in Game 4 before LA came back and took the Lead with less than a minute to go before Boston took the lead on a Larry Bird 3 pointer. LA then had one more chance with Magic who went for a hook shot but missed due to the defense of Len Bias. LA would win Game 5 and Boston would game 6 in the forum, before the 7th game which went down to the wire where the score was tied with LA having the ball with 1 second to go where Ralph Sampson would win the title on a miracle heave to give the Los Angeles Lakers the 1987 NBA Title and Magic his 2nd Finals MVP trophy.

Eastern Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Boston Celtics	61	21	.744	–
2	y-Detroit Pistons	54	28	.658	7
3	x-Orlando Magic	48	34	.610	13
4	x-New Jersey Nets	47	35	.598	14
5	x-Philadelphia 76ers	45	37	.573	16
6	x-Indiana Pacers	42	40	.512	19
7	x-New York Knicks	41	41	.500	20
8	x-Chicago Bulls	40	42	.488	21
9	Washington Bullets	31	51	.378	30
10	Cleveland Cavaliers	28	54	.342	33
11	Atlanta Hawks	24	58	.293	37

12

Kentucky Colonels

20

62

.244

41

Western Conference v t e
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Los Angeles Lakers	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Dallas Mavericks	58	24	.708	4
3	x-Golden State Warriors	50	32	.611	12
4	x-Milwaukee Bucks	48	34	.586	17
5	x-Portland Trail Blazers	44	38	.512	20
6	x-Phoenix Suns	40	42	.488	22
7	x-Sacramento Kings	38	44	.463	24
8	x-Seattle SuperSonics	34	48	.415	28
9	Denver Nuggets	33	49	.402	29
10	Utah Stars	29	53	.354	33
11	Houston Rockets	28	54	.341	34
12	San Antonio Spurs	25	57	.295	37

13

Los Angeles Clippers

22

60

.259

40

​ Pos. Player Team Appearance Votes Starters G Michael Jordan Indiana Pacers 3rd 1,141,733 F Alex English Boston Celtics 2nd 1,029,131 F Julius Erving New Jersey Nets 11th 819,468 F Larry Bird Boston Celtics 8th 902,701 C Kareem Abdul Jabbar New Jersey Nets 13th 565,491 Reserves F Kevin McHale Boston Celtics 3rd 455,859 G Isiah Thomas Detroit Pistons 6th 713,173 F Charles Barkley Philadelphia 76ers 1st 479,176 G Jeff Malone Chicago Bulls 2nd 206,255 C Bill Laimbeer Detroit Pistons 4th 432,104 C Robert Parish Boston Celtics 7th 510,471 G Maurice Cheeks Philadelphia 76ers 3rd 174,512 Head coach: K. C. Jones (Boston Celtics)

​ Pos. Player Team Appearance Votes Starters G Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 7th 949,304 G Alvin Robertson Denver Nuggets 2nd 457,251 F Dominique Wilkins Dallas Mavericks 2nd 588,778 F Ralph Sampson Los Angeles Lakers 4th 611,480 C Akeem Olajuwon Phoenix Suns 3rd 792,148 Reserves C Moses Malone Dallas Mavericks 10th 572,779 G Rolando Blackman Los Angeles Clippers 3rd 307,838 G Sleepy Floyd Golden State Warriors 1st -- C Joe Barry Carroll Golden State Warriors 1st -- F Mark Aguirre San Antonio Spurs 2nd 339,337 G Dale Ellis Dallas Mavericks 1st -- F James Worthy Los Angeles Clippers 1st 343,348 Head coach: Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers)

Yearly awards​

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

Week	Player
October 31 – November 9	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
November 10 – November 16	Robert Parish (Boston Celtics)
November 17 – November 23	Alvin Robertson (Denver Nuggets)
November 24 – November 30	Hot Rod Williams (Cleveland Cavaliers)
December 1 – December 7	Tom Chambers (Seattle SuperSonics)
December 8 – December 14	Dominique Wilkins (Dallas Mavericks)
December 15 – December 21	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
December 22 – December 28	Patrick Ewing (Golden State Warriors)
December 29 – January 4	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
January 5 – January 11	Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons)
January 12 – January 19	Otis Thorpe (Washington Bullets)
January 20 – January 26	Alex English (Boston Celtics)
January 27 – February 1	Fat Lever (Denver Nuggets)
February 2 – February 15	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
February 16 – February 22	Moses Malone (Dallas Mavericks)
February 23 – March 1	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
March 2 – March 8	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
March 9 – March 15	Karl Malone (Indiana Pacers)
March 16 – March 22	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
March 23 – March 29	Larry Smith (Golden State Warriors)
March 30 – April 5	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
April 6 – April 12	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
April 13 – April 15	Julius Erving (New Jersey Nets)

Month	Player
November	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
December	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
January	Charles Barkley (Philadelphia 76ers)
February	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
March	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)

Month	Rookie
November	Chuck Person (Utah Stars)
December	Ron Harper (Philadelphia 76ers)
January	Ron Harper (Philadelphia 76ers)
February	Chuck Person (Utah Stars)
March	Brad Daugherty (Atlanta Hawks)

Month	Coach
November	Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers)
December	Frank Layden (Orlando Magic)
January	Bill Fitch (Phoenix Suns)
February	Mike Schuler (Portland Trail Blazers)
March	George Karl (Golden State Warriors)

Western Conference​

Champion: Los Angeles Lakers



Western Conference Quarterfinals


(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Seattle SuperSonics : Lakers win series 3–0

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

(2) Dallas Mavericks vs. (7) Sacramento Kings : Mavericks win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Dallas: Dallas 151, Sacramento 129
• Game 2 @ Dallas: Dallas 112 , Sacramento 110
• Game 3 @ Sacramento: Sacramento 117, Dallas 107
• Game 4 @ Sacramento: Dallas 124, Sacramento 98

(3) Golden State Warriors vs. (6) Phoenix Suns : Warriors win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Oakland: Golden State 125, Phoenix 115
• Game 2 @ Oakland: Phoenix 111, Golden State 98
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Golden State 117, Phoenix 108
• Game 4 @ Phoenix: Golden State 113, Phoenix 101

(4) Milwaukee Bucks vs (5) Portland Trail Blazers : Bucks win series 3-1

• Game 1 @ Milwaukee: Milwaukee 99, Portland 85
• Game 2 @ Milwaukee: Milwaukee 103, Portland 100
• Game 3 @ Portland: Portland 110, Milwaukee 95
• Game 4 @ Portland: Milwaukee 98, Portland 94

Western Conference Semifinals


(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Milwaukee Bucks : Lakers win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 125 , Milwaukee 116
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 116, Milwaukee 101
• Game 3 @ Milwaukee: Los Angeles 133, Milwaukee 108
• Game 4 @ Milwaukee: Milwaukee 112, Los Angeles 107
• Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 118, Milwaukee 106

(2) Dallas Mavericks vs. (3) Golden State Warriors : Dallas win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Dallas: Dallas 111, Golden State Warriors 106
• Game 2 @ Dallas: Golden State 99, Dallas 97
• Game 3 @ Oakland: Dallas 102, Golden State 84
• Game 4 @ Oakland: Dallas 117, Golden State 102
• Game 5 @ Dallas: Golden State 129, Dallas 121
• Game 6 @ Oakland: Dallas 128, Golden State 125 (2OT)

Western Conference Finals


(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Dallas Mavericks : Lakers win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 104, Dallas 91
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles : Los Angeles 112, Dallas 102
• Game 3 @ Dallas: Dallas 122, Los Angeles 104
• Game 4 @ Dallas: Dallas 145, Dallas 119
• Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 111 Dallas 103
• Game 6 @ Dallas: Dallas 116 Los Angeles 112
• Game 7 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 117 Dallas 114

Eastern Conference​

Champion: Boston Celtics



Eastern Conference Quarterfinals


(1) Boston Celtics VS. (8) Chicago Bulls : Celtics win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Boston : Boston 108, Chicago 104
• Game 2 @ Boston : Boston 105, Chicago 96
• Game 3 @ Chicago : Boston 105, Chicago 94

(2) Detroit Pistons VS. (7) New York Knicks : Pistons win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Detroit : Detroit 110, New York 94
• Game 2 @ Detroit : Detroit 94, New York 93
• Game 3 @ New York : Detroit 96, New York 87

(3) Orlando Magic VS. (6) Indiana Pacers : Pacers win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Orlando : Indiana 106, Orlando 94
• Game 2 @ Orlando : Orlando 120, Indiana 107
• Game 3 @ Indiana : Indiana 128, Orlando 85
• Game 4 @ Indiana : Indiana 97, Orlando 96

(4) New Jersey Nets vs. (5) Philadelphia 76ers : Nets win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ New Jersey : New Jersey 107, Philadelphia 104
• Game 2 @ New Jersey : New Jersey 117, Philadelphia 114 (OT)
• Game 3 @ Philadelphia : Philadelphia 124, New Jersey 118
• Game 4 @ Philadelphia : New Jersey 102, Philadelphia 89

.







Eastern Conference Semifinals



(1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) New Jersey Nets : Celtics win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 111, New Jersey 98
• Game 2 @ Boston : Boston 126, New Jersey 124
• Game 3 @ New Jersey : New Jersey 116, Boston 112
• Game 4 @ New Jersey : Boston 138, New Jersey 137 (2OT)
• Game 5 @ Boston : Boston 119, New Jersey 113

(2) Detroit Pistons vs. (6) Indiana Pacers : Pistons win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Detroit: Detroit 112, Indiana 111
• Game 2 @ Detroit: Indiana 115, Detroit 102
• Game 3 @ Indiana: Detroit 108, Indiana 99
• Game 4 @ Indiana: Detroit 104, Indiana 96
• Game 4 @ Detroit: Detroit 99, Indiana 98

Eastern Conference Finals


(1) Boston Celtics vs. (2) Detroit Pistons : Celtics win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 104, Detroit 91
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 110, Detroit 101
• Game 3 @ Detroit: Detroit 122, Boston 104
• Game 4 @ Detroit: Detroit 145, Boston 119
• Game 5 @ Boston : Boston 108 Detroit 107 Larry Bird steals Isiah Thomas' inbound pass and gives the ball to Dennis Johnson, who hits the game-winning lay-up with 1 second left.
• Game 6 @ Detroit : Boston 111 Detroit 107

NBA Finals​

(W1) Los Angeles Lakers VS. (E1) Boston Celtics : Lakers win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 126, Boston 113
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 135, Boston 128
• Game 3 @ Boston: Boston 113, Los Angeles 99
• Game 4 @ Boston: Boston 106 , Los Angeles 105
• Game 5 @ Boston: Los Angeles 113, Boston 108
• Game 6 @ Los Angeles: Boston 104, Los Angeles 97
• Game 7 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 114, Boston 112

 

[Jezza1998]

The 1987 NBA Draft took place on the 22nd June 1987 with the top prize being Center David Robinson but there was a caveat with him not being available till the 1990 season due to his service in the Navy the draft order would go like this San Antonio, Denver, Kentucky, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Utah, Cleveland, Washington and Houston with San Antonio getting the big prize and the player who would lead their next era and with the next 2 years they would able to further build their supporting cast for when he eventually arrived. The first 5 picks would go as in our timeline with Chicago still getting Scottie Pippen after finding a willing trading partner in the Clippers in exchange for Olden Polynice. Utah would select Kenny Smith at 6 while Cleveland would still select Kevin Johnson but keep him as they did not have Mark Price so they would actually play him. Derrick Mckey would go to Houston while Seattle would select Horace Grant which showed Tom Chambers that they were looking for life beyond him and he was to be an unrestricted free agent in 1988. Sacramento would land Reggie Miller with the 11th pick and both Mark Jackson and Reggie Lewis would still end up in New York and Boston respectively.

1

5

Scottie Pippen^

SF

United States

Los Angeles Clippers (from New York, traded to Chicago for Olden Polynice)

Central Arkansas (Sr.)

1

6

Kenny Smith

PG

United States

Utah Stars

North Carolina (Sr.)

1	9	Derrick McKey	SF/PF	United States	Houston Rockets	Alabama (Jr.)
1	10	Horace Grant+	PF/C	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	Clemson (Sr.)
1	11	Reggie Miller^	SG	United States	Sacramento Kings	UCLA (Sr.)

There would be no major trades or offseason moves so the main storyline was whether Pat Riley’s promise that the Lakers would repeat as champions would be fulfilled which from the outset of the season looked to be a tall order as they weren't even the best team in the West this season as the Dallas Mavericks would win 61 games and be the 1st seed in the West led by Dominique Wilkins, Dale Ellis and Moses Malone along with 6th Man of the Year in Roy Tarpley, Los Angeles would struggle with some injuries towards the end of the season and win 57 games to be the 2nd seed in the West. From there it would be Portland with Drexler and Most improved player in Kevin Duckworth leading the way, Golden State with Ewing, Phoenix with Hakeem and Otis Thorpe who they got in a trade with Washington for Stipanovich at the beginning of the season, Milwaukee with Moncrief’s injuries really starting to affect him, Los Angeles Clippers who surprised everyone with their season and finally Sacramento with Reggie Miller exceeding several of his draft mates.

In the East it would be the end of an era in a sense as both Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Julius Erving would announce their retirements at the end of the season and were lavished by the league on their farewell tour as they both retired as top 10 players in NBA History and had won 5 NBA titles together. But this also meant that the Nets would be rebuilding and this season would be the last in which they made the playoffs for some time as the 7th seed only Orlando would be behind them in the playoffs. The top 6 seeds would be Boston once again with 62 wins, Detroit with 54, Indiana on 51 with Michael Jordan winning his 1st MVP award, Chicago on 47, New York on 45 and Philadelphia on 43 with both New Jersey and Milwaukee on 41 wins each.

The Western playoffs had more anticipation this year in the fact that Los Angeles might not make the finals for the first time since 1981 and the team most likely to do that would be the Dallas Mavericks and once again these 2 teams would meet after the Lakers beat their city rivals in 4 games and then defeated Portland in 5 games while Dallas would eliminate Sacramento in a sweep and the Phoenix Suns whose star in Olajuwon had gotten revenge over Patrick Ewing for eliminating him the season before. So for the 3rd year in a row the Mavericks and Lakers would meet in the conference finals but unlike those 2 occasions it would be Dallas who would win the series in 6 games with Dale Ellis being the difference maker as he was lights out in this series.

While in the East while it did feel like that another team would be the East representative in the NBA Finals for 1988 the Celtics were very keen on that not being the case as they would easily beat both Orlando and Chicago to make their 9th straight conference finals appearance where they would once again meet the Detroit Pistons who would end the careers of Abdul Jabbar and Erving in sweeping the Nets and beat the Pacers in 6 games with a defensive scheme called the Jordan Rules being implemented for the first time. Boston would be taken to 7 games by this Pistons team but they would get past them with an Isiah Thomas sprained ankle in Game 6 and an accidental head clash between Adrian Dantley and Ricky Pierce in Game 7 give Boston enough of an advantage for them to narrowly win the series where they would meet the Dallas Mavericks who were younger and fresher and the favourites to win the title.

The 1988 NBA Finals were the first with a team that wasn't either Boston or Los Angeles even though Boston was still in the finals and the favorites as they were the much more experienced team compared to the Mavericks although Boston did have some injury concerns with Bill Walton having to retire at the end of the 88 season as he had one too many foot injuries, Alex English was starting to show his age while Larry Bird had bone spurs which would eventually cause him to miss the 89 season in its entirety and Kevin McHale was starting to have problems with his feet. Due to all of these injuries the Celtics were the walking wounded and Dallas would take advantage of that by taking the series to a 7th game in what was one of the All time great finals series and in Game 7 Dominique Wilkins would score 51 points to get the better of Larry Bird who scored 34 points to lead Dallas to a 120-118 triumph in Game 7 and give the Dallas Mavericks it’s first NBA Championship with Wilkins winning finals MVP for his performance in the series.

Eastern Conference
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Boston Celtics	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Detroit Pistons	54	28	.659	3
3	x-Indiana Pacers	51	31	.622	11
4	x-Chicago Bulls	47	35	.573	15
5	x-New York Knicks	45	37	.549	15
6	x-Philadelphia 76ers	43	39	.524	19
7	x-New Jersey Nets	41	41	.500	21
8	x-Orlando Magic	41	41	.500	21
9	Cleveland Cavaliers	34	48	.426	28
10	Atlanta Hawks	32	50	.402	30
11	Washington Bullets	30	52	.377	32

12

Kentucky Colonels

26

56

.328

36

	Western Conference
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Dallas Mavericks	61	21	.744	–
2	y-Los Angeles Lakers	58	24	.708	3
3	x-Portland Trail Blazers	50	32	.609	11
4	x-Golden State Warriors	47	35	.573	14
5	x-Phoenix Suns	45	37	.549	16
6	x-Milwaukee Bucks	44	38	.537	17
7	x-Los Angeles Clippers	41	41	.500	20
8	x-Sacramento Kings	37	45	.451	24
9	San Antonio Spurs	35	47	.427	26
10	Houston Rockets	30	52	.293	31
11	Denver Nuggets	28	54	.268	33
12	Seattle Supersonics	25	57	.231	36

13

Utah Stars

17

65

.207

45

Pos. Player Team Appearance Starters G Isiah Thomas Detroit Pistons 7th G Michael Jordan Indiana Pacers 4th F Alex English Boston Celtics 8th F Larry Bird Boston Celtics 9th C Kareem Abdul Jabbar New Jersey Nets 14th Reserves G Danny Ainge Boston Celtics 1st F Brad Daugherty Atlanta Hawks 2nd G Doc Rivers Atlanta Hawks 1st F Karl Malone Indiana Pacers 1st F Charles Barkley Philadelphia 76ers 2nd F Kevin McHale Boston Celtics 4th F Julius Erving New Jersey Nets 13th Head coach: KC Jones (Boston Celtics)

Pos. Player Team Appearance Starters G Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 8th G Fat Lever Denver Nuggets 1st F Dominique Wilkins Dallas Mavericks 4th F Larry Nance Los Angeles Lakers 2nd C Akeem Olajuwon Houston Rockets 4th Reserves G Clyde Drexler Portland Trail Blazers 2nd C Moses Malone Dallas Mavericks 11th F James Worthy Los Angeles Clippers 3rd F Xavier McDaniel Los Angeles Clippers 1st F Mark Aguirre San Antonio Spurs 3rd G Alvin Robertson Denver Nuggets 3rd C Patrick Ewing Golden State Warriors 3rd Head coach: John McCleod (Dallas Mavericks)

• Most Valuable Player: Michael Jordan, Indiana Pacers
• Rookie of the Year: Mark Jackson, New York Knicks
• Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Jordan, Indiana Pacers
• Sixth Man of the Year: Roy Tarpley, Dallas Mavericks
• Most Improved Player: Kevin Duckworth, Portland Trail Blazers
• Coach of the Year: Jack Ramsey, Indiana Pacers
• All-NBA First Team:
  • F – Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
  • F – Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 76ers
  • C – Akeem Olajuwon, Phoenix Suns
  • G – Michael Jordan, Indiana Pacers
  • G – Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • F – Karl Malone, Indiana Pacers
  • F – Dominique Wilkins, Dallas Mavericks
  • C – Patrick Ewing, Golden State Warriors
  • G – Clyde Drexler, Portland Trail Blazers
  • G – John Stockton,Orlando Magic
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Derrick McKey, Houston Rockets
  • Cadillac Anderson, San Antonio Spurs
  • Mark Jackson, New York Knicks
  • Kenny Smith, Utah Stars
  • Armen Gilliam, Kentucky Colonels
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
  • Rodney McCray, Indiana Pacers
  • Akeem Olajuwon, Phoenix Suns
  • Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Michael Jordan, Indiana Pacers
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • Buck Williams, Chicago Bulls
  • Karl Malone, Indiana Pacers
  • Mark Eaton, Orlando Magic (tie)
  • Patrick Ewing, Golden State Warriors (tie)
  • Alvin Robertson, Denver Nuggets
    Lafayette Lever, Denver Nuggets

Week	Player
Nov. 6 – Nov. 15	Larry Bird (Boston Celtics)
Nov. 16 – Nov. 22	Xavier McDaniel (Los Angeles Clippers)
Nov. 23 – Nov. 29	Clyde Drexler (Portland Trail Blazers)
Nov. 30 – Dec. 6	Clyde Drexler (Portland Trail Blazers)
Dec. 7 – Dec. 13	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
Dec. 14 – Dec. 20	Larry Nance (Los Angeles Lakers)
Dec. 21 – Dec. 27	Dominique Wilkins (Dallas Mavericks)
Dec. 28 – Jan. 3	Karl Malone (Indiana Pacers)
Jan. 4 – Jan. 10	Byron Scott (Los Angeles Clippers)
Jan. 11 – Jan. 17	Dominique Wilkins (Dallas Mavericks)
Jan. 18 – Jan. 24	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
Jan. 25 – Jan. 31	Bernard King (New York Knicks)
Feb. 1 – Feb. 14	Dominique Wilkins (Dallas Mavericks)
Feb. 15 – Feb. 21	John Stockton (Orlando Magic)
Feb. 22 – Feb. 28	Roy Tarpley (Dallas Mavericks)
Feb. 29 – Mar. 6	Bobby Hansen (Orlando Magic)
Feb. 7 – Mar. 13	Clyde Drexler (Portland Trail Blazers)
Mar. 14 – Mar. 20	Charles Barkley (Philadelphia 76ers)
Mar. 21 – Mar. 27	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
Mar. 28 – Apr. 3	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
Apr. 4 – Apr. 10	Harold Pressley (Sacramento Kings)
Apr. 11 – Apr. 17	Lafayette Lever (Denver Nuggets)
Apr. 18 – Apr. 24	Karl Malone (Indiana Pacers)

Month	Player
November	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
December	Larry Nance (Larry Nance)
January	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
February	John Stockton (Orlando Magic)
March	Karl Malone (Indiana Pacers)
April	Lafayette Lever (Denver Nuggets)

Month	Rookie
November	Mark Jackson (New York Knicks)
December	Mark Jackson (New York Knicks)
January	Armon Gilliam (Kentucky Colonels)
February	Mark Jackson (New York Knicks)
March	Greg Anderson (San Antonio Spurs)
April	Kevin Johnson (Cleveland Cavaliers)

Month	Coach
November	Doug Collins (Chicago Bulls)
December	Chuck Daly (Detroit Pistons)
January	Wes Unseld (Washington Bullets)
February	Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers)
March	Jack Ramsay (Indiana Pacers)
April	Lenny Wilkens (Cleveland Cavaliers)

Western Conference​

Champion: Dallas Mavericks



Western Conference Quarterfinals


(1) Dallas Mavericks vs. (8) Sacramento Kings : Mavericks win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Dallas: Dallas 122, Sacramento 110
• Game 2 @ Dallas : Dallas 130, Sacramento 112
• Game 3 @ Sacramento: Dallas 109, Sacramento 107

(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (7) Los Angeles Clippers : Lakers win series 3–2

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles L: Lakers 126, Clippers 123
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles L: Clippers 111 , Lakers 91
• Game 3 @ Los Angeles C: Lakers 124, Clippers 115
• Game 4 @ Los Angeles C: Clippers 125, Lakers 115
• Game 4 @ Los Angeles L: Lakers 115, Clippers 96

(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) Milwaukee Bucks : Blazers win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Portland: Portland 120, Milwaukee 110
• Game 2 @ Portland: Milwaukee 119, Portland 108
• Game 3 @ Milwaukee: Portland 93, Milwaukee 92
• Game 4 @ Milwaukee: Portland 107, Milwaukee 97

(4) Golden State Warriors vs (5) Phoenix Suns : Suns win series 3-1

• Game 1 @ Oakland: Phoenix 108, Golden State 96
• Game 2 @ Oakland: Golden State 114, Phoenix 105
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 113, Golden State 108
• Game 4 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 111, Golden State 96

Western Conference Semifinals


(1) Dallas Mavericks vs. (5) Phoenix Suns : Mavericks win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Dallas: Phoenix 126 , Dallas 115
• Game 2 @ Dallas: Dallas 112, Phoenix 108
• Game 3 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 107, Dallas 105
• Game 4 @ Phoenix: Dallas 124, Phoenix 103
• Game 5 @ Dallas: Dallas 110, Phoenix 106
• Game 6 @ Phoenix: Dallas 108, Phoenix 95

(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Portland Trail Blazers : Lakers win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 110, Portland 91
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 101, Portland 97
• Game 3 @ Portland: Portland 96, Los Angeles 89
• Game 4 @ Portland: Los Angeles 113, Portland 100
• Game 4 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 109, Portland 98

Western Conference Finals


(1) Dallas Mavericks vs. (2) Los Angeles Lakers : Mavericks win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Dallas: Dallas 113, Los Angeles 98
• Game 2 @ Dallas : Dallas 123, Los Angeles 101
• Game 3 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 106, Dallas 94
• Game 4 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 118, Dallas 104
• Game 5 @ Dallas: Dallas 119, Los Angeles 102
• Game 6 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 105, Dallas 103
• Game 7 @ Dallas: Dallas 117, Los Angeles 102

Eastern Conference​

Champion: Boston Celtics



Eastern Conference Quarterfinals


(1) Boston Celtics VS. (8) Orlando Magic : Celtics win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Boston : Boston 112 Orlando 92
• Game 2 @ Boston : Boston 128, Orlando 102
• Game 3 @ Orlando : Orlando 109, Boston 100
• Game 4 @ Orlando : Boston 102, Orlando 94

(2) Detroit Pistons VS. (7) New Jersey Nets : Pistons win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Detroit : Detroit 96, New Jersey 87
• Game 2 @ Detroit : Detroit 102, New Jersey 101
• Game 3 @ New York : Detroit 99, New Jersey 78

(3) Indiana Pacers VS. (6) Philadelphia 76ers : Pacers win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Orlando : Indiana 104, Philadelphia 93
• Game 2 @ Orlando : Indiana 106, Philadelphia 101
• Game 3 @ Indiana : Philadelphia 110, Indiana 102
• Game 4 @ Indiana : Indiana 107, Philadelphia 101

.
(4) Chicago Bulls vs (5) New York Knicks : Bulls win series 3-2

• Game 1 @ Chicago: Chicago 110, New York 107
• Game 2 @ Chicago: Chicago 104, New York 97
• Game 3 @ New York: New York 123, Chicago 115
• Game 4 @ New York: New York 105, Chicago 99
• Game 5 @ Chicago: Chicago 121, New York 111

Eastern Conference Semifinals



(1) Boston Celtics vs. (5) Chicago Bulls : Celtics win series 4–1

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 110, Chicago 101
• Game 2 @ Boston : Boston 108, Chicago 97
• Game 3 @ Chicago : Chicago 110, Boston 92
• Game 4 @ Chicago : Boston 112, Chicago 104
• Game 5 @ Boston : Boston 102, Chicago 100

(2) Detroit Pistons vs. (3) Indiana Pacers : Pistons win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Detroit: Indiana 94, Detroit 88
• Game 2 @ Detroit: Detroit 100, Indiana 91
• Game 3 @ Indiana: Indiana 99, Detroit 97
• Game 4 @ Indiana: Detroit 86, Indiana 80
• Game 5 @ Detroit: Detroit 94, Indiana 85
• Game 6 @ Indiana: Detroit 103, Indiana 94

Eastern Conference Finals


(1) Boston Celtics vs. (2) Detroit Pistons : Celtics win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Boston: Detroit 104, Boston 96
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 119, Detroit 115 (2OT) Adrian Dantley hits a game-tying free throw with 10 seconds left in regulation to force OT; Kevin McHale hits the game-tying 3 pointer with 5 seconds left in the first OT to force the second OT.
• Game 3 @ Detroit: Detroit 98, Boston 94
• Game 4 @ Detroit: Boston 79, Detroit 78
• Game 5 @ Boston : Boston 102, Detroit 96 (OT)
• Game 6 @ Detroit : Detroit 95, Boston 90
• Game 7 @ Boston : Boston 117, Detroit 114

NBA Finals​

(W1) Dallas Mavericks VS. (E1) Boston Celtics : Mavericks win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Dallas: Dallas 105, Boston 93
• Game 2 @ Dallas: Boston 108, Dallas 96
• Game 3 @ Boston: Boston 99, Dallas 86
• Game 4 @ Boston: Dallas 111 , Boston 86
• Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 104, Dallas 94
• Game 6 @ Dallas: Dallas 103, Boston 102
• Game 7 @ Dallas: Dallas 120, Boston 118

 

[Jezza1998]

Sorry that I haven't posted an update on here in a while but have been busy with work but in the meantime have been writing more seasons though am unsure if to post them either on this thread or start a new one as the POD character has now retired, Or to do another scenario entirely in a different sport E,G. something Football related

 

[Jezza1998]

This would be the last season of the 80s and the beginning of a transition into a new era as there was 3 new expansion teams who were introduced in the Minnesota Timberwolves, Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat these 3 teams would have to go through an Expansion draft on the 23rd June who would take the same players that they all did in our timeline.


5 Days later was the NBA Draft and the draft order would have the 10th-12th picks to be taken by the new expansion teams which in this order would be the Hornets, Heat and Timberwolves. The top 9 picks would be Utah, San Antonio, Cleveland, Seattle, Kentucky, Denver, Atlanta, Houston and Washington. Danny Manning would still be the 1st pick in the draft for Utah but San Antonio wouldn't select Rik Smits with the 2nd pick as they were still waiting for David Robinson and as a result they would take Mitch Richmond to be their new shooting guard and to try and replace George Gervin. Rik Smits would instead start his career in Cleveland while Seattle would take Charles Smith at 4 to further crowd their frontcourt. Chris Morris would go to the Colonels at 5 and Denver would select future all star Hersey Hawkins with the 6th selection. Rex Chapman would go to Houston and Washington would take Rony Seikaly to replace Jeff Ruland who had been forced to retire due to injuries. Dan Majerle would still go to Phoenix as he was projected to go lower then the position that Phoenix took him at. Rod Strickland would go to Chicago to be their new point guard in the last notable pick of the draft.

1

1

Danny Manning+

PF

United States

Los Angeles Clippers

Kansas (Sr.)

.

1

2

Mitch Richmond^

SG

United States

San Antonio Spurs

Kansas State (Sr.)

1	3	Rik Smits+	C	Netherlands	Cleveland Cavaliers	Marist (Sr.)
1	4	Charles Smith	PF	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	Pittsburgh (Sr.)

1

5

Chris Morris

SF

United States

Kentucky Colonels

Auburn (Sr.)

1

6

Hersey Hawkins+

SG

United States

Denver Nuggets

Bradley (Sr.)

1	8	Rex Chapman	SG	United States	Houston Rockets	Kentucky (So.)
1	9	Rony Seikaly	C	Lebanon	Washington Bullets	Syracuse (Sr.)

Another change that took place in 1988 which would reverberate for years to come was the advent of unrestricted free agency which only applies to players to have played in the league for 7 years and completed 2 full length NBA contracts. The first notable unrestricted free agent was Tom Chambers as Seattle had just drafted Horace Grant and Charles Smith both power forwards and with Seattle not doing too well while Chambers was there he had decided to leave to win a title and there was 1 team who was perfectly suited for him in the Orlando Magic who would sign him to form a deadly Pick and Roll combo with John Stockton. Jeff Hornacek would replace Randy Wittman as starting 2 Guard on the Lakers as he would be traded to Milwaukee in exchange for Reggie Theus who would become the 6th Man, Jerome Kersey would average 17 and 7 while Ralph Sampson who was still averaging 20 and 10. Some other notable changes were that Moses Malone would stay in Dallas and Walter Davis doesn't sign with Denver as he stays with Golden State as they are still a contending team at this point.

In the East it would be a transition year as Boston would transition into a new era with the emergence of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis into stars as Larry Bird missed the whole season due to bone spurs and Alex English and Dennis Johnson would miss some games with Terry Porter taking over the point guard Position from D.J. Also Danny Ainge isn't traded to Sacramento for stiffs due to these circumstances Boston would win only 55 Games and be the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference behind Detroit and Indiana on record who would dominate the season with the Pistons winning 63 games even with the absence of Rick Mahorn who was taken by Minnesota in the expansion draft and keeping Adrian Dantley who was unhappy about having to take a lesser role due to the emergence of Dennis Rodman. As for Indiana they would win 58 games with Jordan and Malone quickly becoming the best duo in the league and it was inevitable that there would be championships ahead for this team. Philadelphia would be the 4th seed on 48 wins with Barkley, then it would be Cleveland with the most improved player in Kevin Johnson leading the way, Chicago, New York and finally the Orlando Magic.

As for the West it would be a return to normal service with Los Angeles getting the 1st seed in the West with a 61 win season but the star was still Magic Johnson who would win his 2nd MVP award. Dallas were the second seed with 54 wins but it appeared that the Mavericks were unlikely to repeat. From 3 to 8 it would be Phoenix with Akeem further solidifying himself, Golden State with Ewing doing the same, Milwaukee Bucks still being a Pseudo-contender , Los Angeles Clippers with their trio of Scott, Worthy and McDaniel , Sacramento with Reggie Miller becoming a starter with the trade of Kelly Tripucka and Portland with Clyde Drexler and 1st time all star Kevin Duckworth.

The East playoffs had a sense of optimism in that the Celtics would be eliminated and that the Pistons would be the team to do it but before that there were other matchups that had to take place as Detroit would first dispose of Atlanta in 3 games and the Barkley’s 76ers in 4 games in the 2nd round as for their rivals Boston would defeat the Knicks in 4 games before losing to the Pacers in a 7 game series with Jordan hitting what would be known as the Shot in Game 7 in what was the first of many meetings in the playoffs with Len Bias. This therefore set up the Pistons vs Pacers in the conference finals which was Indiana’s best chance at winning a title since their ABA days but they would lose to the Pistons once again in 7 games with the Pistons toughness and experience winning out this time but this series also showed that the Jordan Rules didn't work as much as they had in the previous year with Karl Malone establishing himself as one the league’s best power forwards.

After the hiccup of the previous year normal service resumed in the West as the Lakers would easily beat Portland and Golden State to advance to the conference finals where they would meet the defending champions in the Dallas Mavericks who had beaten Sacramento and Phoenix even with Akeem dominating Moses Malone in a 6 game series. For the 4th year in a row it would be the Lakers vs Mavericks in the Western Conference finals and this time the Lakers would have the edge due to the decline of Moses Malone and the defence of Larry Nance on Wilkins who would lead them to victory over Dallas in a 6 game series which ensured that the Lakers and Pistons would meet in the NBA Finals.

The last NBA Finals series of the decade contained one team who had been in almost every NBA Finals series of the decade and the other team who had slowly built their team over the decade which now involved them being 8 deep with a starting lineup of Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, John Salley and Bill Laimbeer with a bench of Adrian Dantley, Ricky Pierce and James Edwards as Rick Mahorn was now in Minnesota. As the Lakers were not driven as hard by Pat Riley in an attempt to rest his players Magic wouldn’t get his hamstring injury until Game 3 in a game which gave the Pistons a lead which they wouldn’t relinquish with them winning the series in 6 Games with Joe Dumars winning Finals MVP for his defence on Magic before his injury and his impact on offense.

The end of the 80s also signalled a transition for the NBA from the Magic and Bird era to the Jordan and Bias era as even though one of Bird and Magic would play till the mid 1990s due to the changes in this situation they would play supporting roles on their teams.

Boston emerged as the team of the decade with 3 NBA titles and 6 final appearances in the decade with the Lakers winning 2 titles and making 7 finals appearances with Larry Bird winning 4 MVPS compared to Magic winning 2.

New Jersey, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Detroit would also all win championships in the 1980s with the Nets, Rockets and Spurs all now rebuilding with varying degrees of success while both the Mavericks and Pistons were still contenders at the turn of the decade.

Pos. Player Team Appearance Starters G Isiah Thomas Detroit Pistons 8th G Michael Jordan Indian Pacers 5th F Len Bias Boston Celtics 1st F Charles Barkley Philadelphia 76ers 3rd C Moses Malone Atlanta Hawks 12th Reserves G John Stockton Orlando Magic 2nd F Tom Chambers Orlando Magic 2nd F Karl Malone Indiana Pacers 2nd C Chris Mullin New York Knicks 1st F Kevin McHale Boston Celtics 5th G Mark Jackson New York Knicks 1st C Brad Daugherty Atlanta Hawks 2nd Head coach: Chuck Daly (Detroit Pistons)

Pos. Player Team Appearance Starters G Mark Price San Antonio Spurs 1st G Dale Ellis Dallas Mavericks 2nd F Dominique Wilkins Dallas Mavericks 5th F James Worthy Los Angeles Clippers 4th C Akeem Olajuwon Houston Rockets 5th Reserves G Clyde Drexler Portland Trail Blazers 3rd F James Worthy Los Angeles Clippers 4th C Moses Malone Dallas Mavericks 12th F Chris Mullin Golden State Warriors 1st C Patrick Ewing Golden State Warrirors 4th F Fat Lever Denver Nuggets 2nd C Kevin Duckworth Portland Trail Blazers 1st G Magic JohnsonDNP Los Angeles Lakers 9th Head coach: Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers)

Eastern Conference
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Detroit Pistons	63	19	.768	–
2	y- Boston Celtics	55	27	.671	8
3	x-Indiana Pacers	58	24	.707	5
4	x-Philadelphia 76ers	48	34	.586	15
5	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	47	35	.573	16
6	x-Chicago Bulls	46	36	.561	17
7	x-New York Knicks	44	38	.537	19
8	x-Orlando Magic	43	39	.525	20
9	Washington Bullets	40	42	.488	23
10	Atlanta Hawks	36	46	.440	27
11	Kentucky Colonels	31	51	.377	32
12	New Jersey Nets	27	55	.329	36

13

Charlotte Hornets

20

62

.244

43

14

Miami Heat

15

67

.183

48

#	Western Conference
Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	61	21	.744	–
2	y-Dallas Mavericks	54	28	.659	7
3	x-Phoenix Suns	50	32	.610	11
4	x-Golden State Warriors	47	35	.573	14
5	x-Milwaukee Bucks	45	37	.549	16
6	x-Los Angeles Clippers	44	38	.537	17
7	x-Sacramento Kings	43	39	.524	18
8	x-Portland Trail Blazers	39	43	.476	22
9	San Antonio Spurs	38	44	.463	23
10	Utah Stars	34	48	.414	27
11	Denver Nuggets	30	52	.366	31
12	Houston Rockets	27	55	.329	34
13	Seattle SuperSonics	24	58	.292	37

14

Minnesota Timberwolves

15

67

.183

46

• Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
• Rookie of the Year: Mitch Richmond, San Antonio Spurs
• Defensive Player of the Year: Mark Eaton, Orlando Magic
• Sixth Man of the Year: Eddie Johnson, Phoenix Suns
• Most Improved Player: Kevin Johnson, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Coach of the Year: Chuck Daly, Detroit Pistons
• All-NBA First Team:
  • F – Karl Malone, Indiana Pacers
  • F – Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 76ers
  • C – Akeem Olajuwon, Phoenix Suns
  • G – Michael Jordan, Indiana Pacers
  • G – Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
• All-NBA Second Team:
  • F – Tom Chambers, Orlando Magic
  • F – Chris Mullin, New York Knicks
  • C – Patrick Ewing, Golden State Warriors
  • G – John Stockton, Orlando Magic
  • G – Kevin Johnson, Cleveland Cavaliers
• All-NBA Third Team:
  • F – Dominique Wilkins, Dallas Mavericks
  • F – Terry Cummings, Milwaukee Bucks
  • C – Robert Parish, Boston Celtics
  • G – Dale Ellis, Dallas Mavericks
  • G – Mark Price, San Antonio Spurs
• All-NBA Rookie Team:
  • Rik Smits, Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Willie Anderson, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Mitch Richmond, San Antonio Spurs
  • Charles D. Smith, Seattle SuperSonics
  • Hersey Hawkins, Denver Nuggets
• NBA All-Defensive First Team:
  • Dennis Rodman, Detroit Pistons
  • Larry Nance, Milwaukee Bucks
  • Mark Eaton, Orlando Magic
  • Michael Jordan, Indiana Pacers
  • Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
  • Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
  • A. C. Green, Los Angeles Lakers
  • Patrick Ewing, Golden State Warriors
  • John Stockton, Orlando Magic
  • Alvin Robertson, Denver Nuggets

Week	Player
Nov. 4 – Nov. 13	Akeem Olajuwon (Phoenix Suns)
Nov. 14 – Nov. 20	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
Nov. 21 – Nov. 27	Patrick Ewing (Golden State Warriors)
Nov. 28 – Dec. 4	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
Dec. 5 – Dec. 11	Michael Adams (Denver Nuggets)
Dec. 12 – Dec. 18	Robert Parish (Boston Celtics)
Dec. 20 – Dec. 25	Clyde Drexler (Portland Trail Blazers)
Dec. 26 – Dec. 30	Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers)
Jan. 2 – Jan. 8	Dale Ellis (Dallas Mavericks)
Jan. 9 – Jan. 15	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
Jan. 16 – Jan. 22	Chris Mullin (New York Knicks)
Jan. 23 – Jan. 29	Tom Chambers (Orlando Magic)
Jan. 30 – Feb. 5	Ron Harper (Philadelphia 76ers)
Feb. 6 – Feb. 19	Akeem Olajuwon (Phoenix Suns)
Feb. 20 – Feb. 26	Patrick Ewing (Golden State Warriors)
Feb. 27 – Mar. 5	Chuck Person (Utah Stars)
Mar. 6 – Mar. 12	Isiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons)
Mar. 13 – Mar. 19	Kevin Johnson (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Mar. 20 – Mar. 26	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
Mar. 27 – Apr. 2	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
Apr. 3 – Apr. 9	Clyde Drexler (Portland Trail Blazers)
Apr. 10 – Apr. 16	Karl Malone (Indiana Pacers)
Apr. 17 – Apr. 23	Xavier McDaniel (Los Angeles Clippers)

Month	Player
November	Charles Barkley (Philadelphia 76ers)
December	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
January	Chris Mullin (New York Knicks)
February	Kevin Johnson (Cleveland Cavaliers)
March	Michael Jordan (Indiana Pacers)
April	Patrick Ewing (Golden State Warriors)

Month	Rookie
November	Willie Anderson (Denver Nuggets)
December	Mitch Richmond (San Antonio Spurs)
January	Mitch Richmond (San Antonio Spurs)
February	Charles Smith (Seattle SuperSonics)
March	Mitch Richmond (San Antonio Spurs)
April	Charles Smith (Seattle SuperSonics)

Month	Coach
November	Chuck Daly (Detroit Pistons)
December	Lenny Wilkens (Cleveland Cavaliers)
January	Del Harris (Milwaukee Bucks)
February	Don Nelson (Golden State Warriors)
March	Chuck Daly (Detroit Pistons)
April	Cotton Fitzsimmons (Phoenix Suns)

Western Conference​

Champion: Los Angeles Lakers



Western Conference Quarterfinals


(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Portland Trail Blazers : Lakers win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 128, Portland 108
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles : Los Angeles 113, Portland 105
• Game 3 @ Portland: Los Angeles 116 Portland 108

(2) Dallas Mavericks vs. (7) Sacramento Kings : Mavericks win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Dallas: Dallas 123, Sacramento 119
• Game 2 @ Dallas: Dallas 99 , Sacramento 91
• Game 3 @ Sacramento: Dallas 120, Sacramento 106

(3) Phoenix Suns vs. (6) Los Angeles Clippers : Suns win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 104, Los Angeles 103
• Game 2 @ Phoenix: Phoenix 132, Los Angeles 114
• Game 3 @ Los Angeles: Phoenix 130, Los Angeles 121

(4) Milwaukee Bucks vs (5) Golden State Warriors : Warriors win series 3-1

• Game 1 @ Milwaukee: Golden State 111, Milwaukee 107
• Game 2 @ Milwaukee: Golden State 109, Milwaukee 97
• Game 3 @ Oakland: Milwaukee 126, Milwaukee 107
• Game 4 @ Oakland: Golden State 98, Milwaukee 96

Western Conference Semifinals


(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (5) Golden State Warriors : Lakers win series 4–0

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 113 , Golden State 102
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 130, Golden State 108
• Game 3 @ Oakland: Los Angeles 91, Golden State 86
• Game 4 @ Oakland: Los Angeles 97, Golden State 95

(2) Dallas Mavericks vs. (3) Phoenix Suns : Dallas win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Dallas: Dallas 130, Phoenix 103
• Game 2 @ Dallas: Phoenix 127, Dallas 122
• Game 3 @ Oakland: Dallas 113, Phoenix 104
• Game 4 @ Oakland: Phoenix 135, Dallas 99
• Game 5 @ Dallas: Dallas 116, Golden State 104
• Game 6 @ Oakland: Dallas 122, Golden State 115

Western Conference Finals


(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (2) Dallas Mavericks : Lakers win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 106, Dallas 99
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles : Los Angeles 108, Dallas 101
• Game 3 @ Dallas: Dallas 117, Los Angeles 106
• Game 4 @ Dallas: Dallas 135, Los Angeles 111
• Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 111 Dallas 103
• Game 6 @ Dallas: Los Angeles 116 Dallas 112

Eastern Conference​

Champion: Detroit Pistons



Eastern Conference Quarterfinals


(1) Detroit Pistons VS. (8) Orlando Magic : Pistons win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Detroit : Detroit 101, Orlando 91
• Game 2 @ Detroit : Detroit 102, Orlando 95
• Game 3 @ Orlando : Detroit 100, Chicago 85

(2) Boston Celtics VS. (7) New York Knicks : Celtics win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Boston : Boston 102, New York 96
• Game 2 @ Boston : Boston 107, New York 106
• Game 3 @ New York : Boston 116, New York 115 (OT)

(3) Indiana Pacers VS. (6) Chicago Bulls : Pacers win series 3–1

• Game 1 @ Indiana : Indiana 95, Chicago 88
• Game 2 @ Indiana : Indiana 98, Chicago 87
• Game 3 @ Chicago : Chicago 101, Indiana 94
• Game 4 @ Chicago : Indiana 108, Chicago 105

(4) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (5) Cleveland Cavaliers : 76ers win series 3–2

• Game 1 @ Philadelphia : Philadelphia 100, Cleveland 92
• Game 2 @ Philadelphia : Cleveland 108, Philadelphia 98
• Game 3 @ Cleveland : Philadelphia 117, Cleveland 113 (OT)
• Game 4 @ Cleveland : Cleveland 113, Philadelphia 106 (OT)
• Game 4 @ Philadelphia : Philadelphia 96, Cleveland 92

.







Eastern Conference Semifinals



(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (4) Philadelphia 76ers : Pistons win series 4–0

• Game 1 @ Detroit: Detroit 85, Philadelphia 80
• Game 2 @ Detroit : Detroit 112, Philadelphia 92
• Game 3 @ Philadelphia : Detroit 110, Philadelphia 90
• Game 4 @ Philadelphia : Detroit 96, Philadelphia 94

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Indiana Pacers : Pacers win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Boston: Indiana 120, Boston 109
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 114, Indiana 97
• Game 3 @ Indiana: Boston 111, Indiana 98
• Game 4 @ Indiana: Indiana 106, Boston 93
• Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 121, Indiana 114
• Game 6 @ Indiana: Indiana 113,Boston 111
• Game 7 @ Boston: Indiana 101, Indiana 100 MJ Hits the Shot over Danny Ainge

Eastern Conference Finals


(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (3) Indiana Pacers : Pistons win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Detroit : Indiana 94, Detroit 88
• Game 2 @ Detroit: Detroit 100, Indiana 91
• Game 3 @ Indiana: Indiana 99, Detroit 97 Michael Jordan hits the game-winner with 3 seconds left.
• Game 4 @ Indiana: Detroit 86, Indiana 80
• Game 5 @ Detroit : Detroit 94 Indiana 85
• Game 6 @ Indiana : Indiana 103 Detroit 94
• Game 7 @ Indiana : Detroit 93 Indiana 88

NBA Finals​

(W1) Los Angeles Lakers VS. (E1) Detroit Pistons : Pistons win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Detroit: Detroit 109, Los Angeles 103
• Game 2 @ Detroit: Los Angeles 111, Detroit 108
• Game 3 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 116, Detroit 114
• Game 4 @ Los Angeles: Detroit 105 , Los Angeles 101
• Game 5 @ Detroit: Detroit 113, Los Angeles 102
• Game 6 @ Los Angeles: Detroit 104, Los Angeles 99