The 1986-87 NBA season was the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

' 39th season in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

and 30th season in the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. The team played at the

Pontiac Silverdome The Pontiac Silverdome (also known simply as the Silverdome) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, ...

in surburban

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Pontiac is about northwest of Detroit. Founde ...

. The disappointing finish of the previous year caused a roster shake-up as the team dealt

Earl Cureton Earl Cureton (born September 3, 1957) is an American retired professional basketball player. His nickname was "The Twirl". Amateur career Cureton played high school basketball at Finney High School in Detroit, and signed to play college basketbal ...

to the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

for Sidney Green,

Kent Benson Michael Kent Benson (born December 27, 1954) is an American former collegiate and professional basketball player. Benson was a two time All-American at Indiana University, winning the 1976 Helms Foundation Player of the Year and helping lead t ...

and

Kelly Tripucka Peter Kelly Tripucka (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1981 to 1991. He was a two-time NBA All Star and averaged over twenty points a game ...

to the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

for Adrian Dantley, and guard John Long to the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

for draft picks. The team added

John Salley John Thomas Salley (born May 16, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player, talk show host, and actor. He was the first player in NBA history to win championships with three franchises (since joined by Robert Horry, Danny Green ...

and

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best rebounding ...

in the 1986 NBA Draft to complete the turnover. The moves by GM "Trader Jack" McCloskey paid immediate dividends as the team finished 52–30 (.634), 2nd in the Central Division. The team advanced to the playoffs, defeating the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

3–0 in the first round and then the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

4–1 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals against the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

. The tightly contested conference finals went to a 7th game thanks to Celtics star

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

when he made an improbable steal in the closing seconds of Game 5 to keep the Boston season alive. Leading by 1 point, Pistons star

Isiah Thomas Isiah Lord Thomas III (born April 30, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who is an analyst for ''NBA TV''. The 12-time NBA All-Star was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History as well as the 75 Grea ...

waived off a timeout request from Pistons coach

Chuck Daly Charles Jerome Daly (July 20, 1930 – May 9, 2009) was an American basketball head coach. He led the Detroit Pistons to two consecutive National Basketball Association (NBA) championships in 1989 and 1990—during the team's "Bad Boys" era— ...

, hurried a lofting inbound pass to center

Bill Laimbeer William J. Laimbeer Jr. (born May 19, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who spent the majority of his career with the Detroit Pistons. Known for his rough and violent style of play, he played a big part in the P ...

, as Bird stepped in for the steal, passing to teammate

Dennis Johnson Dennis Wayne Johnson (September 18, 1954 – February 22, 2007), nicknamed "DJ", was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns, and Boston Celtics. He was a c ...

for the 108–107 Boston win. Long-time Celtic announcer

Johnny Most John M. Most (June 15, 1923 – January 3, 1993) was an American sports announcer, known primarily as the raspy radio voice of the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association from 1953 to 1990. Most's radio call during the final moment ...

’s call of Bird’s game-saving steal in the 1987 playoffs at the end of Game 5 in the Eastern Conference finals vs. Detroit was memorable with "Aaaaaaand now there’s a steal by Bird, underneath to DEE-Jay, he lays it in…and Boston has a one-point lead right with one second to go… What a play by Bird!...Oh my this place is goin’ crazy!” After a Pistons home win in Game 6, the series returned to the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (late ...

for the 7th game with the Celtics holding off Detroit 117–114 for the series victory. Detroit was led on the season by guard Thomas (20.6 ppg, 10.0 apg, NBA All-Star), center Laimbeer (15.4 ppg, 11.6 rpg, NBA All-Star), and forward Dantley (21.5 ppg).

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:z – clinched division title :y – clinched division title :x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Playoffs

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Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

W 106–92
,

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(9) ,

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W 128–85
, Adrian Dantley (24) ,

(9) ,

Vinnie Johnson Vincent Johnson (born September 1, 1956), is an American former professional basketball player and a key player as sixth man for the Detroit Pistons during the team's National Basketball Association (NBA) championships of 1989 and 1990. He was ni ...

(13) ,

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W 97–96
, Dantley,

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

(21) ,

Rick Mahorn Derrick Allen Mahorn (born September 21, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player who played power forward and center for the Washington Bullets, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, and the New Jersey Nets of the National Basket ...

(12) ,

(10) , Capital Centre
10,831 , 3–0 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , May 3 , @

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

W 112–111
,

(30) ,

(10) ,

Omni Coliseum Omni Coliseum (often called The Omni) was an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for ice hockey, hockey. It was part of the CNN Center, Omni ...

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L 102–115
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W 108–99
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W 89–88
,

(31) ,

(17) ,

Joe Dumars Joe Dumars III ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is the executive vice president and head of basketball operations of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play either shoo ...

(5) ,

17,269 , 3–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 5 , May 13 , @

W 104–96
,

(21) ,

(16) ,

(12) ,

16,522 , 4–1 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , May 19 , @

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

L 91–104
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L 101–110
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W 122–104
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W 145–119
, Adrian Dantley (32) ,

(13) ,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

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L 107–108
, Adrian Dantley (25) ,

(14) ,

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14,890 , 2–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 6 , May 28 ,

W 113–105
, Dantley,

(24) ,

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L 114–117
,

(35) ,

(13) ,

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14,890 , 3–4 , -

Awards and records

All-NBA Second Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sele ...

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Playoffs

Awards and records

References

See also