The 1987 NBA Finals was the championship round of the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA)'s 1986–87 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference and defending NBA champion Boston Celtics 4 games to 2. The key moment of the series was Magic Johnson's Junior sky hook in Game 4. This was the tenth time that the Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA Finals (more than any other Finals matchup). It would be the Celtics' last Finals appearance until the two teams met in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. This was the first NBA Championship Series conducted entirely in June. The last time there were no NBA Championship Series games in May was in the 1970–1971 season, when the finals (a four-game sweep that year) ended on April 30. It is also the first NBA Finals series to be conducted on a Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday rotation, which was in use until 1990 and revived since the

2004 NBA Finals The 2004 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 2003–04 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. This season's NBA Finals was contested between the Western Conference playoff champion ...

; in between the NBA Finals were conducted on a Sunday-Wednesday-Friday rotation.

Background

Boston Celtics

Thanks to the 1984 trade of

Gerald Henderson Jerome McKinley "Gerald" Henderson Sr. (born January 16, 1956) is an American retired basketball player. He was a combo guard who had a 13-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1979 until 1992. He played for the Boston C ...

and the subsequent fall of 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 ...

, at the end of 1985–86 the Celtics were not only the best team in the NBA but also owned the second pick in the 1986 NBA Draft. They chose

Len Bias Leonard Kevin Bias (November 18, 1963June 19, 1986) was an American college basketball player who attended the University of Maryland. During his four years playing for Maryland, he was named a first-team All-American. Two days after being selec ...

with the pick and had high hopes that the presence of the young

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

star would ensure that the franchise would remain a powerhouse after Bird, McHale, and Parish retired. Unfortunately, Bias died 48 hours after being drafted, after using

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

at a party and overdosing. The Celtics finished the regular season with a 59–23 record, best in the Eastern Conference. Despite retaining the core of the team that won the championship a year earlier, Boston endured numerous injuries to its roster. Their bench, an asset of the previous year's team, was decimated by injuries to

Scott Wedman Scott Dean Wedman (born July 29, 1952) is an American former professional basketball player who played thirteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted by the Kansas City-Omaha Kings with the sixth pick in the first ...

and

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national ...

. With limited options, head coach K. C. Jones was forced to give his starting five of

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 ...

, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson and

Danny Ainge Daniel Ray Ainge ( ; born March 17, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and former professional baseball player who serves as an executive for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-s ...

extended minutes, but the lengthy playing time took its toll on the players' health, and by the start of the playoffs, the Celtics were a roster full of walking wounded. After sweeping 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 ...

in the first round, the Celtics were pushed to a Game 7 in the next two rounds by the Milwaukee Bucks and 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 L ...

, only to advance each time. Still, the Celtics' health became a question mark as they entered the Finals.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers finished the regular season with a league-best 65–17 record. Head coach

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

made a strategical move, shifting the offensive focus to Magic Johnson. The Lakers acquired center

Mychal Thompson Mychal George Thompson (born January 30, 1955) is a Bahamian-American former basketball player. The top overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft, Thompson played the center position for the University of Minnesota and center and forward for the Na ...

via trade midway through the season. Both moves helped alleviate the load off of the aging

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...

, who turned 40 during the playoffs. A. C. Green supplanted Kurt Rambis in the starting lineup. During the Lakers' path to the Finals they swept the Denver Nuggets in the first round, defeated the Golden State Warriors in five games during the second round, and swept the

in the conference finals. This 1987 Lakers team is widely considered both Magic Johnson’s best team, and one of the greatest teams in NBA history. There are many reasons for this besides Magic Johnson being league MVP this year instead of Larry Bird: Kareem was still in late prime condition, the Lakers had many scoring options, they had an excellent defense which included defensive player of the year and Michael Cooper, and Michael Thompson’s elite post defense Meant they had another body to throw at the lakes of McHale and Parish of the Celtics.

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

The Los Angeles Lakers won both games in the regular season series:

Series summary

Game 1

The Lakers were coming off a four-game sweep of the

, while the Celtics were coming off a grueling seven-game win over the

. Magic Johnson led a 126–113 victory with 29 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds and no turnovers.

James Worthy James Ager Worthy (born February 27, 1961) is an American sports commentator, television host, analyst, and former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Game James", he played his entire professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers ...

, on the receiving end of many of Johnson's passes, had 33 points and nine rebounds. The Lakers ran 35 fast breaks in the first two quarters and led by 15 at intermission.

Game 2

The Celtics plan for Game 2 was to concentrate on stopping Magic Johnson.

, at 6'5", could not deal with the 6'9" Magic. In this game,

Michael Cooper Michael Jerome Cooper (born April 15, 1956) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the boys varsity coach at Culver City High School. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning ...

emerged as a great 3 point shooter. He hit six 3 pointers, a playoff record.

added 23 points on 10 of 14 shots, while Magic posted 20 assists and 22 points. It all added up to a 141–122 rout, Boston's sixth straight road loss in the playoffs.

Game 3

The Celtics recovered from their two knockout blows in Games 1 and 2 with a counterpunch of their own. A little-used backup center, Greg Kite, provided the spark. Kite, entering the game late in the first quarter when Robert Parish encountered foul trouble, played 20 minutes, and while he failed to score, he grabbed nine rebounds, blocked a Magic Johnson layup, and did solid body work on

. The defensive minutes Kite gave Boston from the bench were just enough, as

scored 30 points and Dennis Johnson hit 11 of 22 attempts from the field to finish with 26 points. The resurgent Celtics shot 17 of 21 from the floor in the second quarter. Kevin McHale Celtics' forward bounced back in Boston with 21 points and 10 rebounds while letting the air out of

's game, limiting the Lakers' forward to only 13 points and three rebounds. Magic led the Lakers with 32 points in the 109–103 loss.

Game 4

After their Game 3 win,

said, "This (Game 3) was the most important game of the series for us. If we lost, it might've been tough to get up for Game 4. Now it's going to be easy." The Celtics took it right to the Lakers, controlling the boards and taking a 55–47 lead into halftime. The Celtics had a balanced scoring attack with Kevin McHale, Robert Parish,

, and Dennis Johnson all scoring in double figures. In the 3rd quarter, Bird finally got hot by scoring 12 in the quarter and helping the Celtics lead by as many as 16 points. But Los Angeles fought back to cut the Celtics lead to 85-78 going into the 4th. In the 4th quarter the Lakers continued fighting back until they managed to tie the game at 95–95 on a

skyhook with 5:30 remaining. The Celtics responded on both ends of the court by going on an 8–0 run, helped by good defense which led to 2 fast-break lay-ups to take a 103–96 lead with 2 minutes left. Then the Lakers called time out. On the Celtics' next possession, Robert Parish lost the ball to

. Cooper passed the ball ahead to Magic Johnson, who started a break. Cooper spotted up in 3-point territory, while Magic drove, forcing Cooper's defender to help out. Magic then kicked the ball out to a now wide open Cooper who drilled the three to cut the lead to 103–100. On the Celtics next possession,

forced a pass to Kevin McHale in the post, which instead sailed out of bounds, giving possession right back to the Lakers.

then hit a tough fade-away over Kevin McHale and Robert Parish in the lane to cut the deficit to one. On the very next possession, Bird missed a step-back jumper over the outstretched frame of

, and the Lakers got the ball back with just under 45 seconds remaining. The Lakers called a timeout to set up a pick for

. The pass was there for an alley-oop dunk, and the Lakers took a 104–103 lead, their first lead since early in the 1st quarter. The Celtics called timeout with 29 seconds left in the game. Out of the timeout Bird threw the ball inbounds and was immediately face-guarded by

. In fact, Worthy had a fist-full of Bird's jersey to make sure Bird would not score. With Worthy's defense, the Celtics could not get their best player the ball and instead went through the motions of their offense until

got open. That forced Worthy to let go of Bird and help out on Ainge. Bird immediately got himself open by going to the 3-point line right in front of the Lakers' bench. Ainge found Bird wide open and Bird hit the three point bomb with 12 seconds left, to put Boston up 106-104 and sent the Boston Garden crowd into a frenzy. On the next possession, Abdul-Jabbar was fouled and went to the line, where he made the first and missed the second. The officials ruled that McHale fumbled the ball out of bounds with seven seconds left. What followed was another play for the ages. Magic set a pick on Kevin McHale, which almost opened up a lay-up for Worthy, but Dennis Johnson was able to switch over in time on help defend. However, that left McHale scrambling to guard Magic who just got open and received the inbounds pass near the left sideline. Twenty feet from the basket, Magic had the advantage on the post-defender McHale, who was also playing through a bad ankle injury. Magic dribbled, hesitated to get McHale off-balance, then drove into the paint. Magic then lofted a

hook shot In basketball, a hook shot is a play in which the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball with a sweeping motion of the arm farther from the basket in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends ov ...

, which just cleared the fingertips of both McHale and Parish, and swished through the net giving the Lakers a 107–106 lead with only 2 seconds left. The Celtics still had one last shot: Dennis inbounded the ball to Bird, who had broken to the corner. Larry, to his surprise, found himself wide open behind the 3-point line right in front of the Lakers' bench. Bird caught the inbounds pass from Johnson, turned, and put up a fall-away jumper as time expired. The shot barely missed as the Boston crowd let out a collective groan and the Lakers' bench danced off the court to celebrate the victory. The win gave the Lakers a commanding 3–1 series lead.

Game 5

The Celtics had to win Game 5 in the Garden, and would control most of the game.

set the tone by nailing 5 of 6 from 3-point range to give Boston early control, including a halfcourt heave at the buzzer before halftime. Magic countered for Los Angeles with 29 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds, and four steals, but he received little help. Before the game Bird had told his teammates, "If they want to celebrate, let's not let them do it on the parquet." The Celtics had incentive enough. They got their second win, 123–108, and the series jetted back across the continent.

Game 6

arrived for Game 6 with a shaved head and a determination to close out this series. For a while, though, it appeared like the Celtics would steal it. Magic Johnson had only four points at the half and Dennis Johnson poured in 18 for the Celtics on his way to a game-high 33 as Boston led 56–51 at intermission. The Lakers scored the first two baskets of the second half to cut it to 56–55. On the Celtics' ensuing possession,

deflected a pass and gave chase. Worthy went to the floor, batted the ball inbounds to a breaking Magic Johnson, and Magic slammed home a breakaway dunk. This gave the Lakers their first lead of the game 57–56, since early in the first quarter, and they never trailed again. The Lakers outscored the Celtics 30–12 in the third quarter for an 18-point turnaround, mostly on fast breaks. The score at the end of three quarters was 81–68, Lakers. The Celtics only scored 12 points in the third quarter, one more than the record for the lowest scoring quarter in playoff history. Worthy would finish with 22 points, and

had 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, but the play of the Lakers' two superstars, Magic and Kareem, would be the dagger that finished off the Celtics. Magic recovered from his cold first half to post 16 points, 19 assists, and eight rebounds, and Kareem would pump in a team-high 32 points. "Magic is a great, great basketball player," Bird stated flatly, settling the issue for the moment. "The best I've ever seen." Indeed, Magic would gain the NBA Finals MVP award and his fourth championship ring. For the Lakers, this would be their last NBA Finals series triumph over the Celtics until 2010.

Team rosters

Los Angeles Lakers

Boston Celtics

Player statistics

;Los Angeles Lakers , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 33.8 , , .510 , , .000 , , .667 , , 7.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 2.5 , , 21.7 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 2.5 , , .167 , , .000 , , .500 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 1.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 29.8 , , .540 , , .609 , , 1.000 , , 2.3 , , 4.7 , , 1.7 , , 0.3 , , 12.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 24.0 , , .500 , , .000 , , .700 , , 5.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 7.8 , -! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 39.3 , , .541 , , .500 , , .960 , , 8.0 , , 13.0 , , 2.3 , , 0.3 , , 26.2 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 3.3 , , .333 , , .000 , , .500 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 9.3 , , .429 , , .000 , , .833 , , 2.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 30.2 , , .484 , , .083 , , .909 , , 3.0 , , 2.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 11.8 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 2.3 , , .333 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 28.5 , , .561 , , .000 , , .778 , , 5.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.8 , , 1.2 , , 11.2 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 39.7 , , .523 , , .000 , , .526 , , 5.3 , , 4.0 , , 1.7 , , 0.8 , , 20.7 ;Boston Celtics , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 39.0 , , .500 , , .429 , , 1.000 , , 3.0 , , 5.0 , , 1.2 , , 0.3 , , 12.5 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 42.3 , , .445 , , .500 , , .921 , , 10.0 , , 5.5 , , 1.2 , , 1.2 , , 24.2 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 8.3 , , .625 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 4.5 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 3.8 , , .444 , , .000 , , .500 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.5 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 40.7 , , .481 , , .125 , , .885 , , 4.3 , , 9.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 21.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 12.7 , , .222 , , .000 , , .500 , , 3.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 38.5 , , .585 , , .000 , , .818 , , 9.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.2 , , 1.0 , , 20.5 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 30.5 , , .592 , , .000 , , .593 , , 6.5 , , 1.2 , , 0.8 , , 1.2 , , 16.7 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 8.0 , , .727 , , .000 , , .545 , , 1.8 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 4.4 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 9.3 , , .267 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.7 , , 1.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 1.3 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 8.3 , , .500 , , .000 , , .700 , , 1.0 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 4.8 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 4.8 , , .600 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 1.2

Television coverage

The Boston Celtics season documentary ''Home of the Brave'', narrated by David Perry, recaps Boston's 1987 season while the Los Angeles Lakers documentary ''Drive for Five'', narrated by legendary Lakers announcer Chick Hearn, recaps the Lakers' magnificent 1987 season en route to a fourth title of the 1980s.

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

' James Brown filled in for

Pat O'Brien Pat O'Brien may refer to: Politicians * Pat O'Brien (Canadian politician) (born 1948), member of the Canadian House of Commons *Pat O'Brien (Irish politician) (c. 1847–1917), Irish Nationalist MP in the United Kingdom Parliament Others *Pat O'Br ...

when he attended the birth of his son. Brown was on for Games 3 and 4. Both Brown and O'Brien reported on the Lakers' sideline. While Lesley Visser was on for all the games as sideline reporter for CBS as she reported on the Celtics' sideline. Dick Stockton and Tom Heinsohn worked play-by-play and color commentary respectively. It was the fourth consecutive and last Finals series to pair Stockton and Heinsohn together; Heinsohn was demoted in favor of

Billy Cunningham William John Cunningham (born June 3, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the ''Kangaroo Kid'' for his leaping and record-setting rebounding abilities. He spent a total of 17 seasons with the ...

following the series. At the time, Stockton and Heinsohn had worked the most number of NBA Finals series together. ESPN/ABC's

Mike Breen Michael Breen (born May 22, 1961) is an American play-by-play sports commentator for '' NBA on ABC'' and is the lead announcer for New York Knicks games on the MSG Network. Breen also calls NBA games for ESPN and was formerly a play-by-play anno ...

, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy later broke the record for the most complete NBA Finals series called by a single television play-by-play/color commentary team following the

2011 NBA Finals The 2011 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2010–11 season. The Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks defeated the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat in six games to win thei ...

Aftermath

The 1987 Finals would be the Celtics' last until

, but would be the last for the 'Big Three' of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. In K.C. Jones' final season as Celtics' coach they still won the Atlantic Division title by winning 57 games, but the Celtics fell in six games to the

, in the rematch of their Eastern Conference Finals showdown in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

. The Celtics would not reach that far again for the next 14 years. Following their championship win, Lakers coach Pat Riley guaranteed a repeat championship during the team's championship parade a few days after winning the NBA Finals. The 1987-88 NBA season, despite winning three games less than the previous year, was still a success for the Lakers. However their playoff run would not be as smooth as expected. Other than a three-game first round sweep of the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

, the Lakers were pushed to a Game 7 by 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), ...

, Dallas Mavericks, and Detroit Pistons before claiming the first repeat championship since the Celtics of 1969. Prior to 2008, the Celtics and Lakers came close to renewing their rivalry in the

2002 NBA Finals The 2002 NBA Finals was the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s championship series for the 2001–02 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers (who were also two-time defendin ...

. But while the Lakers defeated the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

4–3, the Celtics lost to the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

4–2 in their respective conference finals.

References

External links

NBA History
* {{DEFAULTSORT:1987 Nba Finals National Basketball Association Finals

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

NBA NBA 20th century in Los Angeles County, California NBA Finals NBA Finals Sports competitions in Boston Sports competitions in Inglewood, California NBA Finals NBA Finals Boston Garden

Background

Boston Celtics

Los Angeles Lakers

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

Series summary

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6

Team rosters

Los Angeles Lakers

Boston Celtics

Player statistics

Television coverage

Aftermath

See also

References

External links