The 1989–90 NBA season was the 20th season 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 S ...

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. During the off-season, the Cavaliers acquired second-year guard Steve Kerr from the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. The Cavaliers got off to a slow start losing their first four games, on their way to a mediocre 10–16 start. Early into the season, the team traded

Ron Harper Ronald Harper (born January 20, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for four teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) between 1986 and 2001 and is a five-time NBA champion. Early life Harper was born ...

to the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

in exchange for top draft pick

Danny Ferry Daniel John Willard Ferry (born October 17, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and an All-American college player at Duke University. He most recently served as interim genera ...

and Reggie Williams; Ferry was selected by the Clippers as the second overall pick in the

1989 NBA draft The 1989 NBA draft took place on June 27, 1989, in New York City. Despite eight of the top ten picks being considered busts, including the first two picks Pervis Ellison and Danny Ferry, the draft produced many talented players such as Shawn K ...

, but refused to play for them as he went to play overseas in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. At midseason, the team traded

Chris Dudley Christen Guilford Dudley (born February 22, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player and politician. He played 886 games across 16 seasons in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, Portland Trail Blazers, New ...

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, ...

, and released Williams to free agency. The Cavaliers struggled playing below .500 for the first half of the season, holding a 21–25 record at the All-Star break, but finished it on a strong note winning their final six games. The team finished the season with a 42–40 record, finishing 4th in the Central Division, as they advanced to the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Mark Price William Mark Price (born February 15, 1964) is an American former basketball player and coach. He was most recently the head coach of the Charlotte 49ers. As a player, he played for 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 1 ...

averaged 19.6 points, 9.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game, while

Brad Daugherty Brad Daugherty may refer to: * Brad Daugherty (basketball) (born 1965), American NBA player, currently a television sportscaster * Brad Daugherty (poker player) (born 1951), American poker player {{Hndis, Daugherty, Brad ...

averaged 16.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, and

Larry Nance Larry Donnell Nance Sr. (born February 12, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. A forward from Clemson University, Nance played 13 seasons (1981–1994) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Phoen ...

provided the team with 16.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. In addition, sixth man

Hot Rod Williams Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand ** Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distric ...

provided with 16.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, and

Craig Ehlo Joel Craig Ehlo (; born August 11, 1961) is a retired American basketball player. He played fifteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with four teams, amassing career totals of 7,492 points, 2,456 assists and 3,139 rebounds. ...

contributed 13.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. In the Eastern Conference First Round of the playoffs, the Cavaliers lost in five games to the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

. For the season, the team slightly changed their road uniforms, replacing the team nickname "Cavs" with the city name "Cleveland" on their jerseys. The team's season roster is featured in the video games ''

NBA 2K16 ''NBA 2K16'' is a 2015 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It is the 17th installment in the ''NBA 2K'' franchise and the successor to ''NBA 2K15''. It was released on September 29, 2015 fo ...

'' and

NBA 2K17 ''NBA 2K17'' is a 2016 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It is the 18th installment in the ''NBA 2K'' franchise and the successor to ''NBA 2K16''. It was released worldwide on September 20, ...

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Notes * z, y – division champions * x – clinched playoff spot 1989-90 NBA Season Summary - Basketball-Reference.com
/ref>

Record vs. opponents

Game log

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 1 , , November 3, 1989 , , @

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 2 , , November 4, 1989 , , @

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 3 , , November 8, 1989 , ,

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 4 , , November 10, 1989 , , @

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 ...

(at

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, MD) , - style="background:#cfc;" , 5 , , November 11, 1989 , ,

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 ...

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 6 , , November 14, 1989 , , @

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 7 , , November 15, 1989 , , Golden State , - style="background:#cfc;" , 8 , , November 17, 1989
8:00 pm EST , ,

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 131–125 (OT)
, Ehlo (31) , Williams (14) ,

Price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the c ...

(10) ,

Richfield Coliseum Richfield Coliseum, also known as the Coliseum at Richfield, was an indoor arena located in Richfield Township, between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. It opened in 1974 as a replacement for the Cleveland Arena, and had a seating capacity of 20,273 f ...

16,135 , 4–4 , - style="background:#cfc;" , 9 , , November 22, 1989 , ,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 10 , , November 24, 1989 , , @

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 ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 11 , , November 25, 1989 , ,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 12 , , November 28, 1989 , ,

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 13 , , November 29, 1989 , , @

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 14 , , December 1, 1989 , , @

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 15 , , December 2, 1989 , ,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 16 , , December 5, 1989 , ,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 17 , , December 7, 1989 , , @ L.A. Clippers , - style="background:#cfc;" , 18 , , December 9, 1989 , , @

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 19 , , December 11, 1989 , , @

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 20 , , December 13, 1989 , ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 21 , , December 15, 1989 , ,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 22 , , December 20, 1989 , ,

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 23 , , December 22, 1989 , , @

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 24 , , December 25, 1989
3:30 pm EST , , @

L 104–115
, Williams,
Williams (17) , Ehlo,
Nance (8) ,

(11) ,

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

13,357 , 10–14 , - style="background:#fcc;" , 25 , , December 27, 1989 , ,

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 26 , , December 28, 1989 , , @

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 27 , , December 30, 1989 , ,

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 28 , , January 3, 1990 , ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 29 , , January 5, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 30 , , January 6, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 31 , , January 10, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 32 , , January 12, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 33 , , January 13, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 34 , , January 15, 1990 , ,

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 35 , , January 17, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 36 , , January 19, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 37 , , January 20, 1990 , , @

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 38 , , January 23, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 39 , , January 24, 1990
7:30 pm EST , , @

L 86–103
,

(20) , Keys,
Nance (6) ,

(7) ,

14,220 , 16–23 , - style="background:#cfc;" , 40 , , January 26, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 41 , , January 27, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 42 , , January 30, 1990 , , @

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 43 , , February 3, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 44 , , February 5, 1990 , , L.A. Clippers , - style="background:#fcc;" , 45 , , February 6, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 46 , , February 8, 1990 , ,

, - style="text-align:center;" , colspan="9" style="background:#bbcaff;", All-Star Break , - style="background:#fcc;" , 47 , , February 14, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 48 , , February 16, 1990
8:00 pm EST , ,

W 109–101
, Nance (30) , Daugherty (14) ,

(9) ,

18,988 , 22–26 , - style="background:#fcc;" , 49 , , February 17, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 50 , , February 19, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 51 , , February 21, 1990 , ,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 52 , , February 23, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 53 , , February 25, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 54 , , February 27, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 55 , , March 1, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 56 , , March 2, 1990 , , @

L.A. Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 57 , , March 4, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 58 , , March 6, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 59 , , March 8, 1990 , , @ Golden State , - style="background:#cfc;" , 60 , , March 11, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 61 , , March 13, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 62 , , March 15, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 63 , , March 17, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 64 , , March 18, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 65 , , March 21, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 66 , , March 23, 1990 , , @

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 67 , , March 24, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 68 , , March 26, 1990 , ,

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 69 , , March 28, 1990 , ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 70 , , March 30, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 71 , , April 1, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 72 , , April 3, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 73 , , April 4, 1990
7:30 pm EDT , ,

W 101–95
, Daugherty (24) , Daugherty (13) ,

(20) ,

18,074 , 35–38 , - style="background:#fcc;" , 74 , , April 6, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 75 , , April 8, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 76 , , April 11, 1990 , , @

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 77 , , April 12, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 78 , , April 14, 1990 , ,

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 79 , , April 17, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 80 , , April 18, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 81 , , April 20, 1990 , , @

, - style="background:#cfc;" , 82 , , April 22, 1990 , ,

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , April 28 , @

L 106–111
,

(23) ,

(10) ,

(12) ,

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

15,319 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , May 1 , @

L 101–107
,

(27) ,

(13) ,

(8) ,

18,168 , 0–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , May 3 ,

W 122–95
,

(25) , Ehlo, Daugherty (10) , Ehlo, Daugherty (9) ,

16,317 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 4 , May 5 ,

W 108–96
,

(34) ,

(9) ,

(18) ,

17,106 , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 5 , May 8 , @

L 97–113
,

(25) ,

(13) ,

(5) ,

18,168 , 2–3 , -

Player stats

Season

Playoffs

Player Statistics Citation:

Awards and records

Awards

Records

Milestones

All-Star

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Development league

References

External links

Cleveland Cavaliers on Database Basketball

{{DEFAULTSORT:1989-90 Cleveland Cavaliers Season Cleveland Cavaliers seasons 1989 in sports in Ohio Cleve