The

1988–89 NBA season The 1988–89 NBA season was the 43rd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Detroit Pistons winning the NBA Championship, sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers. This was the first season of the Miami Heat and Charlo ...

was the 13th season for the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

in the

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

, and their 22nd season as a franchise. During the off-season, the team signed free agent All-Star guard Walter Davis. The Nuggets got off to an 11–4 start to the regular season, but played below .500 basketball afterwards, as Bill Hanzlik only played just 41 games due to a back injury. At mid-season, the team traded Jay Vincent and Calvin Natt to 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 Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in exchange for Dave Greenwood and Darwin Cook, and held a 25–23 record at the All-Star break. Despite losing six of their final eight games of the season, the Nuggets finished in third place in the Midwest Division with a 44–38 record, and earned the #6 seed in the Western Conference; the team also posted a very successful 35–6 home record at the

McNichols Sports Arena McNichols Sports Arena was an indoor arena located in Denver, Colorado, United States. Located adjacent to Mile High Stadium and completed in 1975, at a cost of $16 million, it seated 16,061 for hockey games and 17,171 for basketball games. Sp ...

Alex English Alexander English (born January 5, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and businessman. A South Carolina native, English played college basketball for the South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball, South Carolina ...

averaged 26.5 points and 4.7 assists per game, and was selected for the 1989 NBA All-Star Game in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, which was his final All-Star appearance, while

Fat Lever Lafayette "Fat" Lever (; born August 18, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. He later served as the director of player development for the Sacramento Kings of the NBA as we ...

averaged 19.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 2.7 steals per game, and finished tied in seventh place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and Michael Adams provided the team with 18.5 points, 6.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game, and also led the league with 166 three-point field goals. In addition, Davis played a sixth man role, and contributed 15.6 points per game off the bench, while Danny Schayes provided with 12.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, and Wayne Cooper averaged 6.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. However, in the

1989 NBA playoffs The 1989 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1988–89 NBA season, 1988–89 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference champion 1988–89 Detroit Pist ...

, due to injuries to Lever (thigh bruise), Adams (hamstring), and Schayes (sprained ankle), the Nuggets were swept by the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

in three straight games in the Western Conference First Round. Following the season, Cooper signed as a free agent with the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

, and Greenwood and Cook were both released to free agency.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

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

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , April 28 , @ Phoenix
L 103–104
, Walter Davis (34) ,

(12) ,

(17) ,

Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, also called the Madhouse Coliseum or Phoenix Memorial Coliseum, is a 14,870-seat multi-purpose indoor arena in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, located at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. It hosted the Phoenix Su ...

14,471 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , April 30 , @ Phoenix
L 114–132
,

(36) , Michael Adams (12) , English,

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

(6) ,

14,471 , 0–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , May 2 , Phoenix
L 121–130
, Walter Davis (26) , Elston Turner (7) , Bill Hanzlik (6) ,

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Transactions

References

See also