1986–87 Los Angeles Lakers season

1986–87 Los Angeles Lakers season
Tenth NBA Championship
Head coach	Pat Riley
Owner(s)	Jerry Buss
Arena	The Forum
Results
Record	65–17 (.793)
Place	Division: 1st (Pacific) Conference: 1st (Western)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Prime Ticket, KHJ
Radio	AM 570 KLAC

The highlight of the Los Angeles Lakers season was winning their tenth NBA title over the defending champions, Boston Celtics.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	23	Ken Barlow	United States	Notre Dame
3	69	Andre Turner	United States	Memphis State

Roster

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Mychal Thompson	Mike Smrek
PF	A. C. Green	Kurt Rambis
SF	James Worthy	Billy Thompson	Adrian Branch
SG	Byron Scott	Michael Cooper
PG	Magic Johnson	Wes Matthews

Regular season

Season standings

Pacific Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers	65	17	.793	–	37–4	28–13	24–6
x-Portland Trail Blazers	49	33	.598	16	34–7	15–26	17–13
x-Golden State Warriors	42	40	.512	23	25–16	17–24	17–13
x-Seattle SuperSonics	39	43	.476	26	25–16	14–27	15–15
Phoenix Suns	36	46	.439	29	26–15	10–31	14–16
Los Angeles Clippers	12	70	.146	53	9–32	3–38	3–27

Playoffs

West First Round

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Denver Nuggets: Lakers win series 3–0

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

West Conference Semifinals

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

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 125, Golden State 116
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 116, Golden State 101
• Game 3 @ Golden State: Los Angeles 133, Golden State 108
• Game 4 @ Golden State: Golden State 129, Los Angeles 121
• Game 5 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 118, Golden State 106

West Conference Finals

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (7) Seattle SuperSonics: Lakers win series 4–0

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 92, Seattle 87
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 112, Seattle 104
• Game 3 @ Seattle: Los Angeles 122, Seattle 121
• Game 4 @ Seattle: Los Angeles 133, Seattle 102

NBA finals

Main article: 1987 NBA Finals

The Celtics remained competitive in 1986–87, going 59–23 and again winning the Eastern Conference Championship. The Lakers at home dominated the great Celtics team, in Boston the games were much more competitive. Eventually, the Celtics would lose 4 games to 2.

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (1) Boston Celtics Lakers win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 126, Boston 113
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 141, Boston 122
• Game 3 @ Boston: Boston 109, Los Angeles 103
• Game 4 @ Boston: Los Angeles 107, Boston 106
• Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 123, Los Angeles 108
• Game 6 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 106, Boston 93

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; MPG= Minutes per Game; REB = Rebounds; AST = Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; PPG = Points per Game

Season

Player	GP	MPG	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	PPG
Magic Johnson	80	36.3	504	977	138	36	1909	23.8
James Worthy	82	34.4	466	226	108	83	1594	19.4
Byron Scott	82	33.3	286	281	125	18	1397	17.0
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	78	31.3	523	203	49	97	1366	17.5
Michael Cooper	82	27.5	254	373	78	43	859	10.5
A. C. Green	79	28.4	615	84	70	80	852	10.8
Kurt Rambis	78	19.4	453	63	74	41	446	5.7
Mychal Thompson	33	20.6	136	28	14	30	333	10.1
Billy Thompson	59	12.9	171	60	15	30	332	5.6
Wes Matthews	50	10.6	47	100	23	4	208	4.2
Frank Brickowski	37	10.9	97	12	14	4	146	3.9
Adrian Branch	32	6.8	53	16	16	3	138	4.3
Mike Smrek	35	6.7	37	5	4	13	76	2.2

Award winners

• Magic Johnson, NBA Most Valuable Player Award
• Magic Johnson, NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
• Michael Cooper, NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award
• Magic Johnson, All-NBA First Team
• Michael Cooper, NBA All-Defensive First Team

References

• Lakers on Database Basketball
• Lakers on Basketball Reference
• "The Drive for Five" – NBA documentary on the 1986–87 Los Angeles Lakers on YouTube