1986-87 Showtime brings the fourth title to the Lakers in the 80's.
Not since the early 1960s had people seen such a brilliant player in the
offense as Wilt Chamerlain. Not untill the 1986-87 season when Michael Jordan,
who had been out due to an injury the previous season, had signaled what was to
come when on his return he dscore 63 points against the Boston Celtics in a
Playoff game. Now fully healthy, Jordan took revenge on the league, scoring 3041
points (averaging 37.1 ppg) and becoming the first player Wilt Chamberlain to
hop the 3000-point mark.
Next to Jordan, the player who had to do his best for his team to reach the
top was Magic Johnson. When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar approached 40, coach Pat Riley
had asked Magic to take on the scoring job and run the team. Johnson responded
by averaging a career-best 23.9 ppg, still leading the league in assists with
12.2 apg. The Lakers won 65 games during the regular season and went through the
first three Playoffs rounds with an 11-1 record to meet again with Boston. The
Celtics won 59 games, but their srength had been weakened by injuries to Bill
Walton and Scott Wedman. As a result, Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale
and Dennis Johnson had to play more than 37 minutes per game each. Boston hardly
went past Milwaukee and Detroit (each time playing a seven-game series) before
advancing to the Finals for the fourth straight year. But the Lakers were rested
and ready, moved to a 2-0 lead, won a difficult Game 4 in Boston and captured
their fourth NBA title during the 80's.
The NBA, a 23-team league (since the Dallas Mavericks entered the NBA in the
1980-81 season), announced in April, 1987 the addition of two new NBA teams -
Charlotte and Miami in 1988 and Orlando and Minnesota in 1989, expanding the
leagueto 27 teams.
Showtime brings the fourth title in the 80's. Showtime, the nickname
given to the fast and effective offense, gave the Lakers a 2-0 Finals lead on
their homecourt. But Boston won Game 3, mainly thanks to 30-points from Bird.
Game 4 came down to one moment. When the Lakers were trailing 106-104,
Abdul-Jabbar was fouled, made the first and missed the second free throw. But
the ball bounced back in the hands of the Lakers to Magic. Johnson met by
McHale, Bird and Parish on his way sunk a hook shot that gave his team a 1-point
lead. With two seconds left, Bird was able to shot the last one when the ball
somehow rimmed out. "You expect to lose on a hook," Bird said later, "You don't
wait for Magic to do it".
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