1989 NBA Finals
 |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Dates | June 6–13 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MVP |
Joe Dumars (Detroit Pistons) |
|||||||||
| Television | CBS (U.S.) | |||||||||
| Announcers | and Hubie Brown | |||||||||
| Radio network |
KLAC (LAL) WCXI (DET) |
|||||||||
| Announcers |
Chick Hearn and Stu Lantz (LAL) George Blaha, Fred McLeod and Dick Motta (DET) |
|||||||||
| Referees | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Hall of Famers |
Lakers: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1995) Magic Johnson (2002) James Worthy (2003) Pistons: Joe Dumars (2006) Dennis Rodman (2011) Isiah Thomas (2000) Coaches: Chuck Daly (1994) Pat Riley (2008) Officials: Darell Garretson (2016) Earl Strom (1995) |
|||||||||
| Eastern Finals | Pistons defeated Bulls, 4–2 | |||||||||
| Western Finals | Lakers defeated Suns, 4–0 | |||||||||
| Game 1: | Jake O'Donnell, Jess Kersey, and Jack Madden |
|---|---|
| Game 2: | Darell Garretson, Hue Hollins, and Joe Crawford |
| Game 3: | Ed T. Rush, Mike Mathis, and Hugh Evans |
| Game 4: | Jess Kersey, Jack Madden, and Earl Strom |
The 1989 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1988–89 NBA season. The series was a rematch of the previous year's championship round between the Detroit Pistons and the Los Angeles Lakers.
During the season, the Lakers had won their division, with Magic Johnson collecting his second MVP award. The team swept the first three playoff series (Pacific Division foes: Portland, Seattle, and Phoenix), resulting in a rematch with the Detroit Pistons in the Finals. However, starting off guard Byron Scott suffered a hamstring injury in practice before Game 1 and was ruled out of the series. Then with the Lakers leading early in game 2, Magic Johnson pulled his hamstring and would also be out of the series. The Lakers had won two straight NBA championships in 1987 and 1988 but without their starting back court, their chances were doomed for a "3-peat."
The Pistons had dominated the Eastern Conference, winning 63 games during the regular season. After sweeping the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, the Pistons beat the Chicago Bulls in six games, earning a second straight trip to the NBA Finals. In the season before, the Lakers had beaten them in a tough, seven-game series.
The Pistons won the series in a four-game sweep, marking the first time a team (Lakers) had swept the first three rounds of the playoffs, only to be swept in the finals. As of today, the Pistons are the most recent Eastern Conference team to sweep an NBA finals.
For their rough physical play, and sometimes arrogant demeanor, Pistons' center Bill Laimbeer nicknamed the team 'The Bad Boys'. The name became an unofficial 'slogan' for the Pistons throughout the next season as well.
Following the series, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar announced his retirement at 42, after 20 years with the NBA.
...
Wikipedia