1987 Los Angeles Lakers Logo

#3 – Los Angeles Lakers
1987 NBA Champions

Number 3 Seed: Western Conference

The Lakers in the summer of 1986 were coming off a disappointing playoff exit. The Rockets had eliminated them in the previous postseason, in shocking fashion, and the Lakers came out to send a message. The Lakers won 9 out of 10 games to start the season, and did not slow down. By the All-Star break, the Lakers were 35-12 but felt it wasn’t enough. The Lakers ripped off winning streaks of 10 and 11 Games to close the season, and finished with 65 wins. In the postseason, the Lakers beatdown the Nuggets in the first round, sweeping them out of the playoffs. In the second round, the Lakers won the first three games against the Warriors easily before eventually ending the series in five games. In the conference finals, the Lakers swept the SuperSonics to get back in the NBA Finals for the sixth time in seven years. Waiting for them was the Boston Celtics, the Lakers arch-rival. Each team had won three titles in the decade, and this was for number four. The Lakers won the first two games easily, giving them a 2-0 lead. After losing a close Game 3, Game 4 went down to the wire. With Boston up by 1 point, and seven seconds remaining, regular season MVP Magic Johnson hit one of the most iconic shots in NBA history — a running, 12-foot hook shot, with 2 seconds left. The Lakers won Game 4, and closed out the Celtics in Game 6, to earn their fourth title in eight years. Magic Johnson won NBA Finals MVP and NBA MVP in the same season for the first time in his career.

1987 Playoff Stats

Playoff Record: 15 wins, 3 loss
Points Per Game: 120.6 | Opponents PPG: 109.2 | Difference: +11.4
Offensive Rating: 119.9 | Defensive Rating: 108.6 | Difference: +11.3

Full 1987 Lakers Stats available here

The Real MVP

**Magic Johnson:** 21.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 12.2 apg, 1.7 spg, 54% FG (NBA Finals MVP)

NBA 2K17 Roster & Ratings

Bold indicates starter

PG – Magic Johnson (98)
C – Kareem Adbul-Jabbar (92)
SF – James Worthy (87)
SG – Michael Cooper (85)
SG – Byron Scott (84)
PF – A.C. Green (76)
PF – Kurt Rambis (73)
PG – Wes Matthews (72)
C – Mychal Thompson (70)
SF – Adrian Branch (69)
C – Mike Smrek (67)
PF – Frank Brickowski (67)

2K17 Tournament Results

First Round (Best-of-7)

(3) 1987 Los Angeles Lakers vs (6) 2010 Los Angeles Lakers

Results coming on 8/31/17