After winning their fourth NBA championship in eight years during the 1986-87 season, the Los Angeles Lakers went for a repeat title the following season.
They were driven by their head coach, Pat Riley, who boldly guaranteed they would repeat as champs just after they had clinched the 1987 title.
No team had repeated as world champs since 1969, and the road there would be rocky for L.A.
Although it won a league-high 62 games in the 1987-88 regular season, it ran into some potholes during the playoffs. The Utah Jazz, who had a young Karl Malone and John Stockton, took the Lakers to seven games in the second round of the playoffs.
Then, in the Western Conference finals, the Dallas Mavericks, another young and talented squad, forced L.A. to play another Game 7.
In that contest, the Lakers outlasted Dallas, gaining separation in the second half and earning a 117-102 win. But it wasn’t as easy as the final score may indicate; the game was very tight until late in the third quarter.
Magic Johnson led the way with 24 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists, while James Worthy lived up to his “Big Game James” nickname by putting up 28 points on 13-of-20 shooting, seven rebounds and seven assists.
The Lakers faced the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals, and, again were taken to seven games, but they prevailed to make good on Riley’s promise.
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