1989–90 NBA season
1989–90 NBA season | |
---|---|
League | National Basketball Association |
Sport | Basketball |
Duration |
November 3, 1989 – April 22, 1990 April 26 – June 3, 1990 (Playoffs) June 5 – 14, 1990 (Finals) |
Number of teams | 27 |
TV partner(s) | CBS, TNT |
Draft | |
Top draft pick | Pervis Ellison |
Picked by | Sacramento Kings |
Regular season | |
Top seed | Los Angeles Lakers |
Season MVP | Magic Johnson (L.A. Lakers) |
Top scorer | Michael Jordan (Chicago) |
Playoffs | |
Eastern champions | Detroit Pistons |
Eastern runners-up | Chicago Bulls |
Western champions | Portland Trail Blazers |
Western runners-up | Phoenix Suns |
Finals | |
Champions | Detroit Pistons |
Runners-up | Portland Trail Blazers |
Finals MVP | Isiah Thomas (Detroit) |
The 1989–90 NBA season was the 44th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Detroit Pistons winning their second NBA Championship, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.
Notable occurrences
Offseason | ||
---|---|---|
Team | 1988-89 coach | 1989-90 coach |
Chicago Bulls | Doug Collins | Phil Jackson |
Minnesota Timberwolves | Expansion | Bill Musselman |
New Jersey Nets | Willis Reed | Bill Fitch |
New York Knicks | Rick Pitino | Stu Jackson |
Orlando Magic | Expansion | Matt Guokas |
In-season | ||
Team | Outgoing coach | Incoming coach |
Sacramento Kings | Jerry Reynolds | Dick Motta |
Dallas Mavericks | John MacLeod | Richie Adubato |
Charlotte Hornets | Dick Harter | Gene Littles |
- The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Orlando Magic entered the NBA as the league's 26th and 27th franchises. The Timberwolves played their preseason schedule at the Met Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington home of the NHL's Minnesota North Stars. They played their regular season schedule at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and former home of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. They would move to smaller-capacity Target Center for the 1990–91 season. The Magic would play at Orlando Arena (later known as TD Waterhouse Centre and Amway Arena) for the next 21 years.
- The 1990 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida, with the East defeating the West 130–113. Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers took home the game's MVP award.
- The Charlotte Hornets were aligned in the Midwest Division in the Western Conference. Charlotte would be aligned in the Central Division for good starting the next year. The league had placed the four new teams in different divisions to spread them out over their first few seasons.
- The NBA on CBS concluded its 17-year run (dating back to 1973). The program was succeeded by The NBA on NBC.
- The NBA adopted the FIBA rule that clocks register tenths of seconds in the final minute of a period. This rule turns controversial during the season because of clock calibration problems in many venues; following a January 15, 1990 game at Madison Square Garden between the New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls where Trent Tucker sank a three-point basket with the ball put in play with one-tenth of a second remaining, the NBA mandated clock calibration and prohibited any shot made when the ball is put in play with less than three-tenths of a second remaining from counting unless it is a dunk or a tip-in.
- All Texas teams made the playoffs. This would not happen again until 2004.
- This was the last of nine consecutive seasons in which the Lakers finished as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. They would not return there until 2000.
- Long-time Boston Celtics announcer Johnny Most retired after 37 years behind the microphone. Most was best known for his call of "Havlicek stole the ball!!" in the 1965 Eastern Division Finals between the Celtics and the Sixers.
- The Philadelphia 76ers won their first Atlantic Division title since the 1982–83 championship season, and the first in the post-Julius Erving era. They lost to the Bulls in the second round of the playoffs.
- Several players from Eastern Bloc countries in Europe made an impact in the NBA. Yugoslavia's Vlade Divac and Dražen Petrović, and the Soviet Union's Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Alexander Volkov were among the pioneering players from Eastern Europe who made the jump to the NBA.
- On March 28, 1990 near the end of the 1989–90 season, the Cleveland Cavaliers faced their new nemesis Michael Jordan. Needing the victory to clinch a playoff berth, Jordan set his career high with 69 points in an overtime win and putting a dent in the Cavaliers' playoff plans.
Final standings
By division
Atlantic Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
y-Philadelphia 76ers | 53 | 29 | .646 | – | 34–7 | 19–22 | 19–7 |
x-Boston Celtics | 52 | 30 | .634 | 1 | 30–11 | 22–19 | 19–7 |
x-New York Knicks | 45 | 37 | .549 | 8 | 29–12 | 16–25 | 17–9 |
Washington Bullets | 31 | 51 | .378 | 22 | 20–21 | 11–30 | 10–16 |
Miami Heat | 18 | 64 | .220 | 35 | 11–30 | 7–34 | 4–22 |
New Jersey Nets | 17 | 65 | .207 | 36 | 13–28 | 4–37 | 9–17 |
Central Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
y-Detroit Pistons | 59 | 23 | .720 | – | 35–6 | 24–17 | 22–8 |
x-Chicago Bulls | 55 | 27 | .671 | 4 | 36–5 | 19–22 | 20–10 |
x-Milwaukee Bucks | 44 | 38 | .537 | 15 | 27–14 | 17–24 | 14–16 |
x-Cleveland Cavaliers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 17 | 27–14 | 15–26 | 14–16 |
x-Indiana Pacers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 17 | 28–13 | 14–27 | 16–14 |
Atlanta Hawks | 41 | 41 | .500 | 18 | 25–16 | 16–25 | 15–15 |
Orlando Magic | 18 | 64 | .220 | 41 | 12–29 | 6–35 | 4–26 |
Midwest Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
y-San Antonio Spurs | 56 | 26 | .683 | – | 34–7 | 22–19 | 19–9 |
x-Utah Jazz | 55 | 27 | .671 | 1 | 36–5 | 19–22 | 21–7 |
x-Dallas Mavericks | 47 | 35 | .573 | 9 | 30–11 | 17–24 | 17–11 |
x-Denver Nuggets | 43 | 39 | .524 | 13 | 28–13 | 15–26 | 15–13 |
x-Houston Rockets | 41 | 41 | .500 | 15 | 31–10 | 10–31 | 13–15 |
Minnesota Timberwolves | 22 | 60 | .268 | 34 | 17–24 | 5–36 | 6–22 |
Charlotte Hornets | 19 | 63 | .232 | 37 | 13–28 | 6–35 | 7–21 |
Pacific Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
y-Los Angeles Lakers | 63 | 19 | .768 | – | 37–4 | 26–15 | 22–6 |
x-Portland Trail Blazers | 59 | 23 | .720 | 4 | 35–6 | 24–17 | 20–8 |
x-Phoenix Suns | 54 | 28 | .659 | 9 | 32–9 | 22–19 | 20–8 |
Seattle SuperSonics | 41 | 41 | .500 | 22 | 30–11 | 11–30 | 11–17 |
Golden State Warriors | 37 | 45 | .451 | 26 | 27–14 | 10–31 | 11–17 |
Los Angeles Clippers | 30 | 52 | .366 | 33 | 20–21 | 10–31 | 7–21 |
Sacramento Kings | 23 | 59 | .280 | 40 | 16–25 | 7–34 | 7–21 |
By conference
# | Eastern Conference | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
1 | c-Detroit Pistons | 59 | 23 | .720 | – |
2 | y-Philadelphia 76ers | 53 | 29 | .646 | 6 |
3 | x-Chicago Bulls | 55 | 27 | .671 | 4 |
4 | x-Boston Celtics | 52 | 30 | .634 | 7 |
5 | x-New York Knicks | 45 | 37 | .549 | 14 |
6 | x-Milwaukee Bucks | 44 | 38 | .537 | 15 |
7 | x-Cleveland Cavaliers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 17 |
8 | x-Indiana Pacers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 17 |
9 | Atlanta Hawks | 41 | 41 | .500 | 18 |
10 | Washington Bullets | 31 | 51 | .378 | 28 |
11 | Miami Heat | 18 | 64 | .220 | 41 |
11 | Orlando Magic | 18 | 64 | .220 | 41 |
13 | New Jersey Nets | 17 | 65 | .207 | 42 |
# | Western Conference | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
1 | z-Los Angeles Lakers | 63 | 19 | .768 | – |
2 | y- San Antonio Spurs | 56 | 26 | .683 | 7 |
3 | x-Portland Trail Blazers | 59 | 23 | .720 | 4 |
4 | x-Utah Jazz | 55 | 27 | .671 | 8 |
5 | x-Phoenix Suns | 54 | 28 | .659 | 9 |
6 | x-Dallas Mavericks | 47 | 35 | .573 | 16 |
7 | x-Denver Nuggets | 43 | 39 | .524 | 20 |
8 | x-Houston Rockets | 41 | 41 | .500 | 22 |
9 | Seattle SuperSonics | 41 | 41 | .500 | 22 |
10 | Golden State Warriors | 37 | 45 | .451 | 26 |
11 | Los Angeles Clippers | 30 | 52 | .366 | 33 |
12 | Sacramento Kings | 23 | 59 | .280 | 40 |
13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 22 | 60 | .268 | 41 |
14 | Charlotte Hornets | 19 | 63 | .232 | 44 |
Notes
- z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
- c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
- y – Clinched division title
- x – Clinched playoff spot
Playoffs
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.
First Round | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | NBA Finals | ||||||||||||||||
1 | Detroit | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
8 | Indiana | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Detroit | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | New York | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
4 | Boston | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | New York | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Detroit | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
3 | Chicago | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
3 | Chicago | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Milwaukee | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
3 | Chicago | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Philadelphia | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Philadelphia | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | Cleveland | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
E1 | Detroit | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
W3 | Portland | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | L.A. Lakers | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
8 | Houston | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | L.A. Lakers | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Phoenix | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
4 | Utah | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Phoenix | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Phoenix | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
Western Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
3 | Portland | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
3 | Portland | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Dallas | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
3 | Portland | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | San Antonio | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
2 | San Antonio | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
7 | Denver | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Statistics leaders
Category | Player | Team | Stat |
---|---|---|---|
Points per game | Michael Jordan | Chicago Bulls | 33.6 |
Rebounds per game | Akeem Olajuwon | Houston Rockets | 14.0 |
Assists per game | John Stockton | Utah Jazz | 14.5 |
Steals per game | Michael Jordan | Chicago Bulls | 2.77 |
Blocks per game | Akeem Olajuwon | Houston Rockets | 4.59 |
FG% | Mark West | Phoenix Suns | .625 |
FT% | Larry Bird | Boston Celtics | .930 |
3FG% | Steve Kerr | Cleveland Cavaliers | .507 |
NBA awards
- Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
- Rookie of the Year: David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs
- Defensive Player of the Year: Dennis Rodman, Detroit Pistons
- Sixth Man of the Year: Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee Bucks
- Most Improved Player: Rony Seikaly, Miami Heat
- Coach of the Year: Pat Riley, Los Angeles Lakers
- All-NBA First Team:
- All-NBA Second Team:
- F - Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
- F - Tom Chambers, Phoenix Suns
- C - Akeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets
- G - John Stockton, Utah Jazz
- G - Kevin Johnson, Phoenix Suns
- All-NBA Third Team:
- NBA All-Rookie Team:
- NBA All-Defensive First Team:
- NBA All-Defensive Second Team:
Note: All information on this page were obtained on the History section on NBA.com
Player of the week
The following players were named NBA Player of the Week.
Player of the month
The following players were named NBA Player of the Month.
Month | Player |
---|---|
November | Patrick Ewing (New York Knicks) |
December | Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) |
January | Karl Malone (Utah Jazz) |
February | Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) |
March | Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) |
April | Akeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) |
Rookie of the month
The following players were named NBA Rookie of the Month.
Month | Rookie |
---|---|
November | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
December | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
January | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
February | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
March | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
April | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
Coach of the month
The following coaches were named NBA Coach of the Month.
Month | Coach |
---|---|
November | Dick Versace (Indiana Pacers) |
December | Stu Jackson (New York Knicks) |
January | Jim Lynam (Philadelphia 76ers) |
February | Cotton Fitzsimmons (Phoenix Suns) |
March | Rick Adelman (Portland Trail Blazers) |
April | Jimmy Rodgers (Boston Celtics) |
References
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