1986–87 Detroit Pistons season

NBA team season March 2026 August 2023 Detroit Pistons 1987 52 30 Central 2 3 Chuck Daly Jack McCloskey William Davidson Pontiac Silverdome Eastern Conference finals(lost to Celtics 3–4) DET The 1986–87 Detroit Pistons season was the Detroit Pistons' 39th season in the NBA and 30th season in the city of Detroit.https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DET/1987.html 1986–87 Detroit Pistons Roster and Stats Basketball-Reference.com The team played at the Pontiac Silverdome in suburban Pontiac, Michigan. The disappointing finish of the previous year caused a roster shake-up as the team dealt Earl Cureton to the Chicago Bulls for Sidney Green, Kent Benson and Kelly Tripucka to the Utah Jazz for Adrian Dantley, and guard John Long to the Seattle SuperSonics for draft picks. The team added John Salley and Dennis Rodman in the 1986 NBA draft to complete the turnover. The moves by GM "Trader Jack" McCloskey paid immediate dividends as the team finished 52–30 (.634), 2nd in the Central Division. The team advanced to the playoffs, defeating the Washington Bullets 3–0 in the first round and then the Atlanta Hawks 4–1 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics. The tightly contested conference finals went to a 7th game thanks to Celtics star Larry Bird when he made an improbable steal in the closing seconds of Game 5. Leading by 1 point, Pistons star Isiah Thomas waived off a timeout request from Pistons coach Chuck Daly, hurried a lofting inbound pass to center Bill Laimbeer, as Bird stepped in for the steal, passing to teammate Dennis Johnson for the 108–107 Boston win. Long-time Celtic announcer Johnny Most's call of Bird's game-saving steal in the 1987 playoffs at the end of Game 5 in the Eastern Conference finals vs. Detroit was memorable with "Aaaaaaand now there's a steal by Bird, underneath to DEE-Jay, he lays it in...and Boston has a one-point lead right with one second to go... What a play by Bird!...Oh my this place is goin' crazy!"https://therookiewire.usatoday.com/2021/05/26/larry-bird-steals-the-ball-isiah-thomas/ History on This Day: Larry Bird steals the pass from Isiah Thomas May 26, 2021https://www.celticsblog.com/2017/8/18/16146326/the-anatomy-of-larry-birds-legendary-steal-to-beat-detroit-in-1987-east-finals-history-week History week: The anatomy of Larry Bird's legendary steal to beat Detroit in 1987 East Finals Professor Parquet August 18, 2017 CelticsBloghttps://www.nba.com/news/history-top-moments-bird-steal-pistons Top Moments: Larry Bird's steal saves Celtics against Pistons www.nba.com After a Pistons home win in Game 6, the series returned to the Boston Garden for the 7th game with the Celtics holding off Detroit 117–114 for the series victory. Detroit was led on the season by guard Thomas (20.6 ppg, 10.0 apg, NBA All-Star), center Laimbeer (15.4 ppg, 11.6 rpg, NBA All-Star), and forward Dantley (21.5 ppg). Draft picks 1986 NBA draft Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 11 John Salley PF/C Georgia Tech 2 27 Dennis Rodman SF/PF Southeastern Oklahoma State Roster Detroit Pistons 1986–87 00 Tony Campbell SF 6 7 215 Ohio State 1962-05-07 45 Adrian Dantley SF 6 5 208 Notre Dame 1955-02-28 4 Joe Dumars SG 6 3 190 McNeese State 1963-05-24 12 Sidney Green basketball PF 6 9 220 UNLV 1961-01-04 15 Vinnie Johnson SG 6 2 200 Baylor 1956-09-01 40 Bill Laimbeer C 6 11 245 Notre Dame 1957-05-19 44 Rick Mahorn F-C 6 10 240 Hampton 1958-09-21 42 Chuck Nevitt C 7 5 217 North Carolina State 1959-06-13 41 Kurt Nimphius PF 6 10 218 Arizona State 1958-03-13 10 Dennis Rodman SF 6 7 220 Southeastern Oklahoma State 1961-05-13 22 John Salley F-C 6 11 230 Georgia Tech 1964-05-16 11 Isiah Thomas PG 6 1 180 Indiana 1961-04-30 Chuck Daly Ron Rothstein Dick Versace https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DET/1987.html February 10, 1987 Regular season Season standings DET DET z – clinched division title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot Game log Regular season Detroit Pistons 1987 #0000FF #FF0000 Total: 52–30 (home: 32–9; road: 20–21) Detroit Pistons October yes #FF0000 #0000FF 0 1 0 0 Detroit Pistons November #FF0000 #0000FF 5 2 1 3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 8 | November 15, 1986 | Boston | L 111–118 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 3–5 Detroit Pistons December #FF0000 #0000FF 6 1 5 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 18 | December 13, 1986 | L.A. Lakers | W 119–114 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 10–8 Detroit Pistons January #FF0000 #0000FF 7 1 4 5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 31 | January 10, 1987 | Boston | W 118–101 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 21–10 Detroit Pistons February #FF0000 #0000FF 6 2 3 1 |- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 50 | February 19, 1987 | Seattle | W 117–105 | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 33–17 Detroit Pistons March #FF0000 #0000FF 4 2 6 5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 56 | March 1, 1987 | @ Boston | L 102–112 | | | | Boston Garden | 37–19 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 59 | March 8, 1987 | Boston | W 122–119 (OT) | | | | Pontiac Silverdome | 39–20 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 69 | March 26, 1987 | @ L.A. Lakers | L 111–128 | | | | The Forum | 45–24 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 71 | March 29, 1987 | @ Seattle | W 108–107 | | | | Seattle Center Coliseum | 47–24 Detroit Pistons April #FF0000 #0000FF 4 0 1 5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 74 | April 3, 1987 | @ Boston | L 115–119 (OT) | | | | Boston Garden | 48–26 DET 1987 Playoffs Detroit Pistons 1987 yes #0000FF #FF0000 Detroit Pistons First Round yes yes no #FF0000 #0000FF 2 0 1 0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | April 24 | Washington | W 106–92 | Isiah Thomas (34) | Laimbeer, Rodman (10) | Isiah Thomas (9) | Pontiac Silverdome15,419 | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | April 26 | Washington | W 128–85 | Adrian Dantley (24) | Bill Laimbeer (9) | Vinnie Johnson (13) | Pontiac Silverdome14,389 | 2–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | April 29 | @ Washington | W 97–96 | Dantley, Johnson (21) | Rick Mahorn (12) | Isiah Thomas (10) | Capital Centre10,831 | 3–0 |- Detroit Pistons Conference semifinals yes no #FF0000 #0000FF 2 0 2 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | May 3 | @ Atlanta | W 112–111 | Isiah Thomas (30) | Dennis Rodman (10) | Isiah Thomas (10) | Omni Coliseum14,361 | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | May 5 | @ Atlanta | L 102–115 | Laimbeer, Rodman (20) | Bill Laimbeer (12) | Isiah Thomas (6) | Omni Coliseum16,522 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | May 8 | Atlanta | W 108–99 | Isiah Thomas (35) | Dennis Rodman (9) | Isiah Thomas (8) | Pontiac Silverdome24,544 | 2–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | May 10 | Atlanta | W 89–88 | Isiah Thomas (31) | Rick Mahorn (17) | Joe Dumars (5) | Pontiac Silverdome17,269 | 3–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | May 13 | @ Atlanta | W 104–96 | Joe Dumars (21) | Rick Mahorn (16) | Isiah Thomas (12) | Omni Coliseum16,522 | 4–1 |- Detroit Pistons Eastern Conference Finals yes no #FF0000 #0000FF 3 0 0 4 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | May 19, 1987 | @ Boston | L 91–104 | Isiah Thomas (18) | Rick Mahorn (11) | Isiah Thomas (10) | Boston Garden14,890 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | May 21, 198 | @ Boston | L 101–110 | Isiah Thomas (36) | Bill Laimbeer (16) | Bill Laimbeer (7) | Boston Garden14,890 | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | May 23, 1987 | Boston | W 122–104 | Adrian Dantley (25) | Rick Mahorn (12) | Vinnie Johnson (8) | Pontiac Silverdome23,525 | 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | May 24, 1987 | Boston | W 145–119 | Adrian Dantley (32) | Bill Laimbeer (13) | Thomas, Dumars (8) | Pontiac Silverdome27,387 | 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | May 26, 1987 | @ Boston | L 107–108 | Adrian Dantley (25) | Bill Laimbeer (14) | Isiah Thomas (11) | Boston Garden14,890 | 2–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 6 | May 28, 1987 | Boston | W 113–105 | Dantley, Johnson (24) | Rick Mahorn (18) | Isiah Thomas (9) | Pontiac Silverdome28,383 | 3–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 7 | May 30, 1987 | @ Boston | L 114–117 | Joe Dumars (35) | Bill Laimbeer (13) | Isiah Thomas (9) | Boston Garden14,890 | 3–4 |- DET 1987 yes Awards and records Isiah Thomas, All-NBA Second Team References See also 1986-87 NBA season Category:Detroit Pistons seasons Detroit Detroit Pistons Detroit Pistons