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| ||||||||||
| Dates: | June 2–14 | |||||||||
| MVP: | Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Lakers: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1995) Magic Johnson (2002) James Worthy (2003) Celtics: Bill Walton (1993) Larry Bird (1998) Kevin McHale (1999) Robert Parish (2003) Dennis Johnson (2010) Coaches: K.C. Jones (1989, player) Pat Riley (2008) Officials: Earl Strom (1995) Darell Garretson (2016) Hugh Evans (2022) | |||||||||
| Eastern Finals: | Celtics defeated Pistons, 4–3 | |||||||||
| Western Finals: | Lakers defeated SuperSonics, 4–0 | |||||||||
| NBA Finals | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ← 1986 | ||||||||||
| 1988 → | ||||||||||
The 1987 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1986–87 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs.
The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the defending NBA champion and Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics 4 games to 2. The key moment of the series was Magic Johnson's junior skyhook in Game 4. This was the tenth time that the Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA Finals (more than any other Finals matchup). It would be the Celtics' last Finals appearance until the two teams met in 2008.
This was the first NBA Championship Series conducted entirely in June. The last time there were no NBA Championship Series games in May was in the 1970–71 season, when the Finals (a four–game sweep that year) ended on April 30. It is also the first NBA Finals series to be conducted on a Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday rotation, which was in use until 1990 and revived since the 2004 NBA Finals; in between the NBA Finals were conducted on a Sunday-Wednesday-Friday rotation.
1987 NBA Playoffs[]
| Los Angeles Lakers (Western Conference Champion) | Boston Celtics (Eastern Conference Champion) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65–17 (.793)
1st Pacific, 1st West, 1st Overall |
Regular season | 59–23 (.720)
1st Atlantic, 1st East, 2nd Overall | ||
| Defeated the (8) Denver Nuggets, 3–0 | First Round | Defeated the (8) Chicago Bulls, 3–0 | ||
| Defeated the (5) Golden State Warriors, 4–1 | Conference Semifinals | Defeated the (4) Milwaukee Bucks, 4–3 | ||
| Defeated the (7) Seattle SuperSonics, 4–0 | Conference Finals | Defeated the (3) Detroit Pistons, 4–3 | ||
Series summary[]
| Game | Date | Home Team | Result | Road Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | June 2 | Los Angeles | 126–113 | Boston |
| Game 2 | June 4 | Los Angeles | 141–122 | Boston |
| Game 3 | June 7 | Boston | 109–103 | Los Angeles |
| Game 4 | June 9 | Boston | 106–107 | Los Angeles |
| Game 5 | June 11 | Boston | 123–108 | Los Angeles |
| Game 6 | June 14 | Los Angeles | 106–93 | Boston |
| NBA Finals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1947 • 1948 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023 • 2024 • 2025 | |||||||||
| List of NBA champions | Larry O'Brien Trophy | Most Valuable Player Award | Broadcasters | |||||||||
| Preceded by 1986 |
NBA Finals 1987 |
Succeeded by 1988 |