1987–88 Dallas Mavericks season

The 1987–88 Dallas Mavericks season was the eighth season for the Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association.^[1] After the resignation of Dick Motta, the Mavericks hired John MacLeod as their new head coach.^[2][3][4]

Under MacLeod, the Mavericks got off to an 18–8 start to the regular season, then posted a seven-game winning streak in January, and later on held a 28–15 record at the All-Star break.^[5] The team then posted an 11-game winning streak between February and March, and finished in second place in the Midwest Division with a 53–29 record, earning the third seed in the Western Conference.^[6]

Mark Aguirre averaged 25.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, while Rolando Blackman averaged 18.7 points and 3.7 assists per game, and Derek Harper provided the team with 17.0 points, 7.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. In addition, Sam Perkins contributed 14.2 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, while second-year forward Roy Tarpley provided with 13.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per game off the bench, and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year,^[7][8][9] and James Donaldson averaged 7.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. Also off the bench, Detlef Schrempf contributed 8.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, and Brad Davis provided with 7.2 points and 4.0 assists per game.^[10]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois, Aguirre and Donaldson were both selected for the 1988 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was Donaldson's first and only All-Star appearance.^[11][12][13] Meanwhile, Schrempf participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout for the second consecutive year,^[14][15] despite only making 5 out of 32 three-point field-goal attempts, while shooting .156 in three-point field-goal percentage during the regular season.^[10] Aguirre finished tied in 14th place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Perkins finished tied in eighth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and Tarpley finished tied in eighth place in Most Improved Player voting.^[16]

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1988 NBA playoffs, the Mavericks faced off against the 6th–seeded Houston Rockets, a team that featured All-Star center Akeem Olajuwon, All-Star guard Sleepy Floyd, and Rodney McCray. The Mavericks won Game 1 over the Rockets at home, 120–110 at the Reunion Arena, but then lost Game 2 at home by a score of 119–108, as the Rockets evened the series.^[17][18] The Mavericks won the next two games on the road, which included a Game 4 win over the Rockets at The Summit, 107–97 to win the series in four games.^[19][20][21]

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Midwest Division champion Denver Nuggets, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward Alex English, All-Star guard Fat Lever, and sixth man Jay Vincent. The Mavericks lost Game 1 to the Nuggets on the road, 126–115 at the McNichols Sports Arena, but managed to win Game 2 on the road, 112–108 to even the series. The Mavericks lost Game 3 to the Nuggets at the Reunion Arena, 107–105, as the Nuggets took a 2–1 series lead.^[22] However, the Mavericks managed to win the next three games, including a Game 6 home win over the Nuggets at the Reunion Arena, 108–95 to win the series in six games, and advance to the Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history.^[23][24][25]

In the Western Conference Finals, the Mavericks then faced off against the top–seeded, and defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, who won the Pacific Division title, and were led by the quartet of All-Star guard Magic Johnson, All-Star forward James Worthy, Byron Scott and All-Star center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Mavericks lost the first two games to the Lakers on the road at the Great Western Forum, but managed to win their next two home games, including a Game 4 win over the Lakers at the Reunion Arena, 118–104. After losing Game 5 at the Great Western Forum, 119–102, the Mavericks won Game 6 over the Lakers at the Reunion Arena, 105–103 to even the series.^[26][27][28] However, the Mavericks lost Game 7 to the Lakers at the Great Western Forum, 117–102, thus losing in a hard-fought seven-game series.^[29][30][31] The Lakers would defeat the Detroit Pistons in a full seven-game series in the 1988 NBA Finals, winning their second consecutive NBA championship.^[32][33][34]

The Mavericks finished fourth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 695,592 at the Reunion Arena during the regular season.^[10][35] The Mavericks would not win 50 games during the regular season again until the 2000–01 season, nor would they advance to the Conference Finals again until the 2002–03 season.^[1]