1988–89 Detroit Pistons season

1988–89 Detroit Pistons season
First NBA Championship
Head coach	Chuck Daly
General manager	Jack McCloskey
Owner(s)	William Davidson
Arena	The Palace of Auburn Hills
Results Record 63–19 (.768) Place Division: 1st (Central) Conference: 1st (Eastern) Playoff finish NBA Champions Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com Local media Television PASS Sports, WKBD Radio WCXI < 1987–88 1989–90 >

The 1988-89 NBA season was the Pistons' 41st season in the NBA and 32nd season in the Detroit metropolitan area. The Pistons moved from the Pontiac Silverdome to the brand-new Palace of Auburn Hills before the start of the season, which culminated in the Pistons' first NBA championship.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
2	30	Fennis Dembo	Forward	United States	Wyoming
2	48	Micheal Williams	Guard	United States	Baylor
3	72	Lee Johnson	Forward	United States	Norfolk State

^[1]

Roster

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Bill Laimbeer	James Edwards
PF	Rick Mahorn	John Salley
SF	Mark Aguirre	Dennis Rodman	Fennis Dembo
SG	Joe Dumars	Vinnie Johnson	John Long
PG	Isiah Thomas		Micheal Williams

Regular season

On February 15, 1989, the Pistons traded Adrian Dantley to the Dallas Mavericks for Mark Aguirre. Dantley was unhappy relegating the leadership role on the Pistons to Isiah Thomas, while Aguirre had clashed with his coaches and teammates in Dallas. Aguirre was more amenable to deferring to Thomas, and accepted his role in Chuck Daly's system. His ability to shoot the three, post up, run the floor, and pass was instrumental in the growth of the team.

Season standings

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Detroit Pistons	63	19	.768	–	37–4	26–15	20–10
x-Cleveland Cavaliers	57	25	.695	6	37–4	20–21	19–11
x-Atlanta Hawks	52	30	.634	11	33–8	19–22	20–10
x-Milwaukee Bucks	49	33	.598	14	31–10	18–23	11–19
x-Chicago Bulls	47	35	.573	16	30–11	17–24	12–18
Indiana Pacers	28	54	.341	35	20–21	8–33	8–22

Playoffs

After finishing with the best record in the NBA, the Pistons swept through the first two rounds of the playoffs. In the Eastern Conference finals, they faced the Chicago Bulls, whom they'd defeated in the conference semifinals a year earlier. Although the Bulls were able to win two of the first three games, the Pistons' use of their "Jordan Rules" defense wore out Michael Jordan, setting up Detroit's second consecutive NBA Finals appearance against the Los Angeles Lakers.

East First Round

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (8) Boston Celtics: Pistons win series 3-0

• Game 1 @ The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills (April 28): Detroit 101, Boston 91
• Game 2 @ The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills (April 30): Detroit 102, Boston 95
• Game 3 @ Boston Garden, Boston (May 2): Detroit 100, Boston 85

Last Playoff Meeting: 1988 Eastern Conference Finals (Detroit won 4-2)

East Conference Semifinals

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (5) Milwaukee Bucks: Pistons win series 4-0

• Game 1 @ The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills (May 10): Detroit 85, Milwaukee 80
• Game 2 @ The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills (May 12): Detroit 112, Milwaukee 92
• Game 3 @ Bradley Center, Milwaukee (May 14): Detroit 110, Milwaukee 90
• Game 4 @ Bradley Center, Milwaukee (May 15): Detroit 96, Milwaukee 94

Last Playoff Meeting: 1976 Western Conference First Round (Detroit won 2-1)

East Conference Finals

(1) Detroit Pistons vs. (6) Chicago Bulls: Pistons win series 4-2

• Game 1 @ The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills (May 21): Chicago 94, Detroit 88
• Game 2 @ The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills (May 23): Detroit 100, Chicago 91
• Game 3 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 27): Chicago 99, Detroit 97
• Game 4 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 29): Detroit 86, Chicago 80
• Game 5 @ The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills (May 31): Detroit 94, Chicago 85
• Game 6 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (June 2): Detroit 103, Chicago 94

Last Playoff Meeting: 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals (Detroit won 4-1)

Player stats

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Aguirre, Mark !Mark Aguirre	36	32	29.7	.483	.293	.738	4.2	2.5	.44	.19	15.5
Dantley, Adrian !Adrian Dantley	42	42	31.9	.521	.000	.839	3.9	2.2	.55	.14	18.4
Dawkins, Darryl !Darryl Dawkins	14	0	3.4	.474	.000	.500	.5	.1	.00	.07	1.9
Dembo, Fennis !Fennis Dembo	31	0	2.4	.333	.000	.800	.7	.2	.03	.00	1.2
Dumars, Joe !Joe Dumars	69	67	34.9	.505	.483	.850	2.5	5.7	.91	.07	17.2
Edwards, James !James Edwards	76	1	16.5	.500	.000	.686	3.0	.6	.14	.41	7.3
Harris, Steve !Steve Harris	3	0	2.3	.250	.000	1.000	.7	.0	.33	.00	1.3
Johnson, Vinnie !Vinnie Johnson	82	21	25.3	.464	.295	.734	3.1	3.0	.90	.21	13.8
Laimbeer, Bill !Bill Laimbeer	81	81	32.6	.499	.349	.840	9.6	2.2	.63	1.23	13.7
Long, John !John Long	24	1	6.3	.475	.000	.846	.5	.6	.00	.08	2.0
Mahorn, Rick !Rick Mahorn	72	61	24.9	.517	.000	.748	6.9	.8	.56	.92	7.2
Mannion, Pace !Pace Mannion	5	0	2.8	1.000	.000	.000	.6	.0	.20	.00	.8
Rodman, Dennis !Dennis Rodman	82	8	26.9	.595	.231	.626	9.4	1.2	.67	.93	9.0
Rowinski, Jim !Jim Rowinski	6	0	1.3	.000	.000	1.000	.3	.0	.00	.00	.7
Salley, John !John Salley	67	21	21.8	.498	.000	.692	5.0	1.1	.60	1.07	7.0
Thomas, Isiah !Isiah Thomas	80	76	36.6	.464	.273	.818	3.4	8.3	1.66	.25	18.2
Williams, Micheal !Micheal Williams	49	0	7.3	.364	.222	.660	.6	1.4	.27	.06	2.6

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Aguirre, Mark !Mark Aguirre	17		27.2	.489	.276	.737	4.4	1.6	.47	.18	12.6
Dembo, Fennis !Fennis Dembo	2		2.0	1.000	.000	.000	.0	.0	.00	.00	1.0
Dumars, Joe !Joe Dumars	17		36.5	.455	.083	.861	2.6	5.6	.71	.06	17.6
Edwards, James !James Edwards	17		18.6	.471	.000	.784	2.1	.7	.06	.47	7.1
Johnson, Vinnie !Vinnie Johnson	17		21.9	.455	.417	.758	2.6	2.5	.24	.18	14.1
Laimbeer, Bill !Bill Laimbeer	17		29.2	.465	.357	.806	8.2	1.8	.35	.47	10.1
Long, John !John Long	4		2.0	1.000	.000	1.000	.0	.0	.00	.00	1.2
Mahorn, Rick !Rick Mahorn	17		21.2	.580	.000	.654	5.1	.4	.53	.76	5.7
Rodman, Dennis !Dennis Rodman	17		24.1	.529	.000	.686	10.0	.9	.35	.71	5.8
Salley, John !John Salley	17		23.1	.586	.000	.667	4.6	.5	.53	1.47	8.9
Thomas, Isiah !Isiah Thomas	17		37.2	.412	.267	.740	4.3	8.3	1.59	.24	18.2
Williams, Micheal !Micheal Williams	4		1.5	.000	.000	1.000	.5	.5	.25	.00	.5

NBA finals

The Pistons' overpowering play allowed them to sweep the Lakers, who struggled to fill the defensive void left by Byron Scott's injury prior to the start of the Finals. Joe Dumars was named Finals MVP. In addition, Magic Johnson pulled a hamstring early in the second game, and unable to play the rest of the series. The Lakers depleted back court allowed the Pistons to have an easy time to the 1988-89 NBA Championship.

Game	Home Team	Road Team	series
Game 1:	L.A. Lakers 97	at Detroit 109	1-0
Game 2:	L.A. Lakers 105	at Detroit 108	2-0
Game 3:	Detroit 114	at L.A. Lakers 110	3-0
Game 4:	Detroit 105	at L.A. Lakers 97	4-0

Pistons win series 4-0

Award winners

• Joe Dumars, NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
• Joe Dumars, NBA All-Defensive First Team
• Dennis Rodman, NBA All-Defensive First Team

External links

• Detroit Pistons on Database Basketball
• Detroit Pistons on Basketball Reference

References

1988–89 NBA season by team 1988 NBA Expansion Draft 1988 NBA Draft All-Star Game Playoffs Finals Transactions Eastern Atlantic Boston Charlotte New Jersey New York Philadelphia Washington Central Atlanta Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Milwaukee Western Midwest Dallas Denver Houston Miami San Antonio Utah Pacific Golden State L.A. Clippers L.A. Lakers Phoenix Portland Sacramento Seattle

Detroit Pistons 1988–89 NBA Champions 4 Joe Dumars (Finals MVP) 10 Dennis Rodman 11 Isiah Thomas 15 Vinnie Johnson 22 John Salley 23 Mark Aguirre 24 Micheal Williams 25 John Long 34 Fennis Dembo 40 Bill Laimbeer 44 Rick Mahorn 53 James Edwards Head coach Chuck Daly Assistant coaches Brendan Malone Brendan Suhr Regular season Playoffs

NBA champions 1947: Philadelphia Warriors 1948: Baltimore Bullets 1949: Minneapolis Lakers 1950: Minneapolis Lakers 1951: Rochester Royals 1952: Minneapolis Lakers 1953: Minneapolis Lakers 1954: Minneapolis Lakers 1955: Syracuse Nationals 1956: Philadelphia Warriors 1957: Boston Celtics 1958: St. Louis Hawks 1959: Boston Celtics 1960: Boston Celtics 1961: Boston Celtics 1962: Boston Celtics 1963: Boston Celtics 1964: Boston Celtics 1965: Boston Celtics 1966: Boston Celtics 1967: Philadelphia 76ers 1968: Boston Celtics 1969: Boston Celtics 1970: New York Knicks 1971: Milwaukee Bucks 1972: Los Angeles Lakers 1973: New York Knicks 1974: Boston Celtics 1975: Golden State Warriors 1976: Boston Celtics 1977: Portland Trail Blazers 1978: Washington Bullets 1979: Seattle SuperSonics 1980: Los Angeles Lakers 1981: Boston Celtics 1982: Los Angeles Lakers 1983: Philadelphia 76ers 1984: Boston Celtics 1985: Los Angeles Lakers 1986: Boston Celtics 1987: Los Angeles Lakers 1988: Los Angeles Lakers 1989: Detroit Pistons 1990: Detroit Pistons 1991: Chicago Bulls 1992: Chicago Bulls 1993: Chicago Bulls 1994: Houston Rockets 1995: Houston Rockets 1996: Chicago Bulls 1997: Chicago Bulls 1998: Chicago Bulls 1999: San Antonio Spurs 2000: Los Angeles Lakers 2001: Los Angeles Lakers 2002: Los Angeles Lakers 2003: San Antonio Spurs 2004: Detroit Pistons 2005: San Antonio Spurs 2006: Miami Heat 2007: San Antonio Spurs 2008: Boston Celtics 2009: Los Angeles Lakers 2010: Los Angeles Lakers 2011: Dallas Mavericks 2012: Miami Heat 2013: Miami Heat 2014: San Antonio Spurs

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National Basketball Association's Top Ten Teams in NBA History 1964–65 Boston Celtics 1966–67 Philadelphia 76ers 1969–70 New York Knicks 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers 1982–83 Philadelphia 76ers 1985–86 Boston Celtics 1986–87 Los Angeles Lakers 1988–89 Detroit Pistons 1991–92 Chicago Bulls 1995–96 Chicago Bulls