1987–88 Cleveland Cavaliers season

1987–88 Cleveland Cavaliers season
1987–88 Cleveland Cavaliers season
Head coach	Lenny Wilkens
Arena	Richfield Coliseum
Results
Record	42–40 (.512)
Place	Division: 5th (Central); Conference: 6th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	East First Round; (Eliminated 2-3)
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WUAB; (Jack Corrigan, Jim Chones)
Radio	WWWE; (Joe Tait)
< 1986–87	1988–89 >

The 1987-88 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 19th season of NBA basketball in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers acquired Larry Nance from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for top draft pick Kevin Johnson in a midseason trade, and finished 4th in the Central Division with a 42–40 record. Second-year star Brad Daugherty was selected for the 1988 NBA All-Star Game. Second-year guard Ron Harper played just 57 games due to injury. In the first round of the playoffs, the Cavaliers lost in five games to the Chicago Bulls.

Key Dates:

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	7	Kevin Johnson	Guard	United States	California
2	41^*	Kannard Johnson	Forward	United States	Western Kentucky
3	52	Donald Royal	Forward	United States	Notre Dame
4	75	Chris Dudley	Center	United States	Yale
4	80^**	Carven Holcomb	Guard	United States	TCU
5	98	Carl Lott	Guard	United States	TCU
6	121	Harold Jensen	Guard	United States	Villanova
7	144	Michael Foster	Guard	United States	South Carolina

2nd round pick (#29) traded to Portland in Linton Townes deal.^[2] Used to draft Lester Fonville.

^*2nd round pick acquired from Milwaukee in Paul Thompson deal.^[3]

^**5th round pick acquired from Indiana in Ron Anderson deal.^[4]

Roster

1987–88 Cleveland Cavaliers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Height	Weight	DOB
C	54	Benson, Kent	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Indiana
SG	30	Curry, Dell	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Virginia Tech
C	43	Daugherty, Brad	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	North Carolina
C	22	Dudley, Chris	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Yale
SG	3	Ehlo, Craig	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Washington State
SG	4	Harper, Ron	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Miami (OH)
SG	12	Henderson, Kevin	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Cal State Fullerton
SF	35	Hubbard, Phil	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Michigan
PF	6	Nance, Larry	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Clemson
PG	25	Price, Mark	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Georgia Tech
PF	32	Rogers, Johnny	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	UC Irvine
SF	11	Sanders, Mike	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	UCLA
PF	18	Williams, John "Hot Rod"	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Tulane

Head coach

Lenny Wilkens (Providence)

Assistant coach(es)

Dick Helm
Brian Winters

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Roster

Regular Depth Chart

Player Salaries

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Detroit Pistons	54	28	.659	–	34–7	20–21	20–10
x-Chicago Bulls	50	32	.610	4	30–11	20–21	16–13
x-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	4	30-11	20-21	16–13
x-Milwaukee Bucks	42	40	.512	12	30–11	12–29	13–17
x-Cleveland Cavaliers	42	40	.512	12	31–10	11–30	11–19
Indiana Pacers	38	44	.463	16	25–16	13–28	13–17

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Boston Celtics	57	25	.695	–
2	y-Detroit Pistons	54	28	.659	3
3	x-Chicago Bulls	50	32	.610	7
4	x-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	7
5	x-Milwaukee Bucks	42	40	.512	15
6	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	42	40	.512	15
7	x-Washington Bullets	38	44	.463	19
8	x-New York Knicks	38	44	.463	19

9	Indiana Pacers	38	44	.463	19
10	Philadelphia 76ers	36	46	.439	21
11	New Jersey Nets	19	63	.232	38

Notes

z, y – division champions
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1987-88 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	2–4	2–3	5–1	2–0	1–1	2–4	2–0	1–1	4–2	2–0	0–2	3–3	5–0	3–3	6–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	3–3
Boston	4–2	—	3–3	2–3	2–0	0–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	5–0	2–0	0–2	3–3	5–1	5–1	4–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	5–1
Chicago	3–2	3–3	—	3–3	0–2	1–1	2–4	2–0	2–0	3–3	2–0	1–1	5–1	5–1	3–2	4–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–3
Cleveland	1–5	3–2	3–3	—	1–1	1–1	1–5	0–2	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	5–1	2–4	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–2	6–0
Dallas	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	—	3–3	1–1	4–1	4–2	2–0	5–0	1–4	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–0	3–2	5–1	5–1	3–2	3–3	1–1
Denver	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–3	—	1–1	4–1	4–2	1–1	5–0	3–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	3–2	2–3	4–2	5–1	4–1	2–4	2–0
Detroit	4–2	3–3	4–2	5–1	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	1–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	4–2	5–1	4–2	4–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–2
Golden State	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–4	1–4	0–2	—	0–5	0–2	3–3	0–6	0–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–5	2–3	3–2	1–5	1–4	0–2
Houston	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–4	2–4	1–1	5–0	—	2–0	3–2	1–4	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–1	4–1	4–2	2–4	3–2	3–3	2–0
Indiana	2–4	0–5	3–3	2–4	0–2	1–1	3–3	2–0	0–2	—	1–1	1–1	3–3	6–0	2–3	2–4	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–4
L.A. Clippers	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–5	0–5	1–1	3–3	2–3	1–1	—	1–5	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–4	0–6	3–2	0–5	1–5	1–4	0–2
L.A. Lakers	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	4–1	2–3	2–0	6–0	4–1	1–1	5–1	—	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	5–1	3–3	4–1	5–0	4–2	4–1	1–1
Milwaukee	3–3	3–3	1–5	4–2	0–2	1–1	2–4	2–0	0–2	3–3	2–0	2–0	—	3–2	3–3	2–4	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–1
New Jersey	0–5	1–5	1–5	1–5	1–1	0–2	1–5	0–2	1–1	0–6	2–0	0–2	2–3	—	3–3	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–6
New York	3–3	1–5	2–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	2–0	1–1	3–2	2–0	0–2	3–3	3–3	—	3–3	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–3
Philadelphia	0–6	2–4	2–4	2–3	1–1	0–2	1–4	1–1	1–1	4–2	1–1	0–2	4–2	4–2	3–3	—	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–3
Phoenix	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–5	2–3	0–2	4–2	1–4	0–2	4–2	1–5	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	—	0–6	3–2	2–3	2–4	2–3	0–2
Portland	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–3	3–2	1–1	5–1	1–4	2–0	6–0	3–3	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	6–0	—	4–1	5–0	3–3	1–4	2–0
Sacramento	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–5	2–4	0–2	3–2	2–4	0–2	2–3	1–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	1–4	—	3–3	1–4	1–5	0–2
San Antonio	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–5	1–5	1–1	2–3	4–2	0–2	5–0	0–5	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	0–5	3–3	—	3–2	3–3	0–2
Seattle	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	1–4	1–1	5–1	2–3	1–1	5–1	2–4	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	4–2	3–3	4–1	2–3	—	1–4	2–0
Utah	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	3–3	4–2	0–2	4–1	3–3	1–1	4–1	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–2	4–1	5–1	3–3	4–1	—	2–0
Washington	3–3	1–5	3–3	0–6	1–1	0–2	2–3	2–0	0–2	4–2	2–0	1–1	1–4	6–0	3–3	3–3	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	0–2	0–2	—

Game log

Regular season

1987–88 game log
Total: 42–40 (Home: 31–10; Road: 11–30)

November: 3–8 (home: 2–4; road: 1–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	November 6, 1987	@ New Jersey	W 114–108				Brendan Byrne Arena	1–0
2	November 7, 1987 7:30 PM EST	@ Atlanta	L 105–113				The Omni	1–1
3	November 11, 1988 7:30 PM EST	Milwaukee	L 101–109				Richfield Coliseum	1–2
4	November 13, 1987 7:30 PM EST	@ Boston	L 114–128	Curry (25)	Hubbard (9)	Price (9)	Boston Garden 14,890	1–3
5	November 14, 1987 7:30 PM EST	Detroit	L 113–128	Daugherty (22)	West (6)	Price (10)	Richfield Coliseum 10,157	1–4
6	November 17, 1987 8:00 PM EST	Boston	W 109–88	Hubbard (17)	Curry Daugherty West (8)	Price (6)	Richfield Coliseum 14,621	2–4
7	November 19, 1987	Houston	L 97–105				Richfield Coliseum	2–5
8	November 21, 1987	Philadelphia	W 101–88				Richfield Coliseum	3–5
9	November 24, 1987	@ Philadelphia	L 104–108				The Spectrum	3–6
10	November 25, 1987	New York	L 101–104				Richfield Coliseum	3–7
11	November 28, 1987	@ New York	L 93–105				Madison Square Garden	3–8

December: 9–7 (home: 6–2; road: 3–5)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
12	December 2, 1987	Seattle	W 104–102				Richfield Coliseum	4–8
13	December 4, 1987	@ Indiana	W 108–90				Market Square Arena	5–8
14	December 5, 1987 7:30 PM EST	L.A. Lakers	W 97–95	Hubbard (19)	Daugherty (9)	Price (8)	Richfield Coliseum 20,015	6–8
15	December 8, 1987	@ Seattle	L 96–107				Seattle Center Coliseum	6–9
16	December 9, 1987	@ Golden State	L 112–113				Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena	6–10
17	December 11, 1987	@ Sacramento	W 113–111				ARCO Arena	7–10
18	December 13, 1987 10:30 PM EST	@ L.A. Lakers	L 89–90	Daugherty (19)	Corbin Daugherty Williams (7)	Ehlo (7)	The Forum 17,505	7–11
19	December 15, 1987 7:30 PM EST	Dallas	W 106–93	Daugherty (21)	Ehlo (14)	Johnson (6)	Richfield Coliseum 6,852	8–11
20	December 17, 1987 8:30 PM EST	@ Chicago	L 100–111				Chicago Stadium	8–12
21	December 18, 1987	New Jersey	W 103–94				Richfield Coliseum	9–12
22	December 20, 1987	Indiana	W 127–116				Richfield Coliseum	10–12
23	December 22, 1987	@ Washington	W 106–102				Capital Centre	11–12
24	December 23, 1987 7:30 PM EST	Utah	L 83–91				Richfield Coliseum	11–13
25	December 26, 1987	Portland	W 120–117				Richfield Coliseum	12–13
26	December 27, 1987	@ New Jersey	L 83–101				Brendan Byrne Arena	12–14
27	December 30, 1987 7:30 PM EST	Atlanta	L 110–117				Richfield Coliseum	12–15

January: 9–7 (home: 7–1; road: 2–6)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
28	January 2, 1988	Phoenix	W 120–107				Richfield Coliseum	13–15
29	January 4, 1988 7:30 PM EST	Denver	W 122–101				Richfield Coliseum	14–15
31	January 8, 1988 7:30 PM EST	@ Atlanta	L 97–101				The Omni	15–16
32	January 9, 1988	@ Philadelphia	L 110–126				The Spectrum	15–17
33	January 12, 1988	New York	W 119–111				Richfield Coliseum	16–17
34	January 14, 1988 7:30 PM EST	Chicago	W 91–88 (OT)				Richfield Coliseum	17–17
35	January 15, 1988 7:30 PM EST	@ Detroit	L 93–97	Daugherty (20)	Daugherty (10)	Johnson (7)	Pontiac Silverdome 19,822	17–18
36	January 17, 1988 2:30 PM EST	@ Milwaukee	L 93–111				MECCA Arena	17–19
37	January 21, 1988 7:30 PM EST	Atlanta	L 93–101				Richfield Coliseum	17–20
38	January 23, 1988 7:30 PM EST	Boston	W 119–100	Curry (23)	Williams (9)	Harper Johnson (6)	Richfield Coliseum 20,900	18–20
39	January 25, 1988 9:30 PM EST	@ Utah	L 96–119				Salt Palace	18–21
40	January 27, 1988	@ San Antonio	W 112–102				HemisFair Arena	19–21
41	January 28, 1988	@ Houston	W 109–85				The Summit	20–21
42	January 30, 1988	Washington	W 128–126 (OT)				Richfield Coliseum	21–21

February: 7–8 (home: 5–1; road: 2–7)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
43	February 1, 1988 7:30 PM EST	Detroit	W 94–83	Harper (23)	Williams (15)	Price (10)	Richfield Coliseum 10,636	22–21
44	February 3, 1988	@ Washington	W 107–106				Capital Centre	23–21
45	February 4, 1988	Golden State	L 90–96 (OT)				Richfield Coliseum	23–22
46	February 9, 1988 8:30 PM EST	@ Milwaukee	L 104–112				MECCA Arena	23–23
47	February 10, 1988	Washington	W 118–102				Richfield Coliseum	24–23
48	February 12, 1988	New Jersey	W 98–96				Richfield Coliseum	25–23
49	February 13, 1988	@ New York	L 103–120				Madison Square Garden	25–24
50	February 15, 1988	Sacramento	W 104–95				Richfield Coliseum	26–24
51	February 17, 1988	@ Philadelphia	W 115–107				The Spectrum	27–24
52	February 18, 1988	@ Indiana	L 83–88				Market Square Arena	27–25
53	February 21, 1988 1:30 PM EST	Chicago	W 113–111				Richfield Coliseum	28–25
54	February 24, 1988 8:30 PM EST	@ Dallas	L 89–93	West (16)	West (11)	Harper (6)	Reunion Arena 17,007	28–26
55	February 25, 1988	@ Phoenix	L 103–109				Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	28–27
57	February 29, 1988	@ Portland	L 94–107				Memorial Coliseum	28–29

March: 5–9 (home: 4–2; road: 1–7)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
58	March 2, 1988 9:30 PM EST	@ Denver	L 81–99				McNichols Sports Arena	28–30
59	March 6, 1988 1:00 PM EST	@ Boston	L 98–127	Harper (25)	Daugherty (7)	Daugherty Ehlo Price (4)	Boston Garden 14,890	28–31
60	March 9, 1988 7:30 PM EST	Milwaukee	W 117–91				Richfield Coliseum	29–31
61	March 11, 1988	San Antonio	W 117–107				Richfield Coliseum	30–31
62	March 12, 1988 7:30 PM EST	@ Detroit	L 100–104	Daugherty (24)	Daugherty Williams (9)	Daugherty (10)	Pontiac Silverdome 33,854	30–32
63	March 14, 1988	@ New York	L 102–104				Madison Square Garden	30–33
64	March 15, 1988 8:00 PM EST	@ Chicago	L 89–108				Chicago Stadium	30–34
65	March 17, 1988 7:30 PM EST	Detroit	L 99–102	Daugherty (21)	Daugherty (8)	Price (7)	Richfield Coliseum 13,261	30–35
66	March 19, 1988 9:00 PM EST	@ Milwaukee	L 100–101				MECCA Arena	30–36
67	March 23, 1988	New Jersey	W 105–96				Richfield Coliseum	31–36
68	March 25, 1988 7:30 PM EST	Chicago	L 110–111 (OT)				Richfield Coliseum	31–37
69	March 26, 1988 7:30 PM EST	@ Atlanta	W 102–109				The Omni	31–38
70	March 29, 1988	New York	W 108–103				Richfield Coliseum	32–38
71	March 30, 1988	@ Washington	W 107–96				Capital Centre	33–38

April: 9–2 (home: 7–0; road: 2–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
72	April 2, 1988	Indiana	W 108–94				Richfield Coliseum	34–38
73	April 5, 1988	@ Indiana	L 105–106				Market Square Arena	34–39
74	April 6, 1988	Washington	W 98–87				Richfield Coliseum	35–39
75	April 8, 1988 7:30 PM EDT	Milwaukee	W 104–85				Richfield Coliseum	36–39
76	April 10, 1988	@ New Jersey	W 119–105				Brendan Byrne Arena	37–39
77	April 12, 1988 7:30 PM EDT	Atlanta	W 116–103				Richfield Coliseum	38–39
78	April 13, 1988 7:30 PM EDT	@ Detroit	L 98–115	Nance (20)	Nance (12)	Ehlo (4)	Pontiac Silverdome 18,808	38–40
79	April 15, 1988 7:30 PM EDT	Boston	W 120–109	Daugherty (44)	Daugherty (9)	Harper (6)	Richfield Coliseum 20,146	39–40
80	April 18, 1988	Indiana	W 112–107				Richfield Coliseum	40–40
81	April 22, 1988 8:30 PM EDT	@ Chicago	W 107–103				Chicago Stadium	41–40
82	April 23, 1988	Philadelphia	W 104–99				Richfield Coliseum	42–40

1987–88 schedule

Playoffs

1988 playoff game log

Eastern Conference First Round: 2–3 (home: 2–0; road: 0–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 28, 1988 8:00 PM EDT	@ Chicago	L 93–104	Chicago Stadium 18,676	0–1
2	May 1, 1988 3:30 PM EDT	@ Chicago	L 101–106	Chicago Stadium 18,645	0–2
3	May 3, 1988 8:00 PM EDT	Chicago	W 110–102	Richfield Coliseum 20,068	1–2
4	May 5, 1988 8:00 PM EDT	Chicago	W 97–91	Richfield Coliseum 20,026	2–2
5	May 8, 1988 1:00 PM EDT	@ Chicago	L 101–107	Chicago Stadium 18,008	2–3

1987–88 schedule

Playoffs

East First Round

(3) Chicago Bulls vs. (6) Cleveland Cavaliers: Bulls win series 3-2

Game 1 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (April 28): Chicago 104, Clevleand 93
Game 2 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 1): Chicago 106, Cleveland 101
Game 3 @ Richfield Coliseum, Richfield (May 3): Cleveland 110, Chicago 102
Game 4 @ Richfield Coliseum, Richfield (May 5): Cleveland 97, Chicago 91
Game 5 @ Chicago Stadium, Chicago (May 8): Chicago 107, Cleveland 101

Last Playoff Meeting: Not available (first playoff series)

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; GS = Games started; MIN= Minutes; FG% = field goal %, FT% = free throw %, 3FG% = 3 point % STL= Steals; BLK = Blocks; AST = Assists; REB = Rebounds; PTS = Points

Regular Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Awards

Records

Milestones

All-Star

Transactions

Trades

Free Agents

Development League

References

^ Dyer, Bob (January 30, 1988). "Cavs End Contract with WWWE". Akron Beacon Journal. Beacon Journal Publishing Co. p. B8.
^ Blazers traded Linton Townes to Cavaliers for 1987 second round pick (#29-Lester Fonville) on 9/6/83 http://n-c-systems.com/hoops/DraftTrades/1987.html Archived 2007-11-07 at the Wayback Machine
^ Cavaliers traded Paul Thompson to Bucks for two second round picks (1985 #45-John Williams) (1987 #41-Kannard Johnson) on 2/12/85 http://n-c-systems.com/hoops/DraftTrades/1987.html Archived 2007-11-07 at the Wayback Machine
^ Traded Ron Anderson to Pacers for 1987 fourth round pick (#80-Carven Holcomb) on 12/10/85 http://n-c-systems.com/hoops/DraftTrades/1987.html Archived 2007-11-07 at the Wayback Machine

[1] Dyer, Bob (January 30, 1988). "Cavs End Contract with WWWE". Akron Beacon Journal. Beacon Journal Publishing Co. p. B8.

[2] Blazers traded Linton Townes to Cavaliers for 1987 second round pick (#29-Lester Fonville) on 9/6/83 http://n-c-systems.com/hoops/DraftTrades/1987.html Archived 2007-11-07 at the Wayback Machine

[3] Cavaliers traded Paul Thompson to Bucks for two second round picks (1985 #45-John Williams) (1987 #41-Kannard Johnson) on 2/12/85 http://n-c-systems.com/hoops/DraftTrades/1987.html Archived 2007-11-07 at the Wayback Machine

[4] Traded Ron Anderson to Pacers for 1987 fourth round pick (#80-Carven Holcomb) on 12/10/85 http://n-c-systems.com/hoops/DraftTrades/1987.html Archived 2007-11-07 at the Wayback Machine

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