# 1989–90 NBA season

The 1989–90 NBA season was the 44th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Detroit Pistons winning their second consecutive NBA Championship, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals. It was also the Pistons' second NBA title overall.

## Notable occurrences

Coaching changes :
| Offseason |||
| Team | 1988–89 coach | 1989–90 coach |
| Chicago Bulls | Doug Collins | Phil Jackson |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | Expansion | Bill Musselman |
| New Jersey Nets | Willis Reed | Bill Fitch |
| New York Knicks | Rick Pitino | Stu Jackson |
| Orlando Magic | Expansion | Matt Guokas |
| In-season |||
| Team | Outgoing coach | Incoming coach |
| Sacramento Kings | Jerry Reynolds | Dick Motta |
| Dallas Mavericks | John MacLeod | Richie Adubato |
| Charlotte Hornets | Dick Harter | Gene Littles |
* The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Orlando Magic entered the NBA as the league's 26th and 27th franchises. The Timberwolves played their preseason schedule at the Met Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington home of the NHL's Minnesota North Stars. They played their regular season schedule at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, former home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and MLB's Minnesota Twins. They would move to smaller-capacity Target Center for the 1990–91 season. The Magic would play at Orlando Arena (later known as TD Waterhouse Centre and Amway Arena) for the next 21 years.
* The NBA All-Star Weekend was in Miami Arena in Miami. In the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, the East defeated the West 130–113. Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers took home the game's MVP award, becoming the third player in history to win the award in a losing effort. Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks edged out Kenny Smith of the Sacramento Kings to win the Slam Dunk Contest.
* The Charlotte Hornets were aligned in the Midwest Division in the Western Conference. Charlotte would be aligned in the Central Division for good starting the next year. The league had placed the four new teams in different divisions to spread them out over their first few seasons.
* After seventeen seasons as the broadcast television home for NBA basketball, CBS Sports aired its final NBA broadcast in Game 5 of the Finals from Portland. NBC Sports would begin a twelve-season run as the league's new broadcast partner beginning the next season.
** This was also the first season that Turner Sports aired games on its, at the time, new cable outlet Turner Network Television; this began a long relationship between TNT and the NBA that would run until the end of the 2024–25 season.
* The NBA adopted the FIBA rule that game clocks register tenths of seconds in the final minute of a quarter. This rule turns controversial during the season because of clock calibration problems in many venues; following a January 15, 1990, game at Madison Square Garden between the New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls where Trent Tucker sank a three-point basket with the ball put in play with one-tenth of a second remaining, the NBA mandated clock calibration and prohibited any shot made when the ball is put in play with less than three-tenths of a second remaining from counting unless it is a dunk or a tip-in. The Trent Tucker Rule would be established the following year as a result of this incident.
* All three Texas-based teams made the playoffs. This would not happen again until 2004.
* This was the last of nine consecutive seasons in which the Lakers finished as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. They would not return there until 2000.
* Long-time Boston Celtics announcer Johnny Most retired after 37 years behind the microphone. Most was best known for his call of "Havlicek stole the ball!!" in the 1965 Eastern Division Finals between the Celtics and the Sixers.
* The Philadelphia 76ers won their first Atlantic Division title since the 1982–83 championship season, and the first in the post-Julius Erving era. They lost to the Bulls in the second round of the playoffs.
* Several players from Eastern Bloc countries in Europe made an impact in the NBA. Yugoslavia's Vlade Divac and Dražen Petrović, and the Soviet Union's Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Alexander Volkov were among the pioneering players from Eastern Europe who made the jump to the NBA.
* On March 28, 1990, near the end of the 1989–90 season, the Cleveland Cavaliers faced their new nemesis Michael Jordan. Needing the victory to clinch a playoff berth, Jordan set his career high with 69 points in an overtime win and putting a dent in the Cavaliers' playoff plans.
* The Spurs orchestrated the biggest turnaround, with rookie David Robinson at center. After finishing 21–61 in 1988–89, they improved by 35 games and won the Midwest Division.
* Scottie Pippen becomes the first forward in NBA history to accumulate over 200 steals with over 100 blocks in a season.

## 1989–90 NBA changes

* The Cleveland Cavaliers slightly changed their road uniforms, replacing the team nickname "Cavs" with the city name "Cleveland" on their jerseys.
* The Golden State Warriors changed their logo and uniforms.
* The Los Angeles Clippers slightly changed their uniforms.
* The New York Knicks changed their logo, adding more orange to their previous logo.
* The San Antonio Spurs changed their logo and uniforms.

## Teams

1989-90 National Basketball Association :
| Eastern Conference |||||
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
| Atlantic | Boston Celtics | Boston, Massachusetts | Boston Garden | 14,890 |
| Atlantic | Miami Heat | Miami, Florida | Miami Arena | 15,200 |
| Atlantic | New Jersey Nets | East Rutherford, New Jersey | Brendan Byrne Arena | 20,049 |
| Atlantic | New York Knicks | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 19,812 |
| Atlantic | Philadelphia 76ers | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | The Spectrum | 18,176 |
| Atlantic | Washington Bullets | Landover, Maryland | Capital Centre | 18,756 |
| Central | Atlanta Hawks | Atlanta, Georgia | Omni Coliseum | 16,378 |
| Central | Chicago Bulls | Chicago, Illinois | Chicago Stadium | 18,676 |
| Central | Cleveland Cavaliers | Richfield, Ohio | Richfield Coliseum | 20,900 |
| Central | Detroit Pistons | Auburn Hills, Michigan | The Palace of Auburn Hills | 22,076 |
| Central | Indiana Pacers | Indianapolis, Indiana | Market Square Arena | 17,171 |
| Central | Milwaukee Bucks | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Bradley Center | 18,717 |
| Central | Orlando Magic * | Orlando, Florida | Orlando Arena | 17,283 |
| Western Conference |||||
| Midwest | Charlotte Hornets | Charlotte, North Carolina | Charlotte Coliseum | 24,042 |
| Midwest | Dallas Mavericks | Dallas, Texas | Reunion Arena | 18,293 |
| Midwest | Denver Nuggets | Denver, Colorado | McNichols Sports Arena | 17,171 |
| Midwest | Houston Rockets | Houston, Texas | The Summit | 16,285 |
| Midwest | Minnesota Timberwolves * | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 50,000 |
| Midwest | San Antonio Spurs | San Antonio, Texas | HemisFair Arena | 16,057 |
| Midwest | Utah Jazz | Salt Lake City, Utah | Salt Palace | 12,686 |
| Pacific | Golden State Warriors | Oakland, California | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena | 13,335 |
| Pacific | Los Angeles Clippers | Los Angeles, California | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena | 16,161 |
| Pacific | Los Angeles Lakers | Inglewood, California | Great Western Forum | 17,505 |
| Pacific | Phoenix Suns | Phoenix, Arizona | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 14,870 |
| Pacific | Portland Trail Blazers | Portland, Oregon | Memorial Coliseum | 12,888 |
| Pacific | Sacramento Kings | Sacramento, California | ARCO Arena | 17,317 |
| Pacific | Seattle SuperSonics | Seattle, Washington | Seattle Center Coliseum | 14,252 |
* Expansion team *

## Final standings
### By division

| Atlantic Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div |
| y-Philadelphia 76ers | 53 | 29 | .646 | – | 34–7 | 19–22 | 19–7 |
| x-Boston Celtics | 52 | 30 | .634 | 1 | 30–11 | 22–19 | 19–7 |
| x-New York Knicks | 45 | 37 | .549 | 8 | 29–12 | 16–25 | 17–9 |
| Washington Bullets | 31 | 51 | .378 | 22 | 20–21 | 11–30 | 10–16 |
| Miami Heat | 18 | 64 | .220 | 35 | 11–30 | 7–34 | 4–22 |
| New Jersey Nets | 17 | 65 | .207 | 36 | 13–28 | 4–37 | 9–17 |
| Central Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div |
| y-Detroit Pistons | 59 | 23 | .720 | – | 35–6 | 24–17 | 22–8 |
| x-Chicago Bulls | 55 | 27 | .671 | 4 | 36–5 | 19–22 | 20–10 |
| x-Milwaukee Bucks | 44 | 38 | .537 | 15 | 27–14 | 17–24 | 14–16 |
| x-Cleveland Cavaliers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 17 | 27–14 | 15–26 | 14–16 |
| x-Indiana Pacers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 17 | 28–13 | 14–27 | 16–14 |
| Atlanta Hawks | 41 | 41 | .500 | 18 | 25–16 | 16–25 | 15–15 |
| Orlando Magic | 18 | 64 | .220 | 41 | 12–29 | 6–35 | 4–26 |
| Midwest Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div |
| y-San Antonio Spurs | 56 | 26 | .683 | – | 34–7 | 22–19 | 19–9 |
| x-Utah Jazz | 55 | 27 | .671 | 1 | 36–5 | 19–22 | 21–7 |
| x-Dallas Mavericks | 47 | 35 | .573 | 9 | 30–11 | 17–24 | 17–11 |
| x-Denver Nuggets | 43 | 39 | .524 | 13 | 28–13 | 15–26 | 15–13 |
| x-Houston Rockets | 41 | 41 | .500 | 15 | 31–10 | 10–31 | 13–15 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 22 | 60 | .268 | 34 | 17–24 | 5–36 | 6–22 |
| Charlotte Hornets | 19 | 63 | .232 | 37 | 13–28 | 6–35 | 7–21 |
| Pacific Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div |
| y-Los Angeles Lakers | 63 | 19 | .768 | – | 37–4 | 26–15 | 22–6 |
| x-Portland Trail Blazers | 59 | 23 | .720 | 4 | 35–6 | 24–17 | 20–8 |
| x-Phoenix Suns | 54 | 28 | .659 | 9 | 32–9 | 22–19 | 20–8 |
| Seattle SuperSonics | 41 | 41 | .500 | 22 | 30–11 | 11–30 | 11–17 |
| Golden State Warriors | 37 | 45 | .451 | 26 | 27–14 | 10–31 | 11–17 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 30 | 52 | .366 | 33 | 20–21 | 10–31 | 7–21 |
| Sacramento Kings | 23 | 59 | .280 | 40 | 16–25 | 7–34 | 7–21 |

### By conference

| # | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte | Eastern Conferencevte |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB |
| 1 | c-Detroit Pistons | 59 | 23 | .720 | – |
| 2 | y-Philadelphia 76ers | 53 | 29 | .646 | 6 |
| 3 | x-Chicago Bulls | 55 | 27 | .671 | 4 |
| 4 | x-Boston Celtics | 52 | 30 | .634 | 7 |
| 5 | x-New York Knicks | 45 | 37 | .549 | 14 |
| 6 | x-Milwaukee Bucks | 44 | 38 | .537 | 15 |
| 7 | x-Cleveland Cavaliers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 17 |
| 8 | x-Indiana Pacers | 42 | 40 | .512 | 17 |
| 9 | Atlanta Hawks | 41 | 41 | .500 | 18 |
| 10 | Washington Bullets | 31 | 51 | .378 | 28 |
| 11 | Miami Heat | 18 | 64 | .220 | 41 |
| 12 | Orlando Magic | 18 | 64 | .220 | 41 |
| 13 | New Jersey Nets | 17 | 65 | .207 | 42 |
| # | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte | Western Conferencevte |
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB |
| 1 | z-Los Angeles Lakers | 63 | 19 | .768 | – |
| 2 | y-San Antonio Spurs | 56 | 26 | .683 | 7 |
| 3 | x-Portland Trail Blazers | 59 | 23 | .720 | 4 |
| 4 | x-Utah Jazz | 55 | 27 | .671 | 8 |
| 5 | x-Phoenix Suns | 54 | 28 | .659 | 9 |
| 6 | x-Dallas Mavericks | 47 | 35 | .573 | 16 |
| 7 | x-Denver Nuggets | 43 | 39 | .524 | 20 |
| 8 | x-Houston Rockets | 41 | 41 | .500 | 22 |
| 9 | Seattle SuperSonics | 41 | 41 | .500 | 22 |
| 10 | Golden State Warriors | 37 | 45 | .451 | 26 |
| 11 | Los Angeles Clippers | 30 | 52 | .366 | 33 |
| 12 | Sacramento Kings | 23 | 59 | .280 | 40 |
| 13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 22 | 60 | .268 | 41 |
| 14 | Charlotte Hornets | 19 | 63 | .232 | 44 |
Notes
* z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
* c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
* y – Clinched division title
* x – Clinched playoff spot

## Playoffs

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.
| First Round | First Round | First Round | | | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | | NBA Finals | NBA Finals | NBA Finals |
| E1 | Detroit* | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E8 | Indiana | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E8 | Indiana | 0 | | | E1 | Detroit* | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | E5 | New York | 1 | | | | | | | |
| E4 | Boston | 2 | | | E5 | New York | 1 | | | | | | | |
| E5 | New York | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E5 | New York | 3 | | | | | | E1 | Detroit* | 4 | | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E1 | Detroit* | 4 | | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E3 | Chicago | 3 | | | | |
| E3 | Chicago | 3 | | | | | | | | | E3 | Chicago | 3 | | | | |
| E6 | Milwaukee | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E6 | Milwaukee | 1 | | | E3 | Chicago | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | E2 | Philadelphia* | 1 | | | | | | | |
| E2 | Philadelphia* | 3 | | | E2 | Philadelphia* | 1 | | | | | | | |
| E7 | Cleveland | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E7 | Cleveland | 2 | | | | | | | | | | E1 | Detroit* | 4 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | W3 | Portland | 1 |
| W1 | LA Lakers* | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | W3 | Portland | 1 |
| W8 | Houston | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| W8 | Houston | 1 | | | W1 | LA Lakers* | 1 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | W5 | Phoenix | 4 | | | | | | | |
| W4 | Utah | 2 | | | W5 | Phoenix | 4 | | | | | | | |
| W5 | Phoenix | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| W5 | Phoenix | 3 | | | | | | W5 | Phoenix | 2 | | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W5 | Phoenix | 2 | | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W3 | Portland | 4 | | | | |
| W3 | Portland | 3 | | | | | | | | | W3 | Portland | 4 | | | | |
| W6 | Dallas | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| W6 | Dallas | 0 | | | W3 | Portland | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | W2 | San Antonio* | 3 | | | | | | | |
| W2 | San Antonio* | 3 | | | W2 | San Antonio* | 3 | | | | | | | |
| W7 | Denver | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
* * Division winner
* Bold Series winner
* Italic Team with home-court advantage

## Statistics leaders

| Category | Player | Team | Stat |
| Points per game | Michael Jordan | Chicago Bulls | 33.6 |
| Rebounds per game | Akeem Olajuwon | Houston Rockets | 14.0 |
| Assists per game | John Stockton | Utah Jazz | 14.5 |
| Steals per game | Michael Jordan | Chicago Bulls | 2.77 |
| Blocks per game | Akeem Olajuwon | Houston Rockets | 4.59 |
| FG% | Mark West | Phoenix Suns | .625 |
| FT% | Larry Bird | Boston Celtics | .930 |
| 3FG% | Steve Kerr | Cleveland Cavaliers | .507 |

## NBA awards

* Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers
* Rookie of the Year: David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs
* Defensive Player of the Year: Dennis Rodman, Detroit Pistons
* Sixth Man of the Year: Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee Bucks
* Most Improved Player: Rony Seikaly, Miami Heat
* Coach of the Year: Pat Riley, Los Angeles Lakers

### Player of the week

The following players were named NBA Player of the Week.
| Week | Player |
| Nov. 3 – Nov. 12 | Vern Fleming (Indiana Pacers) |
| Nov. 13 – Nov. 19 | John Stockton (Utah Jazz) |
| Nov. 20 – Nov. 26 | Clyde Drexler (Portland Trail Blazers) |
| Nov. 27 – Dec. 3 | Patrick Ewing (New York Knicks) |
| Dec. 4 – Dec. 10 | Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) |
| Dec. 11 – Dec. 17 | Chris Mullin (Golden State Warriors) |
| Dec. 18 – Dec. 23 | Terry Cummings (San Antonio Spurs) |
| Dec. 25 – Dec. 30 | Karl Malone (Utah Jazz) |
| Jan. 2 – Jan. 7 | Terry Teagle (Golden State Warriors) |
| Jan. 8 – Jan. 14 | Ron Harper (Los Angeles Clippers) |
| Jan. 15 – Jan. 21 | Alvin Robertson (Milwaukee Bucks) |
| Jan. 22 – Jan. 28 | Karl Malone (Utah Jazz) |
| Jan. 29 – Feb. 4 | Tim Hardaway (Golden State Warriors) |
| Feb. 5 – Feb. 18 | Tom Chambers (Phoenix Suns) |
| Feb. 19 – Feb. 25 | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
| Feb. 26 – Mar. 4 | Akeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) |
| Mar. 5 – Mar. 11 | Rony Seikaly (Miami Heat) |
| Mar. 12 – Mar. 18 | Kevin Johnson (Phoenix Suns) |
| Mar. 19 – Mar. 25 | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
| Mar. 26 – Apr. 1 | Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) |
| Apr. 2 – Apr. 8 | Charles Barkley (Philadelphia 76ers) |
| Apr. 9 – Apr. 15 | Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) |
| Apr. 16 – Apr. 22 | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |

### Player of the month

The following players were named NBA Player of the Month.
| Month | Player |
| November | Patrick Ewing (New York Knicks) |
| December | Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) |
| January | Karl Malone (Utah Jazz) |
| February | Magic Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers) |
| March | Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) |
| April | Akeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) |

### Rookie of the month

The following players were named NBA Rookie of the Month.
| Month | Rookie |
| November | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
| December | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
| January | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
| February | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
| March | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |
| April | David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) |

### Coach of the month

The following coaches were named NBA Coach of the Month.
| Month | Coach |
| November | Dick Versace (Indiana Pacers) |
| December | Stu Jackson (New York Knicks) |
| January | Jim Lynam (Philadelphia 76ers) |
| February | Cotton Fitzsimmons (Phoenix Suns) |
| March | Rick Adelman (Portland Trail Blazers) |
| April | Jimmy Rodgers (Boston Celtics) |