Magic Johnson's 1988 Game 7 Finals Performance (19 Points, 14 Assists)
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- June 21, 1988 - Though the star of the night was undoubtedly James Worthy (with a Finals MVP clinching triple-double of 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists), Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson surely held up his part of the bargain. Efficient and effective, as always, Johnson finished with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting alongside 14 assists and 2 steals in a championship-clinching 108-105 Game 7 win over the Detroit Pistons.
With the win, the Lakers became the first NBA team to win back-to-back championships since the Boston Celtics in 1968 and 1969. Two years later, they'd be joined by the Detroit Pistons, who'd win successive titles in 1989 and 1990.
How was that not a tech at the end of the game wit 2 seconds left?
You gotta respect how Magic just flowed -- all this pressure and he just cruised, took his time, adjusted, made the right plays and let the greatness of Worthy shine... the Pistons did all that work while everything was a struggle and Magic was chillin'.... That was a sick way for Detroit to lose though... Laimbeer hit the shot and Magic said, 'Nope!... A.C.!'... Laimbeer could see the dream slipping away by not being able to catch Green... then the fans are on the court, no stop of play by refs, and Thomas gets thrown down no foul and the Lakers' win -- there was no way the refs were going to get fans off the court (which is stupid) and then the obvious foul on Thomas wasn't going to get called...so that's 2 freethrows Detroit should have had.... What I don't understand is how could Detroit come out so flat in the 3rd quarter of a game 7?
I will answer 2 questions here:
1-why did Detroit come out so flat to start the 3rd quarter?
Isiah Thomas' ankle got worse during halftime when the team sat for a long period and Isiah Thomas was a liability because he couldn't defend nor had the ability to move freely because of his injury.
Without him being himself, Detroit was out of sync.
Isiah had 10 points in the first half and ran Detroit's offense really well as they had a 5 point lead.
2-Detroit trailed by 3 with seconds left after AC Green's layup.
But here is where the refs and NBA screwed Detroit.
When the fans AND entire Lakers bench came on the court while Detroit HAD the ball trying to inbounds, the refs RIGHT THEN should have blown the whistle, gave LA a technical foul and awarded Detroit the ball at mid court.
Dumars shoots the T, say he makes it, now score 108-106 and Detroit gets one final shot by whoever is open in the inbounding play, probably Vinnie Johnson or Dumars either for a tying shot or 3 pointer to win the title.
That's how Detroit got fucked.
@@123slasher.16 I can understand that with the ankle, makes perfect sense... Of course I'm of the belief Thomas wasn't as 'hurt' as people think...but that's the skeptic in me... I mean that's just me, as a Pistons fan, because I don't believe one guy has that much 'bad luck' when it comes to just playing basketball unless there's some mischief involved... I always ask why was Thomas the guy who had to throw the ball to Bird in '87; then when Rodman said the comments about Bird after game 7, it was Thomas who got blamed for it trying to help out his teammate; then in '88 he's the one getting hurt.... but say he didn't get hurt, I mean that call on Laimbeer was sickening... I was watching a video from Karceno4life and he brought out that David Stern had to apologize to Isiah Thomas telling him it was just business concerning 1988...so I do wonder how things would have been had Thomas NOT been hurt. I mean would game 6 had been so close if Thomas was healthy?... Also why was Thomas the guy hurt in 1991?... Why did he take only 9 shots in game 1 and only 9 shots in game 2 in the 1991 ECF? Makes no sense unless you are doing it on purpose...but yes, Detroit did get screwed in game 7 when those fans were on the court, that was the most abominable series how they had that thing to play out... But Magic helped his friend out in '89, I just don't know how his hamstring was messed up that much?... Okay, you help your friend out, he helps you out too -- no big deal, right?
@@plainsimple244 wow, you might want to work for Fox News (😂).
@@123slasher.16 What do you mean?
@@plainsimple244 your conspiracy theories.
Isiah in that first half was playing on adrenaline because he was active moving around and was actually starring in that game .
However, sitting in that locker room at halftime, the adrenaline wore off and suddenly it's a problem.
In 1981, I messed up my ankle at the Detroit Lions training camp playing basketball with their first round pick that year (Mark Nichols) and I remember how it swelled up when I wasn't moving around.
Isiah had some bad luck and if anyone ever questioned what MVP really stands for, his injury in 1988 and the career changing injury in 1991 proved his worth.
Think about this, from 1984-1990 in the postseason, Isiah Thomas gave THE BUSINESS to these guards in the postseason.
Rory Sparrow, Ray Williams, Darrell Walker, Otis Byrdsong, Michael Ray Richardson, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, John Battle, Doc Rivers, Mike Glenn, Mike McGee, Spud Webb, Steve Colter, Frank Johnson, Sam Vincent, Craig Hodges, John Paxson, Michael Jordan, Jim Paxson, Magic Johnson, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, Mark Jackson, Vern Fleming, Reggie Miller, Terry Porter, Clyde Drexler, Drazen Petrovic, David Rivers, Tony Campbell, Jay Humphries, Sidney Moncrief and the legendary BJ Armstrong.
That's the bodies Isiah Thomas laid out.
Magic was like yeah I am so lucky Isuah is at just 50 percent tonight.
Magic was the real final MVP in 1988 but worthy because of one game gut IT
JAMES WORTHY WAS FINALS MVP! EVERY GAME LAKERS WON HE CAME OUT ON TOP IN POINTS AND REBOUNDS AND GOT MAGIC A LOT OF ASSISTS!!! EVERYTIME LAKERS LOST THIS SERIES MAGIC POINTS WAS UP AND ASSISTS WAS DOWN AND THE LAKERS LOST!! BUT EVEN IN THE GAMES LOST WERE MAGIC CAME OUT ON TOP IN POINTS,REBOUNDS,AND ASSISTS YOU COULD BE RIGHT THAT MAGIC WAS REAL MVP CUZ OF SUCH HIGH ASSISTS!!! BUT WORTHY PUT THE TRIPLE DOUBLE ENGLISH ON IT IN GAME 7 AND IT HAD TO BE JAMES WORTHY YO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@@keithnone6860
It was the opposite, worthy got points because of Magic’s playmaking. Magic was the one bending the defense and exploring gaps through his passing. Worthy just had to finish many shots near the rim. Magic was easily the best player this series.
@@roundtable3501 So the truth lies in between. Worthy is one of the best finishers and playoff performers in NBA history. Magic was able to set Worthy up and get him the ball and Worthy was then able to finish efficiently with his ability to score in many ways around the basket. In 1989 Worthy scored 40 in the Finals without Magic, so he wasn't dependent on Magic. However, the reality is Magic is top 5 player ever and his best attribute was making teammates better, so all the lakers benefited.
In 1988 Finals, the most privotal games were 6 and 7 and Worthy had 28 and 9 in Game 6 win and the famous Triple Double in Game 7. that is Hall of Fame production.
Magic's finals average was 21, 13 assists, and 5 rebounds. Worthy's was 22, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Magic was the best and most valuable player on the team in general, and the engine for the showtime offense, BUT Worthy's numbers were clearly comparable and in the 4 Laker wins he had 26, 24, 28 and 36 along w/triple double. Yes you could have given Magic the finals MVP, but Worthy getting it instead was not egregious or a travesty. He was having a very good series BEFORE putting together one of the greatest NBA finals game 7's in league history.
Laughable!
Magic got torched defensively that entire series .
Rodman shut him down in games 4 and 5.
Stop overrating him
Nah! Pistons got robbed
The Lakers would have won The 1989 NBA Finals against The Bad Boys Detroit Pistons. But Byron Scott got hurt in practice before game 1# & Magic Johnson got hurt in game 2# & We was without our starting backcourt. We we're hot in the playoffs. We swept our way to The 1989 NBA Finals. But without Magic & Scott we got swept out!!!
Nah, Lakers barely won the ‘88 series, it took an Isiah injury and some terrible officiating for them to pull it off. Pistons were way too strong in ‘89, the addition of Aguirre made Detroits guards impossible to contain, Magic and Scott might’ve given LA a game, maybe two, but Detroit, with home court advantage, is definitely beating LA in 1989, all day
Let's set the injury excuse aside .
During the entire 1988-1989 season, Detroit won all 6 games between the 2 teams
Bryon Scott's injury didn't matter because in all 6 games, LA could not contain Detroit's 3 guards .
But the Magic injury is the biggest excuse.
Detroit won BOTH regular season games WITH Scott and Magic.
Detroit dominated Game 1 WITH Magic on the floor .
In that game, all 4 Detroit guards (John Long) had their way, especially when Magic Johnson guarding them .
In Game 2, the score was tied when Magic got hurt and the LAKERS immediately went on a spurt to go up 12.
It should be noted that Dumars in the first half had 26, mostly guarded by Magic and in the 2nd half, Isiah Thomas scored 19 of his 21 and when Magic tried guarding him, Isiah Thomas blew right by him.
Magic supposedly got hurt because Detroit attacked HIM.
Also, Isiah Thomas had hamstring issues that series as he had BOTH legs wrapped in that series, so the injury excuse was pretty weak.
@@TommyGibbs1
The 1989 bulls won two games against the pistons the series before lol.
@@roundtable3501 So what’s your point?
Detroit 6, LA 0 in 1988-1989.
Keep using that BS injury excuse.
LA guards were trash and Detroit OWNED them all 6 games.
WHEN YOU DISH OUT THAT AMOUNT OF ASSISTS AND SCORE THAT MANY POINTS DURING THE SERIES IT FEEL LIKE SOMEBODY SNATCHED YOUR MVP TROPHY!!!!! THE ONLY THING WORTHY GOT GOING FOR HIM IS SAYING I GOT A BAD ASS TRIPLE DOUBLE IN GAME 7!!!!!! BUT HOW MANY OF HIS POINTS CAME FROM MAGIC ASSISTS! HE HAD TO BE PISSED
MAGIC WAS IN A LOT OF PAIN LOSING FINALS MVP TO WORTHY I BET HE WAS THINKING I NEVER PASS THAT DAM BALL AGAIN TO THAT MF!!!!!!!!!! LOOOOOL
Now he knows how Jabbar felt in 1980 and McAdoo or Nixon in 1982.