The 1990–91 Golden State Warriors season was the 45th season for the Golden State Warriors in the National Basketball Association, and their 28th season in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Season summary

Off-season The Warriors received the eleventh overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft, and selected power forward Tyrone Hill out of Xavier University. The trio of Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, and second-year star Tim Hardaway were given the name "Run TMC" during the regular season.

Regular season In their regular season opener on November 2, 1990, the Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets on the road, 162–158 at the McNichols Sports Arena; it was the highest-scoring regulation game in NBA history. Despite their scoring prowess, the team was limited defensively. With the addition of Hill, the Warriors got off to a solid start by winning eight of their first eleven games of the season. However, the team later on played around .500 in winning percentage as the season progressed, holding a 26–20 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team signed rookie shooting guard Mario Elie after a brief stint with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Warriors won their final five games of the season, and finished in fourth place in the Pacific Division with a 44–38 record, earning the seventh seed in the Western Conference, and returning to the NBA playoffs after a one-year absence.

Mullin averaged 25.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, while Richmond averaged 23.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, and Hardaway provided the team with 22.9 points, 9.7 assists and 2.6 steals per game. In addition, second-year guard Sarunas Marciulionis contributed 10.9 points per game off the bench, while sixth man Rod Higgins provided with 9.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game off the bench, and Tom Tolbert contributed 8.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Alton Lister averaged 6.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, Hill provided with 5.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and Jim Petersen averaged 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, Mullin and Hardaway were both selected for the 1991 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was Hardaway's first ever All-Star appearance. In addition, Hardaway also participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout. Despite a stellar season, Richmond was not selected for the NBA All-Star Game. Hardaway finished in fifth place in Most Improved Player voting, and also finished tied in 19th place in Most Valuable Player voting.

The Warriors finished 14th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 616,025 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena during the regular season.

NBA playoffs In the Western Conference First Round of the 1991 NBA playoffs, the Warriors faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Midwest Division champion San Antonio Spurs, who were led by the trio of All-Star center David Robinson, Terry Cummings, and second-year star Sean Elliott. The Warriors lost Game 1 to the Spurs on the road, 130–121 at the HemisFair Arena, but managed to win the next three games, which included a Game 4 win over the Spurs at home, 110–97 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena to win the series in four games. It was the second time in the last three years that the Warriors finished the regular season as the seventh seed, and defeated a second–seeded team in the opening round of the NBA playoffs.

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 3rd–seeded Los Angeles Lakers, who were led by the trio of All-Star guard Magic Johnson, All-Star forward James Worthy, and Byron Scott. The Warriors lost Game 1 to the Lakers on the road, 126–116 at the Great Western Forum, but managed to win Game 2 on the road, 125–124 to even the series. However, the Warriors lost the next three games, including a Game 5 loss to the Lakers at the Great Western Forum in overtime, 124–119, thus losing the series in five games.

The Lakers would lose in five games to the Chicago Bulls in the 1991 NBA Finals.

Notable highlights On February 26, 1991, the Warriors lost to the Orlando Magic at home, 131–119 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena, despite the "Run TMC" trio each scoring more than 30 points; the rest of the team totaled 21 points.

Aftermath Following the season, Richmond was traded to the Sacramento Kings after three seasons with the Warriors.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 11 Tyrone Hill PF Xavier 2 28 Les Jepsen C Iowa 2 34 Kevin Pritchard PG Kansas

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot

z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

Playoffs

| 1 | April 25 | @ San Antonio | L 121–130 | Mullin, Richmond (29) | Chris Mullin (8) | Tim Hardaway (8) | HemisFair Arena15,908 | 0–1 |- | 2 | April 27 | @ San Antonio | W 111–98 | Chris Mullin (27) | Chris Mullin (7) | Tim Hardaway (9) | HemisFair Arena15,908 | 1–1 |- | 3 | May 1 | San Antonio | W 109–106 | Mitch Richmond (27) | Tim Hardaway (8) | Tim Hardaway (11) | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena15,025 | 2–1 |- | 4 | May 3 | San Antonio | W 110–97 | Tim Hardaway (32) | Mitch Richmond (11) | Tim Hardaway (9) | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena15,025 | 3–1

| 1 | May 5 | @ L.A. Lakers | L 116–126 | Tim Hardaway (33) | Alton Lister (8) | Hardaway, Marciulionis (9) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 0–1 |- | 2 | May 8 | @ L.A. Lakers | W 125–124 | Chris Mullin (41) | Jim Petersen (7) | Tim Hardaway (14) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 1–1 |- | 3 | May 10 | L.A. Lakers | L 112–115 | Richmond, Hardaway (24) | Chris Mullin (11) | Tim Hardaway (12) | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena15,025 | 1–2 |- | 4 | May 12 | L.A. Lakers | L 107–123 | Mitch Richmond (26) | Richmond, Mullin (6) | Tim Hardaway (9) | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena | 1–3 |- | 5 | May 14 | @ L.A. Lakers | L 119–124 (OT) | Tim Hardaway (27) | Mullin, Lister (8) | Tim Hardaway (20) | Great Western Forum17,505 | 1–4

Player statistics

Regular season PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 82 82 40.4 .536 .301 .884 5.4 4.0 2.1 .8 25.7 82 82 39.2 .476 .385 .803 4.0 9.7 2.6 .1 22.9 82 9 24.7 .463 .332 .819 4.3 1.4 .6 .5 9.5 77 77 39.3 .494 .348 .847 5.9 3.1 1.6 .4 23.9 77 65 20.2 .478 .000 .569 6.3 1.2 .3 1.2 6.4 74 22 16.1 .492 .632 5.2 .3 .4 .4 5.3 62 32 22.1 .423 .333 .738 4.4 1.2 .6 .6 8.1 62 21 13.5 .483 .250 .658 3.2 .4 .2 .7 4.5 62 1 12.5 .384 .161 .805 1.0 1.3 .5 .1 3.9 50 10 19.7 .501 .167 .724 2.4 1.7 1.2 .1 10.9 36 1 7.1 .356 .333 .800 1.9 .3 .2 .1 1.6† 30 0 20.8 .507 .375 .851 3.6 1.5 .6 .3 7.7 24 8 9.5 .540 .595 2.4 .7 .2 .2 3.8† 24 0 7.1 .407 .533 1.0 .5 .4 .0 2.3 21 0 5.0 .306 .000 .667 1.8 .0 .0 .1 1.3 7 0 12.1 .480 .818 1.6 1.9 .3 .0 4.7† 5 0 5.0 .545 .500 1.4 .2 .4 .0 2.8 5 0 4.2 .000 .500 .6 .8 .0 .0 .6

Playoffs PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 9 9 44.0 .486 .354 .789 3.7 11.2 3.1 .8 25.2 9 9 41.3 .503 .333 .958 5.2 2.4 .6 .7 22.3 9 7 21.9 .500 1.000 .844 3.6 1.4 .6 .1 9.3 9 4 13.0 .706 .625 3.0 .3 .2 .4 3.2 9 3 23.8 .426 .308 .821 3.2 2.0 .2 .9 9.2 9 0 22.9 .500 .000 .897 2.6 3.0 1.2 .1 13.2 9 0 12.9 .424 .333 .273 2.0 .9 .3 .4 3.6 9 0 8.9 .643 .000 .667 2.6 .2 .3 .4 2.4 8 8 45.8 .527 .692 .860 7.3 2.9 1.9 1.5 23.8 6 5 12.0 .480 .400 4.7 .3 .0 1.2 4.3 6 0 6.8 .400 .500 1.8 .3 .3 .0 2.5 3 0 2.7 1.000 .7 .3 .3 .0 .7

Player statistics citation:

Awards and records Chris Mullin, NBA All-Star Game Tim Hardaway, NBA All-Star Game Chris Mullin, All-NBA Second Team

Transactions

References

See also 1990-91 NBA season