1986–87 Indiana Pacers season

The 1986–87 Indiana Pacers season was Indiana's 11th season in the NBA and 20th season as a franchise.

The Pacers would finish with only their second .500 or better season in the NBA (at 41–41) and make their second-ever postseason appearance as an NBA franchise, losing the opening round 3–1 in a five-game series to the Atlanta Hawks.

Offseason

Draft picks

This table only lists picks through the second round. Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 4 Chuck Person SF 2 26 Greg Dreiling C

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

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

Game log Regular season

| 1 | | @ Philadelphia | L 104–108

| The Spectrum | 0–1

| 2 | 7:30p.m. EST | Detroit | W 92–89 | Long (23) | Williams (10) | Williams (14) | Market Square Arena16,912 | 1–1 |- | 3 | | Philadelphia | W 125–121 (2OT)

| Market Square Arena | 2–1 |- | 4 | 7:30p.m. EST | @ Boston | L 102–133 | Russell (16) | Williams (10) | Long,Russell (4) | Boston Garden14,890 | 2–2 |- | 5 | | San Antonio | W 130–97

| Market Square Arena | 3–2 |- | 6 | | @ Milwaukee | L 94–102

| MECCA Arena | 3–3 |- | 7 | | @ New Jersey | W 120–117

| Brendan Byrne Arena | 4–3 |- | 8 | | Milwaukee | W 104–103

| Market Square Arena | 5–3 |- | 9 | | @ Washington | L 111–124

| Capital Centre | 5–4 |- | 10 | | @ L.A. Clippers | W 98–93

| Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena | 6–4 |- | 11 | | @ Sacramento | L 83–92

| ARCO Arena | 6–5 |- | 12 | 10:30p.m. EST | @ Seattle | L 111–121 | Williams (32) | Person (9) | Fleming (8) | Seattle Center Coliseum6,399 | 6–6 |- | 13 | | @ Portland | L 95–108

| Memorial Coliseum | 6–7 |- | 14 | | Houston | L 88–92

| Market Square Arena | 6–8 |- | 15 | | Denver | W 126–102

| Market Square Arena | 7–8 |- | 16 | | Portland | L 101–118

| Market Square Arena | 7–9

| 17 | | @ Milwaukee | L 88–95

| MECCA Arena | 7–10 |- | 18 | | Washington | W 116–103

| Market Square Arena | 8–10 |- | 19 | | Atlanta | W 119–113

| Market Square Arena | 9–10 |- | 20 | | @ Philadelphia | L 112–122

| The Spectrum | 9–11 |- | 21 | | Cleveland | W 115–94

| Market Square Arena | 10–11 |- | 22 | | New Jersey | W 95–91

| Market Square Arena | 11–11 |- | 23 | 7:30p.m. EST | @ Boston | L 101–113 | Fleming.Person (21) | Williams (10) | Fleming,Person,Stipanovich (6) | Boston Garden14,890 | 11–12 |- | 24 | | Chicago | L 88–97

| Market Square Arena | 11–13 |- | 25 | | @ New York | W 123–99

| Madison Square Garden | 12–13 |- | 26 | | @ Cleveland | L 94–104

| Richfield Coliseum | 12–14 |- | 27 | 5:30p.m. EST | Detroit | W 111–98 | Stipanovich (29) | Stipanovich (10) | Fleming (11) | Market Square Arena11,860 | 13–14 |- | 28 | | @ Chicago | L 93–105

| Chicago Stadium | 13–15 |- | 29 | | Cleveland | W 111–99

| Market Square Arena | 14–15

| 30 | | L.A. Clippers | W 116–106

| Market Square Arena | 15–15 |- | 31 | | @ Dallas | W 144–135

| Reunion Arena | 15–16 |- | 32 | | @ San Antonio | W 101–99

| HemisFair Arena | 16–16 |- | 33 | | @ Houston | L 96–110

| The Summit | 17–16 |- | 34 | | @ Utah | L 96–105

| Salt Palace | 17–17 |- | 35 | | Philadelphia | L 94–101

| Market Square Arena | 17–18 |- | 36 | | Washington | W 113–105

| Market Square Arena | 18–18 |- | 37 | | Dallas | W 119–115 (2OT)

| Market Square Arena | 19–18 |- | 38 | | Chicago | W 109–95

| Market Square Arena | 20–18 |- | 39 | 7:30p.m. EST | @ Boston | L 100–130 | Williams (17) | Williams (10) | Fleming (7) | Boston Garden14,890 | 20–19 |- | 40 | 8:00p.m. EST | L.A. Lakers | L 108–118 | Stipanovich (25) | Williams (15) | Fleming (6) | Market Square Arena16,912 | 20–20 |- | 41 | | Phoenix | L 103–104

| Market Square Arena | 20–21 |- | 42 | | @ Atlanta | L 98–114

| The Omni | 20–22 |- | 43 | 7:30p.m. EST | Boston | L 94–100 | Person (26) | Williams (12) | Fleming (8) | Market Square Arena16,912 | 20–23 |- | 44 | | @ Cleveland | L 100–102

| Richfield Coliseum | 20–24

| 45 | | Philadelphia | L 94–99

| Market Square Arena | 20–25 |- | 46 | 7:30p.m. EST | @ Detroit | W 98–93 | Fleming (24) | Tisdale (13) | Fleming,Person (4) | Pontiac Silverdome13,410 | 21–25 |- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" |- | 47 | | @ Golden State | W 126–125 (OT)

| Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena | 22–25 |- | 48 | | @ Phoenix | W 121–105

| Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 23–25 |- | 49 | 10:30p.m. EST | @ L.A. Lakers | L 108–113 | Fleming (19) | Person (9) | Fleming (7) | The Forum17,505 | 23–26 |- | 50 | | @ Denver | L 113–129

| McNichols Sports Arena | 23–27 |- | 51 | | Golden State | W 112–93

| Market Square Arena | 24–27 |- | 52 | 7:30p.m. EST | Seattle | W 105–88 | Long (29) | Person (9) | Person (6) | Market Square Arena9,077 | 25–27 |- | 53 | | @ Atlanta | W 107–105

| The Omni | 26–27 |- | 54 | | Sacramento | W 103–101

| Market Square Arena | 27–27 |- | 55 | | @ Milwaukee | L 114–120 (2OT)

| MECCA Arena | 27–28 |- | 56 | | @ Washington | L 94–100

| Capital Centre | 27–29 |- | 57 | | @ New Jersey | L 115–125

| Brendan Byrne Arena | 27–30

| 58 | | New York | W 122–115 (OT)

| Market Square Arena | 28–30 |- | 59 | | Atlanta | L 108–109

| Market Square Arena | 28–31 |- | 60 | | Milwaukee | L 120–124

| Market Square Arena | 28–32 |- | 61 | | Utah | W 107–102

| Market Square Arena | 29–32 |- | 62 | 7:30p.m. EST | Detroit | L 98–107 | Long,Tisdale (15) | Stipanoich,Tisdale (8) | Richardson (7) | Market Square Arena9,063 | 29–33 |- | 63 | 7:30p.m. EST | Boston | W 116–109 | Person (24) | Stipanovich (12) | Fleming (8) | Market Square Arena16,912 | 30–33 |- | 64 | | New Jersey | W 123–99

| Market Square Arena | 31–33 |- | 65 | 7:30p.m. EST | @ Detroit | L 95–115 | Long (17) | Person (10) | Fleming,Russell (5) | Pontiac Silverdome15,348 | 31–34 |- | 66 | | @ New York | L 105–111 (OT)

| Madison Square Garden | 31–35 |- | 67 | | Cleveland | W 77–76

| Market Square Arena | 32–35 |- | 68 | | Washington | W 101–92

| Market Square Arena | 33–35 |- | 69 | | Milwaukee | W 125–108

| Market Square Arena | 34–35 |- | 70 | | New York | W 100–91

| Market Square Arena | 35–35 |- | 71 | | @ Atlanta | W 120–114

| The Omni | 36–35

| 72 | | Chicago | W 99–94

| Market Square Arena | 37–35 |- | 73 | 7:30p.m. EST | @ Detroit | L 73–119 | Stipanovich (12) | Stipanovich (8) | Fleming (6) | Pontiac Silverdome25,778 | 37–36 |- | 74 | | @ New York | L 108–112

| Madison Square Garden | 37–37 |- | 75 | | New Jersey | W 128–114

| Market Square Arena | 38–37 |- | 76 | | @ Cleveland | L 99–111

| Richfield Coliseum | 38–38 |- | 77 | | @ Washington | W 115–101

| Capital Centre | 39–38 |- | 78 | | @ Chicago | L 95–116

| Chicago Stadium | 39–39 |- | 79 | | Atlanta | L 101–102

| Market Square Arena | 39–40 |- | 80 | 7:30p.m. EST | Boston | L 85–108 | Long (23) | Stipanovich (9) | Fleming (7) | Market Square Arena16,912 | 39–41 |- | 81 | | @ Philadelphia | W 115–111

| The Spectrum | 40–41 |- | 82 | | @ New Jersey | W 112–103

| Brendan Byrne Arena | 41–41

Playoffs

| 1 | | @ Atlanta | L 94–110 | Steve Stipanovich (22) | Steve Stipanovich (13) | Vern Fleming (6) | The Omni16,522 | 0–1 |- | 2 | | @ Atlanta | L 93–94 | Chuck Person (24) | Herb Williams (8) | Williams, Fleming (4) | The Omni16,522 | 0–2 |- | 3 | | Atlanta | W 96–87 | Chuck Person (23) | Chuck Person (17) | Chuck Person (7) | Market Square Arena12,303 | 1–2 |- | 4 | | Atlanta | L 97–101 | Chuck Person (40) | Vern Fleming (11) | Vern Fleming (8) | Market Square Arena14,039 | 1–3

Player statistics

Regular season PlayerPG82 82 2,549 334 473 109 18 980 31.1 4.1 5.8 1.3 .2 12.0SF82 78 2,956 677 295 90 16 1,541 36.0 8.3 3.6 1.1 .2 18.8C 81 81 2,761 670 180 106 97 1,072 34.1 8.3 2.2 1.3 1.2 13.2PF 81 15 2,159 475 117 50 26 1,174 26.7 5.9 1.4 .6 .3 14.5SG 80 68 2,265 217 258 96 8 1,218 28.3 2.7 3.2 1.2 .1 15.2SG 78 14 1,396 143 241 49 7 501 17.9 1.8 3.1 .6 .1 6.4PG 76 0 1,250 113 197 59 7 376 16.4 1.5 2.6 .8 .1 4.9PF 74 67 2,526 543 174 59 93 1,101 34.1 7.3 2.4 .8 1.3 14.9SF 63 0 721 151 54 31 3 363 11.4 2.4 .9 .5 .0 5.8C 55 1 456 129 26 10 28 110 8.3 2.3 .5 .2 .5 2.0PG 48 0 511 55 129 20 5 157 10.6 1.1 2.7 .4 .1 3.3C 24 0 128 43 7 2 2 42 5.3 1.8 .3 .1 .1 1.8SF 10 0 148 28 11 9 0 33 14.8 2.8 1.1 .9 .0 3.3PF 5 0 44 7 2 2 1 10 8.8 1.4 .4 .4 .2 2.0PF 4 4 60 11 6 5 0 20 15.0 2.8 1.5 1.3 .0 5.0

Playoffs PlayerSF4 4 159 33 20 5 2 108 39.8 8.3 5.0 1.3 .5 27.0C4 4 149 30 3 3 2 55 37.3 7.5 .8 .8 .5 13.8PG4 4 141 26 24 4 1 49 35.3 6.5 6.0 1.0 .3 12.3PF4 4 134 20 7 0 1 47 33.5 5.0 1.8 .0 .3 11.8SG4 4 109 6 9 6 0 44 27.3 1.5 2.3 1.5 .0 11.0PF4 0 108 16 9 1 0 51 27.0 4.0 2.3 .3 .0 12.8SG4 0 73 10 8 0 0 16 18.3 2.5 2.0 .0 .0 4.0PG4 0 49 3 5 1 0 4 12.3 .8 1.3 .3 .0 1.0SF4 0 24 3 0 0 0 4 6.0 .8 .0 .0 .0 1.0C 3 0 14 7 0 0 0 2 4.7 2.3 .0 .0 .0 .7

Awards and records Chuck Person, NBA Rookie of the Year Award Chuck Person, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

Transactions

References

See also 1986-87 NBA season