1988–89 Cleveland Cavaliers season

1988–89 Cleveland Cavaliers season
Head coach	Lenny Wilkens
Arena	Richfield Coliseum
Results
Record	57–25 (.695)
Place	Division: 2nd (Central) Conference: 3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	First round (Lost to Bulls 2–3)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WOIO (Joe Tait, Jim Chones)
Radio	WRMR[1] (Joe Tait, Jim Johnson)
< 1987–88 1989–90 >

The 1988-89 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 19th season of NBA basketball in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers finished the season with a 57–25 record, setting a franchise high. This was tied for 2nd best in the NBA, finishing 2nd in the Central Division. Mark Price, Brad Daugherty and Larry Nance were all selected for the 1989 NBA All-Star Game. In the playoffs, they were eliminated by Michael Jordan's 6th-seeded Chicago Bulls in five first round games, thanks to a memorable series-clinching shot by Jordan.

Key Dates:

Draft picks[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	22	Randolph Keys	Forward	United States	Southern Miss
3	64	Winston Bennett	Forward	United States	Kentucky

• 1st round pick (#14) traded to Phoenix in Larry Nance deal.^[2] Used to draft Dan Majerle.
• 2nd round pick (#38) traded to Phoenix in Larry Nance deal.^[2] Used to draft Dean Garrett.

Roster[]

1988–89 Cleveland Cavaliers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From C 43 Daugherty, Brad (C) 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1965-10-19 North Carolina C 24 Dudley, Chris 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1965-02-22 Yale SG 3 Ehlo, Craig 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1961-08-11 Washington State SG 4 Harper, Ron 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1964-01-20 Miami (OH) SF 35 Hubbard, Phil 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1956-12-13 Michigan SF 31 Keys, Randolph 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1966-04-19 Southern Miss PF 22 Nance, Larry (C) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1959-02-12 Clemson PG 25 Price, Mark (C) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1964-02-15 Georgia Tech C 30 Rollins, Tree 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1955-06-16 Clemson SF 11 Sanders, Mike 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1960-05-07 UCLA SG 1 Valentine, Darnell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 1959-02-03 Kansas PF 18 Williams, Hot Rod 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1962-08-09 Tulane

Head coach Lenny Wilkens Assistant coach(es) Dick Helm Brian Winters Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Last transaction: August 2, 1988

Regular season[]

Season standings[]

Central Division v t	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Detroit Pistons	63	19	.768	–	37–4	26–15	20–10
x-Cleveland Cavaliers	57	25	.695	6	37–4	20–21	19–11
x-Atlanta Hawks	52	30	.634	11	33–8	19–22	20–10
x-Milwaukee Bucks	49	33	.598	14	31–10	18–23	11–19
x-Chicago Bulls	47	35	.573	16	30–11	17–24	12–18
Indiana Pacers	28	54	.341	35	20–21	8–33	8–22

#	Eastern Conference v t
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Detroit Pistons	63	19	.768	–
2	y-New York Knicks	52	30	.634	11
3	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	57	25	.695	6
4	x-Atlanta Hawks	52	30	.634	11
5	x-Milwaukee Bucks	49	33	.598	14
6	x-Chicago Bulls	47	35	.573	16
7	x-Philadelphia 76ers	46	36	.561	17
8	x-Boston Celtics	42	40	.512	21
9	Washington Bullets	40	42	.488	23
10	Indiana Pacers	28	54	.341	35
11	New Jersey Nets	26	56	.317	37
12	Charlotte Hornets	20	62	.244	43

Notes

• z, y – division champions
• x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents[]

1988-89 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHA	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MIA	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	–	3–1	4–1	4–2	4–2	1–1	0–2	1–5	1–1	1–1	5–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	6–0	4–1	2–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1
Boston	1–3	–	6–0	1–3	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	2–3	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	5–1	3–3	3–3	0–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–4
Charlotte	1–4	0–6	–	1–4	0–4	0–2	0–2	0–4	0–2	0–2	2–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	0–4	2–4	2–4	3–3	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–5
Chicago	2–4	3–1	4–1	–	0–6	2–0	1–1	0–6	1–1	1–1	4–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	6–0	2–2	3–2	1–3	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	3–1
Cleveland	2–4	4–1	4–0	6–0	–	2–0	2–0	3–3	1–1	1–1	5–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	3–3	4–0	2–2	3–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–2
Dallas	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	–	3–3	0–2	1–3	1–5	1–1	3–1	0–4	6–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–3	2–2	2–2	5–1	2–2	4–2	1–1
Denver	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–3	–	1–1	3–1	4–2	1–1	2–2	1–3	5–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–2	3–1	3–3	2–2	3–3	1–1
Detroit	5–1	3–1	4–0	6–0	3–3	2–0	1–1	–	1–1	1–1	4–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–4	4–0	0–4	5–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	5–0
Golden State	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–3	1–1	–	1–3	1–1	5–1	2–3	4–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–4	2–4	2–3	3–1	2–4	2–2	1–1
Houston	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	5–1	2–4	1–1	3–1	–	2–0	2–2	1–3	4–2	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–3	3–1	2–2	6–0	2–2	2–4	0–2
Indiana	1–5	3–2	2–2	2–4	1–5	1–1	1–1	2–4	1–1	0–2	–	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–3	0–5	0–4	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–3
L.A. Clippers	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–2	0–2	1–5	2–2	1–1	–	1–5	1–3	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–5	1–5	2–3	3–1	1–4	1–3	0–2
L.A. Lakers	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	4–0	3–1	0–2	3–2	3–1	2–0	5–1	–	4–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–3	5–0	5–1	3–1	4–2	1–3	1–1
Miami	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–6	1–5	0–2	0–4	2–4	1–1	3–1	0–4	–	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–4	0–4	1–3	2–4	0–4	1–5	0–2
Milwaukee	0–6	2–2	4–0	0–6	3–3	2–0	2–0	4–2	2–0	1–1	4–2	2–0	1–1	2–0	–	4–1	1–3	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–1
New Jersey	1–4	1–5	4–2	2–2	0–4	1–1	1–1	0–4	0–2	0–2	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–4	–	2–4	1–5	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–5
New York	2–2	3–3	4–2	2–3	2–2	2–0	1–1	4–0	0–2	2–0	5–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	4–2	–	2–4	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–1
Philadelphia	2–2	3–3	3–3	3–1	2–3	1–1	1–1	0–5	1–1	2–0	4–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–3	5–1	4–2	–	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–2
Phoenix	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–2	3–1	3–1	0–2	4–2	3–1	1–1	5–1	3–3	4–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	–	2–3	5–1	3–1	4–1	2–2	2–0
Portland	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	2–2	2–2	1–1	4–2	1–3	0–2	5–1	0–5	4–0	0–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	3–2	–	3–3	4–0	2–4	0–4	1–1
Sacramento	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–2	1–3	0–2	3–2	2–2	1–1	3–2	1–5	3–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–5	3–3	–	2–2	1–5	1–3	0–2
San Antonio	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–5	3–3	0–2	1–3	0–6	0–2	1–3	1–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–3	0–4	2–2	–	0–4	1–5	1–1
Seattle	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–2	2–2	0–2	4–2	2–2	1–1	4–1	2–4	4–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–4	4–2	5–1	4–0	–	3–1	1–1
Utah	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–4	3–3	0–2	2–2	4–2	1–1	3–1	3–1	5–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	4–0	3–1	5–1	1–3	–	2–0
Washington	1–3	4–2	5–1	1–3	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–5	1–1	2–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–4	5–1	1–5	2–4	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	—

Game log[]

1988–89 game log Total: 57–25 (Home: 37–4; Road: 20–21)
show November: 8–3 (Home: 4–1; Road: 4–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 November 4, 1988 @ Charlotte 2 November 5, 1988 @ Indiana 3 November 9, 1988 L.A. Clippers 4 November 12, 1988 Indiana 5 November 15, 1988 8:00 pm EST Atlanta L 95–97 Daugherty (22) Williams (11) Price (10) Richfield Coliseum 15,684 4–1 6 November 18, 1988 @ New Jersey 7 November 19, 1988 Milwaukee 8 November 22, 1988 @ Boston (at Hartford, CT) 9 November 23, 1988 @ Philadelphia 10 November 26, 1988 @ New York 11 November 27, 1988 Miami
show December: 12–2 (Home: 8–1; Road: 4–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 12 December 1, 1988 @ Milwaukee 13 December 2, 1988 Boston 14 December 4, 1988 Denver 15 December 6, 1988 @ Houston 16 December 8, 1988 @ San Antonio 17 December 10, 1988 @ Dallas 18 December 13, 1988 L.A. Lakers 19 December 15, 1988 Detroit 20 December 17, 1988 7:30 pm EST Atlanta W 120–94 Price (23) Daugherty, Harper (9) Price (8) Richfield Coliseum 18,815 15–5 21 December 20, 1988 Utah 22 December 21, 1988 @ Boston 23 December 23, 1988 Seattle 24 December 27, 1988 @ Chicago 25 December 28, 1988 Charlotte 26 December 30, 1988 Washington
show January: 11–4 (Home: 7–0; Road: 4–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 27 January 3, 1989 Indiana 28 January 5, 1989 Chicago 29 January 7, 1989 New York 30 January 9, 1989 @ Seattle 31 January 11, 1989 @ Phoenix 32 January 13, 1989 @ L.A. Lakers 33 January 14, 1989 @ Denver 34 January 16, 1989 Phoenix 35 January 19, 1989 @ Indiana 36 January 21, 1989 New Jersey 37 January 23, 1989 Golden State 38 January 24, 1989 7:30 pm EST @ Atlanta L 105–121 Nance (28) Daugherty (9) Price (9) The Omni 16,371 30–8 39 January 27, 1989 @ Detroit 40 January 29, 1989 @ Washington (at Baltimore, MD) 41 January 31, 1989 Philadelphia
show February: 10–3 (Home: 8–0; Road: 2–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 42 February 2, 1989 @ New York 43 February 3, 1989 Sacramento 44 February 5, 1989 @ Charlotte 45 February 7, 1989 @ Milwaukee 46 February 9, 1989 Indiana All-Star Break 47 February 14, 1989 @ Miami 48 February 15, 1989 New York 49 February 17, 1989 8:00 pm EST @ Atlanta L 100–108 Price (29) Daugherty (13) Harper (5) The Omni 16,371 37–12 50 February 18, 1989 Philadelphia 51 February 20, 1989 Houston 52 February 22, 1989 New Jersey 53 February 24, 1989 Portland 54 February 28, 1989 Detroit
show March: 9–8 (Home: 5–1; Road: 4–7) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 55 March 2, 1989 San Antonio 56 March 3, 1989 @ Detroit 57 March 5, 1989 Milwaukee 58 March 7, 1989 @ Sacramento 59 March 9, 1989 @ Golden State 60 March 10, 1989 @ L.A. Clippers 61 March 12, 1989 @ Portland 62 March 13, 1989 @ Utah 63 March 15, 1989 Chicago 64 March 19, 1989 @ New Jersey 65 March 20, 1989 Washington 66 March 22, 1989 @ Philadelphia 67 March 23, 1989 Milwaukee 68 March 25, 1989 @ Milwaukee 69 March 27, 1989 @ Indiana 70 March 28, 1989 Dallas 71 March 31, 1989 @ Chicago
show April: 6–5 (Home: 5–1; Road: 1–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 72 April 2, 1989 Boston 73 April 4, 1989 7:30 pm EDT Atlanta W 105–91 Harper (32) Daugherty (17) Price (13) Richfield Coliseum 19,322 53–20 74 April 7, 1989 @ Washington 75 April 9, 1989 Charlotte 76 April 11, 1989 Philadelphia 77 April 12, 1989 @ Detroit 78 April 14, 1989 @ Boston 79 April 16, 1989 Chicago 80 April 18, 1989 Detroit 81 April 21, 1989 7:30 pm EDT @ Atlanta L 89–92 Harper (18) Harper, Rollins (8) Ehlo (8) The Omni 16,371 56–25 82 April 23, 1989 @ Chicago
1988–89 schedule

Playoffs[]

1989 playoff game log
show First round: 2–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 28 Chicago L 88–95 Craig Ehlo (19) Brad Daugherty (7) Darnell Valentine (6) Richfield Coliseum 19,312 0–1 2 April 30 Chicago W 96–88 Ron Harper (31) Ron Harper (11) Larry Nance (5) Richfield Coliseum 20,273 1–1 3 May 3 @ Chicago L 94–101 Hot Rod Williams (22) Hot Rod Williams (11) Darnell Valentine (8) Chicago Stadium 17,721 1–2 4 May 5 @ Chicago W 108–105 (OT) Larry Nance (27) Brad Daugherty (17) Mark Price (7) Chicago Stadium 18,264 2–2 5 May 7 Chicago L 100–101 Craig Ehlo (24) Brad Daugherty (11) Mark Price (7) Richfield Coliseum 20,273 2–3
1989 schedule

Player stats[]

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Regular season[]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Mark Price	75	74	36.4	52.6	44.1	90.1	3.0	8.4	1.5	0.1	18.9
Brad Daugherty	78	78	36.2	53.8	33.3	73.7	9.2	3.7	0.8	0.5	18.9
Ron Harper	82	82	34.8	51.1	25.0	75.1	5.0	5.3	2.3	0.9	18.6
Larry Nance	73	72	34.6	53.9	0.0	79.9	8.0	2.2	0.8	2.8	17.2
Hot Rod Williams	82	10	25.9	50.9	25.0	74.8	5.8	1.3	0.9	1.6	11.6
Mike Sanders	82	82	25.6	45.3	30.0	71.9	3.7	1.6	1.1	0.4	9.3
Craig Ehlo	82	4	22.8	47.5	39.0	60.7	3.6	3.2	1.3	0.2	7.4
Darnell Valentine	77	4	14.1	42.6	21.4	81.3	1.3	2.3	0.7	0.1	4.8
Randolph Keys	42	0	7.9	43.0	10.0	69.0	1.3	0.5	0.3	0.1	4.0
Chris Dudley	61	2	8.9	43.5	0.0	36.4	2.6	0.3	0.1	0.4	3.0
Phil Hubbard	31	0	6.2	44.4	0.0	68.0	1.3	0.4	0.2	0.0	2.4
Tree Rollins	60	2	9.7	44.9	0.0	63.2	2.3	0.3	0.2	0.6	2.3

Playoffs[]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Ron Harper	5	5	37.8	56.5	0.0	76.9	4.2	4.0	2.2	0.8	19.6
Larry Nance	5	5	39.0	55.1	0.0	65.6	7.8	3.2	0.6	2.4	19.4
Mark Price	4	4	39.5	38.6	37.5	93.3	3.3	5.5	0.8	0.0	16.0
Craig Ehlo	4	1	24.3	43.6	38.5	81.8	1.5	3.3	0.8	0.3	12.0
Brad Daugherty	5	5	33.4	36.2	0.0	60.0	9.2	2.4	1.2	1.0	11.0
Hot Rod Williams	5	2	32.2	46.7	0.0	72.2	6.8	2.0	0.4	1.4	11.0
Mike Sanders	5	3	17.4	50.0	0.0	60.0	3.2	0.8	0.4	0.2	6.6
Darnell Valentine	5	0	16.0	35.0	0.0	87.5	1.4	3.2	1.0	0.0	4.2
Tree Rollins	5	0	14.8	75.0	0.0	60.0	3.2	0.2	0.6	1.4	3.0
Randolph Keys	1	0	12.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Chris Dudley	1	0	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Phil Hubbard	1	0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Player Statistics Citation:^[3]

Awards and records[]

Awards[]

• Mark Price, All-NBA Third Team
• Larry Nance, NBA All-Defensive First Team

Records[]

Milestones[]

All-Star[]

Transactions[]

Trades[]

Free agents[]

Development league[]

References[]

• Cleveland Cavaliers on Database Basketball
• Cleveland Cavaliers on Basketball Reference