1989-90 NBA Finals

Result

Games

Finals MVP

Isiah Thomas. Thomas averaged 27.6 points, 8.0 assists, and 5.2 rebounds across the series and was named Finals MVP as Detroit repeated as champions.

Series context

The 1989-90 Finals pitted the defending champion Detroit Pistons against a Portland Trail Blazers team making its first Finals appearance since 1977. Both clubs finished the regular season with identical 59-23 records. Detroit had lost forward Rick Mahorn in the expansion draft, but Dennis Rodman stepped forward as a defensive force, winning his first Defensive Player of the Year award, while Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, and Bill Laimbeer anchored the rest of the championship core. Portland had quietly built a formidable roster around Clyde Drexler, point guard Terry Porter, and forward Jerome Kersey, surprising much of the league with its playoff run. Detroit took Game 1 at home, 105-99, after Isiah Thomas engineered a comeback in the final minutes with a string of clutch shots. Portland answered in Game 2, winning 106-105 in overtime, the first overtime game in the Finals since 1984, after Bill Laimbeer's six three-pointers had forced the extra period; Clyde Drexler's free throws put Portland ahead in the closing seconds, and a last-second block by Clifford Robinson sealed the win. The series then shifted to Portland, where Detroit reasserted control. In Game 3, Joe Dumars scored 33 points despite learning of his father's death at halftime, and Vinnie Johnson added 21 as the Pistons won 121-106 on the road. Detroit took a commanding 3-1 lead with a 112-109 win in Game 4, punctuated by a big third quarter from Isiah Thomas. Detroit closed out the championship in Game 5, 92-90, on the strength of Vinnie 'the Microwave' Johnson's instant offense off the bench, including the series-clinching jumper with under a second remaining. The victory made the Pistons the third franchise in NBA history to win back-to-back titles, joining the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, and cemented the Bad Boys' place among the league's dominant teams of the era. Isiah Thomas was named Finals MVP, a fitting reward after having been on the losing end of the classic 1988 Finals two years earlier. For Portland, despite the disappointment, the run signaled the arrival of a genuine championship contender that would return to the Finals again in 1992. The series marked the final act of Detroit's dynasty before the arrival of Michael Jordan's Bulls would end their run of Eastern Conference dominance the following season. Both finalists had to survive difficult conference finals to get there. Detroit needed seven games to beat a young, ascendant Chicago Bulls team led by Michael Jordan in the Eastern Conference finals, a hard-fought series that became known for Detroit's physical 'Jordan Rules' defensive scheme designed to wear Jordan down. Portland, meanwhile, beat Phoenix in six games in the Western Conference finals to reach the Finals for the first time since 1977. CBS broadcast the series, its 17th and final year holding NBA television rights before NBC took over the following season. Detroit's back-to-back titles, coming after the franchise's painful Game 7 loss to the Lakers in the 1988 Finals, established the Pistons' 'Bad Boys' teams as the last champions of the pre-Jordan era before Chicago's ascent the following season.

Sources

• Wikipedia - 1990 NBA Finals
• Land of Basketball - 1990 NBA Finals
• Basketball-Reference - 1990 NBA Playoffs