Every 1987-88 NBA playoff series, three ways: the season race carried on into the postseason, who beat their seeding, and the bracket.
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The same race these clubs ran all season, carried on through the postseason on one scale and on real dates.
Where each club finished the season against how far it went, ranked on record rather than seed.
Who played whom, round by round, which no line chart can say.
Los Angeles Lakers won the 1987-88 title from a regular season record of 62-20. 16 teams reached the playoffs and the bracket ran 4 rounds. Every series below is taken from NBA.com; nothing on this page is estimated.
| Round | Won by | Result | Opponent | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round | Los Angeles Lakers | 3-0 in games | San Antonio Spurs | April 29 to May 3, 1988 |
| First round | Boston Celtics | 3-1 in games | New York Knicks | April 29 to May 6, 1988 |
| First round | Denver Nuggets | 3-2 in games | Seattle SuperSonics | April 29 to May 7, 1988 |
| First round | Detroit Pistons | 3-2 in games | Washington Bullets | April 28 to May 8, 1988 |
| First round | Dallas Mavericks | 3-1 in games | Houston Rockets | April 28 to May 5, 1988 |
| First round | Utah Jazz | 3-1 in games | Portland Trail Blazers | April 28 to May 6, 1988 |
| First round | Atlanta Hawks | 3-2 in games | Milwaukee Bucks | April 29 to May 8, 1988 |
| First round | Chicago Bulls | 3-2 in games | Cleveland Cavaliers | April 28 to May 8, 1988 |
| Conf. semifinals | Los Angeles Lakers | 4-3 in games | Utah Jazz | May 8 to May 21, 1988 |
| Conf. semifinals | Boston Celtics | 4-3 in games | Atlanta Hawks | May 11 to May 22, 1988 |
| Conf. semifinals | Dallas Mavericks | 4-2 in games | Denver Nuggets | May 10 to May 19, 1988 |
| Conf. semifinals | Detroit Pistons | 4-1 in games | Chicago Bulls | May 10 to May 18, 1988 |
| Conf. finals | Los Angeles Lakers | 4-3 in games | Dallas Mavericks | May 23 to June 4, 1988 |
| Conf. finals | Detroit Pistons | 4-2 in games | Boston Celtics | May 25 to June 3, 1988 |
| The Finals | Los Angeles Lakers | 4-3 in games | Detroit Pistons | June 7 to June 21, 1988 |
The left column ranks this field by regular season record, not by seed number: seeding rules differ by era, so this site uses records everywhere instead. The right column groups clubs by the round they went out in, which is not the same as the number of rounds they won, because a bye carries a club further without it winning anything. The figure beside a name is places moved between the two columns, and part of it is only where a club sat inside its band. Nothing here is a prediction. The data notes carry the whole method.