standingschart.com
games above .500 · final standings
1988-89 NBA Eastern Conference standings
The Detroit Pistons won the 1988-89 NBA Eastern Conference playoff race at 63-19, 6 games ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
🏆The 1988-89 playoffs, series by series
Loading season data…
East standings, 1988-89
| Team | W | L | Pct | GB | L10 | Streak |
|---|
| Detroit Pistons (DET) e | 63 | 19 | .768 | - | 9-1 | W5 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers (CLE) x | 57 | 25 | .695 | 6 | 5-5 | W1 |
| Atlanta Hawks (ATL) x | 52 | 30 | .634 | 11 | 9-1 | L1 |
| New York Knicks (NYK) x | 52 | 30 | .634 | 11 | 5-5 | W2 |
| Milwaukee Bucks (MIL) x | 49 | 33 | .598 | 14 | 4-6 | L1 |
| Chicago Bulls (CHI) x | 47 | 35 | .573 | 16 | 2-8 | L1 |
| Philadelphia 76ers (PHL) x | 46 | 36 | .561 | 17 | 5-5 | W1 |
| Boston Celtics (BOS) x | 42 | 40 | .512 | 21 | 4-6 | W1 |
| Washington Bullets (WAS) | 40 | 42 | .488 | 23 | 5-5 | L2 |
| Indiana Pacers (IND) | 28 | 54 | .341 | 35 | 6-4 | W2 |
| New Jersey Nets (NJN) | 26 | 56 | .317 | 37 | 2-8 | L4 |
| Charlotte Hornets (CHH) | 20 | 62 | .244 | 43 | 3-7 | L2 |
The dashed line on the chart is the pace of the final playoff spot.
Clinch key- x
- clinched a playoff place
- e
- clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference
Turning points
- The lead changed hands 4 times.
- The Detroit Pistons trailed by as many as 5 games on January 23, 1989.
- The Detroit Pistons took first place for good on March 22, 1989.
- The Cleveland Cavaliers won 11 games in a row from December 15, 1988 to January 7, 1989, the longest run of the race.
- The Cleveland Cavaliers led by 5 games as late as March 2, 1989.
- The Detroit Pistons went 21-2 from March 2, 1989 to April 12, 1989, turning a deficit of 5 games into a lead of 3.5 games.
- The top two ended the day within one game of each other on 47 of the 154 days played.
- Six teams held first place.
- The Detroit Pistons spent 79 of the season's 171 charted days in first place.