Coming off a season in which they won the NBA championship, the Los Angeles Lakers stormed their way to the best overall record (62-20) and top seed heading into the 1988 playoffs.
The playoffs looked to be a breeze, but quickly turned into a grueling battle. The Lakers, on the road to another NBA Finals appearance, needed two seven-game series against the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks to get there.
Once in the Finals, they faced another tough test in the ‘bad boy’ Detroit Pistons. Led by Isiah Thomas, the Pistons got 54 wins and earned the second seed in the East.