1986–87 Indiana Pacers season

1986–87 Indiana Pacers season
1986–87 Indiana Pacers season
Head coach	Jack Ramsay
General manager	Donnie Walsh
Arena	Market Square Arena
Results
Record	41–41 (.500)
Place	Division: 4th (Central); Conference: 7th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost to Atlanta Hawks in East First Round (1-3)
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	WTTV–TV 4; (Eddie Doucette, Bobby "Slick" Leonard)
Radio	WIBC–AM 1070; (Greg Papa)
< 1985–86	1987–88 >

The 1986–87 NBA season was Indiana's 11th season in the NBA and 20th season as a franchise.^[1]

Offseason

Draft picks

This table only lists picks through the second round.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	4	Chuck Person	SF	United States	Auburn
2	26	Greg Dreiling	C	United States	Kansas

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Height	Weight	DOB
SF	15	Anderson, Ron	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fresno State
C	54	Dreiling, Greg	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Kansas
PG	10	Fleming, Vern	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Georgia
C	55	Gray, Stuart	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	UCLA
PF	33	Kellogg, Clark	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Ohio State
SG	25	Long, John	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Detroit Mercy
G	44	Macy, Kyle	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Kentucky
SF	45	Person, Chuck	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Auburn
SG	4	Richardson, Clint	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Seattle
PG	31	Russell, Walker	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Western Michigan
C	40	Stipanovich, Steve	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Missouri
PF	23	Tisdale, Wayman	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Oklahoma
PF	32	Williams, Herb	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	242 lb (110 kg)	Ohio State

Head coach

Jack Ramsay

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Atlanta Hawks	57	25	.695	–	35–6	22–19	17–13
x-Detroit Pistons	52	30	.634	5	32–9	20–21	17–13
x-Milwaukee Bucks	50	32	.610	7	32–9	18–23	17–13
x-Indiana Pacers	41	41	.500	16	28–13	13–28	13–16
x-Chicago Bulls	40	42	.488	17	29–12	11–30	17–12
Cleveland Cavaliers	31	51	.378	26	25–16	6–35	8–22

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Boston Celtics	59	23	.720	–
2	y-Atlanta Hawks	57	25	.695	2
3	x-Detroit Pistons	52	30	.634	7
4	x-Milwaukee Bucks	50	32	.610	9
5	x-Philadelphia 76ers	45	37	.549	14
6	x-Washington Bullets	42	40	.512	17
7	x-Indiana Pacers	41	41	.500	18
8	x-Chicago Bulls	40	42	.488	19

9	Cleveland Cavaliers	31	51	.378	28
10	New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	35
11	New York Knicks	24	58	.293	35

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1986-87 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	LAC	LAL	MIL	NJN	NYK	PHI	PHO	POR	SAC	SAS	SEA	UTA	WAS
Atlanta	—	3–3	4–2	4–2	2–0	2–0	3–3	1–1	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	3–3	5–0	5–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	5–0
Boston	3–3	—	6–0	3–2	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–0	2–0	5–1	2–0	0–2	3–3	4–2	4–2	3–3	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	4–2
Chicago	2–4	0–6	—	5–1	1–1	1–1	3–3	0–2	0–2	3–2	2–0	0–2	4–2	3–2	4–2	3–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	3–3
Cleveland	2–4	2–3	1–5	—	0–2	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	3–3	2–0	0–2	1–5	4–2	4–1	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–4
Dallas	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–0	—	4–2	1–1	5–0	3–3	0–2	5–0	3–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–3	5–1	4–2	5–0	3–3	1–1
Denver	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	—	0–2	4–1	3–3	1–1	2–3	0–5	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	3–2	3–2	2–4	5–1	2–3	2–4	1–1
Detroit	3–3	2–3	3–3	5–1	1–1	2–0	—	1–1	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	3–3	5–1	6–0	5–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–3
Golden State	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–5	1–4	1–1	—	4–1	0–2	6–0	2–4	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–5	4–2	4–1	4–1	4–2	2–3	0–2
Houston	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	3–3	3–3	1–1	1–4	—	2–0	4–1	1–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–2	2–3	5–1	5–1	1–4	3–3	1–1
Indiana	3–3	1–5	2–3	3–3	2–0	1–1	3–3	2–0	0–2	—	2–0	0–2	2–4	5–1	3–2	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	4–2
L.A. Clippers	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–5	3–2	0–2	0–6	1–4	0–2	—	0–6	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–5	0–6	1–4	1–4	2–4	2–3	0–2
L.A. Lakers	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–3	5–0	1–1	4–2	4–1	2–0	6–0	—	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	5–1	5–1	5–0	4–1	4–2	3–2	1–1
Milwaukee	3–3	3–3	2–4	5–1	0–2	1–1	3–3	2–0	2–0	4–2	2–0	1–1	—	4–2	4–2	2–3	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	4–1
New Jersey	0–5	2–4	2–3	2–4	0–2	0–2	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	2–4	—	5–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–4
New York	1–5	2–4	2–4	1–4	0–2	0–2	0–6	0–2	1–1	2–3	2–0	0–2	2–4	1–5	—	3–3	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–4
Philadelphia	3–3	3–3	3–3	4–2	0–2	2–0	0–5	1–1	2–0	4–2	2–0	0–2	3–2	3–3	3–3	—	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–3
Phoenix	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–3	2–3	1–1	5–1	2–3	1–1	5–1	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	—	2–4	2–3	2–3	1–5	4–1	0–2
Portland	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–3	2–0	2–4	3–2	2–0	6–0	1–5	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	4–2	—	3–2	4–1	4–2	3–2	1–1
Sacramento	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–5	4–2	1–1	1–4	1–5	1–1	4–1	0–5	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	3–2	2–3	—	3–3	2–3	1–5	1–1
San Antonio	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	1–5	1–1	1–4	1–5	0–2	4–1	1–4	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–2	1–4	3–3	—	1–4	2–4	0–2
Seattle	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–5	3–2	0–2	2–4	4–1	1–1	4–2	2–4	0–2	2–0	2–0	0–2	5–1	2–4	3–2	4–1	—	3–2	1–1
Utah	0–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–3	4–2	1–1	3–2	3–3	1–1	3–2	2–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–4	2–3	5–1	4–2	2–3	—	1–1
Washington	0–5	2–4	3–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	2–4	2–0	1–1	1–4	4–2	4–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	—

Game log

Regular season

1986–87 game log
Total: 41–41 (Home: 28–13; Road: 13–28)

October: 0–1 (home: 0–0; road: 0–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	October 31, 1986	@ Philadelphia	L 104–108				The Spectrum	0–1

November: 7–8 (home: 5–2; road: 2–6)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
2	November 1, 1986	Detroit	W 92–89	Market Square Arena	1–1
3	November 4, 1986	Philadelphia	W 125–121 (2OT)	Market Square Arena	2–1
4	November 5, 1986	@ Boston	L 102–133	Boston Garden	2–2
5	November 8, 1986	San Antonio	W 130–97	Market Square Arena	3–2
6	November 11, 1986	@ Milwaukee	L 94–102	MECCA Arena	3–3
7	November 13, 1986	@ New Jersey	W 120–117	Brendan Byrne Arena	4–3
8	November 15, 1986	Milwaukee	W 104–103	Market Square Arena	5–3
9	November 16, 1986	@ Washington	L 111–124	Capital Centre	5–4
10	November 18, 1986	@ L.A. Clippers	W 98–93	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena	6–4
11	November 20, 1986	@ Sacramento	L 83–92	ARCO Arena	6–5
12	November 22, 1986	@ Seattle	L 111–121	Seattle Center Coliseum	6–6
13	November 23, 1986	@ Portland	L 95–108	Memorial Coliseum	6–7
14	November 26, 1986	Houston	L 88–92	Market Square Arena	6–8
15	November 28, 1986	Denver	W 126–102	Market Square Arena	7–8
16	November 30, 1986	Portland	L 101–118	Market Square Arena	7–9

December: 7–6 (home: 6–1; road: 1–5)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
17	December 2, 1986	@ Milwaukee	L 88–95	MECCA Arena	7–10
18	December 3, 1986	Washington	W 116–103	Market Square Arena	8–10
19	December 5, 1986	Atlanta	W 119–113	Market Square Arena	9–10
20	December 10, 1986	@ Philadelphia	L 112–122	The Spectrum	9–11
21	December 11, 1986	Cleveland	W 115–94	Market Square Arena	10–11
22	December 13, 1986	New Jersey	W 95–91	Market Square Arena	11–11
23	December 17, 1986	@ Boston	L 101–113	Boston Garden	11–12
24	December 18, 1986	Chicago	L 88–97	Market Square Arena	11–13
25	December 20, 1986	@ New York	W 123–99	Madison Square Garden	12–13
26	December 21, 1986	@ Cleveland	L 94–104	Richfield Coliseum	12–14
27	December 23, 1986	Detroit	W 111–98	Market Square Arena	13–14
28	December 27, 1986	@ Chicago	L 93–105	Chicago Stadium	13–15
29	December 30, 1986	Cleveland	W 111–99	Market Square Arena	14–15

January: 6–9 (home: 4–4; road: 2–5)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
30	January 2, 1987	L.A. Clippers	W 116–106	Market Square Arena	15–15
31	January 5, 1987	@ Dallas	W 144–135	Reunion Arena	15–16
32	January 6, 1987	@ San Antonio	W 101–99	HemisFair Arena	16–16
33	January 8, 1987	@ Houston	L 96–110	The Summit	17–16
34	January 10, 1987	@ Utah	L 96–105	Salt Palace	17–17
35	January 13, 1987	Philadelphia	L 94–101	Market Square Arena	17–18
36	January 15, 1987	Washington	W 113–105	Market Square Arena	18–18
37	January 17, 1987	Dallas	W 119–115 (2OT)	Market Square Arena	19–18
38	January 19, 1987	Chicago	W 109–95	Market Square Arena	20–18
39	January 21, 1987	@ Boston	L 100–130	Boston Garden	20–19
40	January 22, 1987	L.A. Lakers	L 108–118	Market Square Arena	20–20
41	January 24, 1987	Phoenix	L 103–104	Market Square Arena	20–21
42	January 27, 1987	@ Atlanta	L 98–114	The Omni	20–22
43	January 30, 1987	Boston	L 94–100	Market Square Arena	20–23
44	January 31, 1987	@ Cleveland	L 100–102	Richfield Coliseum	20–24

February: 7–6 (home: 3–1; road: 4–5)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
45	February 3, 1987	Philadelphia	L 94–99	Market Square Arena	20–25
46	February 5, 1987	@ Detroit	W 98–93	Pontiac Silverdome	21–25
All-Star Break
47	February 10, 1987	@ Golden State	W 126–125 (OT)	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena	22–25
48	February 11, 1987	@ Phoenix	W 121–105	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	23–25
49	February 13, 1987	@ L.A. Lakers	L 108–113	The Forum	23–26
50	February 14, 1987	@ Denver	L 113–129	McNichols Sports Arena	23–27
51	February 16, 1987	Golden State	W 112–93	Market Square Arena	24–27
52	February 18, 1987	Seattle	W 105–88	Market Square Arena	25–27
53	February 20, 1987	@ Atlanta	W 107–105	The Omni	26–27
54	February 22, 1987	Sacramento	W 103–101	Market Square Arena	27–27
55	February 24, 1987	@ Milwaukee	L 114–120 (2OT)	MECCA Arena	27–28
56	February 26, 1987	@ Washington	L 94–100	Capital Centre	27–29
57	February 27, 1987	@ New Jersey	L 115–125	Brendan Byrne Arena	27–30

March: 9–5 (home: 8–3; road: 1–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
58	March 1, 1987	New York	W 122–115 (OT)	Market Square Arena	28–30
59	March 3, 1987	Atlanta	L 108–109	Market Square Arena	28–31
60	March 7, 1987	Milwaukee	L 120–124	Market Square Arena	28–32
61	March 9, 1987	Utah	W 107–102	Market Square Arena	29–32
62	March 11, 1987	Detroit	L 98–107	Market Square Arena	29–33
63	March 13, 1987	Boston	W 116–109	Market Square Arena	30–33
64	March 15, 1987	New Jersey	W 123–99	Market Square Arena	31–33
65	March 16, 1987	@ Detroit	L 95–115	Pontiac Silverdome	31–34
66	March 19, 1987	@ New York	L 105–111 (OT)	Madison Square Garden	31–35
67	March 21, 1987	Cleveland	W 77–76	Market Square Arena	32–35
68	March 23, 1987	Washington	W 101–92	Market Square Arena	33–35
69	March 25, 1987	Milwaukee	W 125–108	Market Square Arena	34–35
70	March 27, 1987	New York	W 100–91	Market Square Arena	35–35
71	March 28, 1987	@ Atlanta	W 120–114	The Omni	36–35

April: 5–6 (home: 2–2; road: 3–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
72	April 1, 1987	Chicago	W 99–94	Market Square Arena	37–35
73	April 2, 1987	@ Detroit	L 73–119	Pontiac Silverdome	37–36
74	April 4, 1987	@ New York	L 108–112	Madison Square Garden	37–37
75	April 7, 1987	New Jersey	W 128–114	Market Square Arena	38–37
76	April 9, 1987	@ Cleveland	L 99–111	Richfield Coliseum	38–38
77	April 10, 1987	@ Washington	W 115–101	Capital Centre	39–38
78	April 12, 1987	@ Chicago	L 95–116	Chicago Stadium	39–39
79	April 13, 1987	Atlanta	L 101–102	Market Square Arena	39–40
80	April 15, 1987	Boston	L 85–108	Market Square Arena	39–41
81	April 17, 1987	@ Philadelphia	W 115–111	The Spectrum	40–41
82	April 18, 1987	@ New Jersey	W 112–103	Brendan Byrne Arena	41–41

1986–87 schedule

Playoffs

1987 playoff game log

Eastern Conference First Round: 1–3 (home: 1–1; road: 0–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 24, 1987	@ Atlanta	L 94–110	Steve Stipanovich (22)	Steve Stipanovich (13)	Vern Fleming (6)	The Omni 16,522	0–1
2	April 26, 1987	@ Atlanta	L 93–94	Chuck Person (24)	Herb Williams (8)	Williams, Fleming (4)	The Omni 16,522	0–2
3	April 29, 1987	Atlanta	W 96–87	Chuck Person (23)	Chuck Person (17)	Chuck Person (7)	Market Square Arena 12,303	1–2
4	May 1, 1987	Atlanta	L 97–101	Chuck Person (40)	Vern Fleming (11)	Vern Fleming (8)	Market Square Arena 14,039	1–3

1987 schedule

Player statistics

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

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chuck Person	82	78	36.0	46.8	35.5	74.7	8.3	3.6	1.1	0.2	18.8
John Long	80	68	28.3	41.9	28.4	89.0	2.7	3.2	1.2	0.1	15.2
Herb Williams	74	67	34.1	48.0	0.0	74.0	7.3	2.4	0.8	1.3	14.9
Wayman Tisdale	81	15	26.7	51.3	0.0	70.9	5.9	1.4	0.6	0.3	14.5
Steve Stipanovich	81	81	34.1	50.3	25.0	83.7	8.3	2.2	1.3	1.2	13.2
Vern Fleming	82	82	31.1	50.9	20.0	78.8	4.1	5.8	1.3	0.2	12.0
Clint Richardson	78	14	17.9	46.7	35.3	79.7	1.8	3.1	0.6	0.1	6.4
Ron Anderson	63	0	11.4	47.3	0.0	78.7	2.4	0.9	0.5	0.0	5.8
Clark Kellogg	4	4	15.0	36.4	50.0	75.0	2.8	1.5	1.3	0.0	5.0
Kyle Macy	76	0	16.4	48.1	30.4	82.9	1.5	2.6	0.8	0.1	4.9
Michael Brooks	10	0	14.8	35.1	0.0	70.0	2.8	1.1	0.9	0.0	3.3
Walker Russell	48	0	10.6	38.8	12.5	73.0	1.1	2.7	0.4	0.1	3.3
Pete Verhoeven	5	0	8.8	35.7	0.0	0.0	1.4	0.4	0.4	0.2	2.0
Stuart Gray	55	1	8.3	40.6	0.0	71.8	2.3	0.5	0.2	0.5	2.0
Greg Dreiling	24	0	5.3	43.2	0.0	83.3	1.8	0.3	0.1	0.1	1.8

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chuck Person	4	4	39.8	51.4	25.0	76.9	8.3	5.0	1.3	0.5	27.0
Steve Stipanovich	4	4	37.3	55.3	0.0	68.4	7.5	0.8	0.8	0.5	13.8
Wayman Tisdale	4	0	27.0	61.3	0.0	56.5	4.0	2.3	0.3	0.0	12.8
Vern Fleming	4	4	35.3	36.1	0.0	76.7	6.5	6.0	1.0	0.3	12.3
Herb Williams	4	4	33.5	58.8	0.0	53.8	5.0	1.8	0.0	0.3	11.8
John Long	4	4	27.3	30.8	16.7	84.6	1.5	2.3	1.5	0.0	11.0
Clint Richardson	4	0	18.3	58.3	0.0	50.0	2.5	2.0	0.0	0.0	4.0
Kyle Macy	4	0	12.3	33.3	0.0	0.0	0.8	1.3	0.3	0.0	1.0
Ron Anderson	4	0	6.0	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0
Stuart Gray	3	0	4.7	0.0	0.0	50.0	2.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7

Player Statistics Citation:^[2]

Awards and records

Chuck Person, NBA Rookie of the Year Award
Chuck Person, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

Transactions

References

^ "1986-87 Indiana Pacers Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
^ "1986-87 Indiana Pacers Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 25, 2021.

v t e Indiana Pacers
Founded in 1967 Based in Indianapolis, Indiana
Franchise	History ABA–NBA merger All-time roster Draft history Head coaches Seasons Current season
Arenas	Indiana State Fair Coliseum Market Square Arena Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Personnel	Owner(s) Herb Simon President Kevin Pritchard General manager Chad Buchanan Head coach Rick Carlisle
G League affiliate	Indiana Mad Ants
Retired numbers	30 31 34 35 529
ABA championships	1970 1972 1973
Rivalries	Miami Heat New York Knicks
Culture and lore	Broadcasters Boomer Dancing Harry Team Bikeshare The Knick-Killer The Dunking Dutchman Malice at the Palace Reb Porter

Offseason

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Transactions

References

See also