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1986–87 Phoenix Suns season

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1986–87 Phoenix Suns season
Head coachJohn MacLeod    (22–36)
Dick Van Arsdale (14–12)
General managerJerry Colangelo
OwnersRichard Bloch
ArenaArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Results
Record36–46 (.439)
PlaceDivision: 5th (Pacific)
Conference: 9th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
RadioKTAR
< 1985–86 1987–88 >

The 1986–87 Phoenix Suns season was the 18th season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The Suns started their fourteenth season under head coach John MacLeod. At 22–36 (.379) in late February, management decided to replace the longstanding MacLeod with Dick Van Arsdale,[1] a former Suns player from the 1975–76 Finals team (coached MacLeod).

Phoenix went 14–12 (.538) in those last 26 games under Van Arsdale to finish at 36–46 (.439), and missed the 16-team playoffs by one game. All Suns' home games were played at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Walter Davis again led the Suns in scoring, averaging 23.6 points for the season. The Suns had another 20-point scorer in Larry Nance, who garnered a career-high 22.5 points and a team-high 8.7 rebounds a game. Third-year point guard Jay Humphries averaged 7.7 assists per game to go with 11.3 points per game. For the 32-year-old Davis, it was an All-Star season for him, his 6th in 10 seasons with the Suns, and would be the last time of his career honored as an All-Star.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Main article: 1986 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 6 William Bedford Center  United States Memphis State
2 31 Joe Ward Guard  United States Georgia
2 39 Rafael Addison Forward  United States Syracuse
2 46 Jeff Hornacek Guard  United States Iowa State
3 55 Kenny Gattison Forward  United States Old Dominion
4 77 Grant Gondrezick Guard  United States Pepperdine
5 101 Greg Spurling Center  United States Carson–Newman
6 123 Jim McCaffrey Guard  United States Holy Cross
7 147 Damon Goodwin Guard  United States Dayton

Roster

Phoenix Suns roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB (Y-M-D) From
C 33 United States Adams, Alvan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1954-07-19 Oklahoma
F 12 United States Addison, Rafael 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1964-07-22 Syracuse
C 50 United States Bedford, William Injured 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1963-12-14 Memphis
G 6 United States Davis, Walter 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1954-09-09 North Carolina
C 53 United States Edwards, James Injured 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1955-11-22 Washington
F 44 United States Gattison, Kenny 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1964-05-23 Old Dominion
G 3 United States Gondrezick, Grant 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1963-01-19 Pepperdine
G 14 United States Hornacek, Jeff 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1963-05-03 Iowa State
G 24 United States Humphries, Jay 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1962-10-17 Colorado
F 22 United States Nance, Larry 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1959-02-12 Clemson
F 54 United States Pinckney, Ed 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1963-03-27 Villanova
G/F 11 United States Sanders, Mike 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1960-05-07 UCLA
G/F 7 United States Thompson, Bernard 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1962-08-30 Fresno State
C 30 United States Vanos, Nick 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1963-04-13 Santa Clara
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Regular season

Standings

Pacific Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 65 17 .793 – 37–4 28–13 24–6
x-Portland Trail Blazers 49 33 .598 16 34–7 15–26 17–13
x-Golden State Warriors 42 40 .512 23 25–16 17–24 17–13
x-Seattle SuperSonics 39 43 .476 26 25–16 14–27 15–15
Phoenix Suns 36 46 .439 29 26–15 10–31 14–16
Los Angeles Clippers 12 70 .146 53 9–32 3–38 3–27
#
Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Los Angeles Lakers 65 17 .793 –
2 y-Dallas Mavericks 55 27 .671 10
3 x-Portland Trail Blazers 49 33 .598 16
4 x-Utah Jazz 44 38 .537 21
5 x-Golden State Warriors 42 40 .512 23
6 x-Houston Rockets 42 40 .512 23
7 x-Seattle SuperSonics 39 43 .476 26
8 x-Denver Nuggets 37 45 .451 28
9 Phoenix Suns 36 46 .439 29
10 Sacramento Kings 29 53 .354 36
11 San Antonio Spurs 28 54 .341 37
12 Los Angeles Clippers 12 70 .146 53

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 —

Awards and honors

All-Star

  • Walter Davis was selected as a reserve for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game. It was his sixth and final All-Star selection.
  • The other Suns player receiving All-Star votes was Larry Nance (314,193).

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

Phoenix Suns statistics
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Alvan Adams 68 40 24.9 .503 .000 .788 5.0 3.3 .9 .5 11.1
Rafael Addison 62 12 11.5 .441 .320 .797 1.7 0.7 .4 .1 5.8
William Bedford 50 18 19.6 .397 .000 .581 4.9 1.1 .4 .7 6.7
Walter Davis 79 79 33.5 .514 .259 .862 3.1 4.6 1.2 .1 23.6
James Edwards 14 9 21.7 .518 . .771 4.3 1.4 .4 .5 12.0
Kenny Gattison 77 14 14.3 .476 .000 .632 3.5 0.5 .3 .4 5.2
Grant Gondrezick 64 1 13.1 .450 .235 .701 1.7 1.3 .4 .1 5.5
Jeff Hornacek 80 3 19.5 .454 .279 .777 2.3 4.5 .9 .1 5.3
Jay Humphries 82 82 31.5 .477 .185 .769 3.2 7.7 1.4 .1 11.3
Larry Nance 69 67 37.2 .551 .200 .773 8.7 3.4 1.2 2.1 22.5
Ed Pinckney 80 65 28.1 .584 .000 .739 7.3 1.5 1.1 .7 10.5
Mike Sanders 82 4 20.2 .494 .118 .781 3.3 1.5 .7 .3 10.5
Bernard Thompson 24 2 13.8 .400 .000 .818 1.3 0.8 .5 .2 4.6
Nick Vanos 57 14 11.2 .411 .000 .644 3.2 0.8 .3 .4 2.9

Transactions

Free agents

Additions

Date Player Contract Old Team
October 1, 1986 Walter Davis Re-signed to 3-year contract Phoenix Suns

Subtractions

Date Player Reason Left New Team
June 8, 1986 Rod Foster Waived
July 31, 1986 Rick Robey Free agent
August 13, 1986 Charles Pittman Free agent Pallacanestro Varese (Italy)
August 20, 1986 Georgi Glouchkov Waived Mobilgirgi Caserta (Italy)
October 23, 1986 Sedric Toney Waived New York Knicks
October 28, 1986 Charles Jones Waived Portland Trail Blazers

References

  1. ^ "Van Arsdale chosen Phoenix head coach". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). combined reports. February 27, 1987. p. 21.
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