European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 3, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 24 the stars and stripes tuesday january 3, 1989 pro basketball 88 lakers proved Champ can repeat Iii Sai Oliai Iii i Jura i Isu Oswil Iii  Itu playoffs Riley said. This was As Gruel As i be Ever been involved with and it was by Bill Barnardas basketball writer the los Angeles lakers finally proved it could Bedone. A National basketball association Champion can come Back and do it  Champagne was t dry in the lakers locker room after winning the Aba title in 1987 when coach Pat Riley said he guaranteed they would repeat As champions in 1988. Riley believed that despite four titles since 1980, the lakers would miss the Mark of greatness if they could t do what no team had done since 1969 when the Boston celtics were the last team to win Back to Back championships. The route they took to the title however was much different than the one they took in 1987, when they won 11 of 12 playoff games before beating Boston 4-2in the finals. After a league Best 62-20 record in the regular sea son and an easy 3-0 first round sweep of san Antonio the lakers had to leap three difficult hurdles before Riley s prediction came True. It was almost 55 straight Days of basketball for this team in the ing a season a the same for the  the Western conference semifinals the lakers fell behind 2-1 against Utah and needed a 109-98 Victory in game 7 to Advance to the next round against  los Angeles won easily in the first two games at Home but the lakers could t win in Dallas As the Mavericks once again took the defending champions to seven games before losing game 7 117-102. The final obstacle for the lakers were the Detroit pistons who broke an eight year stranglehold on the Eastern conference by Boston and Philadelphia which did t make the playoffs for the first time since 1975. Not since 1979 had any team other than the lakers Boston Philadelphia or Houston reached the finals until Detroit did it in 1988. The pistons won their first division title since mov ing to Detroit in 1957. Detroit beat Washington 3-2 in the first round rolled Over Chicago 4rl and had two Sweet victories at Boston Garden in route to beating the celtics 4-2 for the conference title. Three Superb performances by Adrian Dantley he scored a total of 86 Points in three Detroit victories and a Strong Bench carried the pistons to a 3-2 Lead in the championship series but they needed a Victory on the Road to upset the lakers Hopes of repeating. Detroit almost pulled it off. Isiah Thomas set a finals record of 25 Points in the third period and finished with 43 despite a sprained ankle leading the pistons to a 102-99 Lead with exactly a minute left in game 6. But Kareem Abdul Jabbar hit two free throws with 14seconds left and Joe Dumars missed a shot in the Lane for Detroit preserving a 103-102 Victory for the lakers. James worthy the playoff map had 36 Points 16rebounds and 10 assists in the lakers 108-105 Victory in game 7, which was made close by a 17-4 Detroit spurt Down the stretch we were just holding on and we held on just enough Riley said. Early in the 1988-89 season the pistons near miss had them and a dozen other teams dreaming of glory. Both the lakers with Abdul Jabbar already starting Farewell tour through the league and pistons started Well in the new season. Dallas Denver Utah Seattle and Portland in the West and Cleveland Atlanta new York and Philadelphia the East All were talking an playing like challengers. We opened a Pandora s Box Detroit coach Chuck Daly said. Coaches and general managers look at us and say we handled the pistons in games. Why Aren Twe in the finals but we have a quiet Confidence that Well have a Good team  but Early season injuries to Larry Bird Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge had the celtics champions in 1981, 1984 and 1986 struggling to win half their games. Also in 1988, Michael Jordan dominated the individual awards winning both the regular season most valuable player and defensive player of the year Hon ors. He also became the first player to win consecutive scoring titles since George Gervin won three scoring crowns from 1978-80.Utah s John Stockton had 18 assists in the final game to break Thomas single season record by five. Michael Cage of the los Angeles clippers a Dcharles Oakley of Chicago traded 30-rebound games on the final weekend with Cage winning the rebound ing title 13.03 to 13.00.both Cage and Oakley started the new season with new teams Seattle and new York respectively but twas free agent signings rather than trades that caused the biggest stir in the of season. After months of uncertainty the Aba and the play lakers James worthy map of Aba final series holds championship trophy during Victory Parade in los Angeles. The pistons including Dennis Rodman left were upended in game 6 by Kareem Abdul Jabbar s winning free throws. Up apers association agreed on a new contract that gave unrestricted free Agency to seven year veterans. Previously free agents had to stay with their original teams if a contract offer with a new team was matched. The labor agreement which extends through the1993-94 season later gives unrestricted free Agency to four year veterans. The pact also continues the salary Cap system an will reduce the College draft to two rounds in 1989. In 1988, the draft was reduced to three rounds but As usual the focus was Only on the first rounders. Danny Manning who led Kansas to the Mcaa title was chosen first by the clippers. Manning missed the Start of the season before the clippers signed him. The Start of the 1988-89 season also saw two new franchises begin play at Charlotte and Miami the Charlotte hornets won six of their first 19games and even managed to climb above one team Washington in the Atlantic division. However the heat set a league record for season opening defeats by losing its first 17 games before beating the clippers in los Angeles on dec. 14