The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics four games to two in the best-of-seven NBA Finals series to conclude the 1986-87 season. It was the first of two consecutive championships for the Lakers.

This was the 10th all-time meeting between the Lakers and Celtics in the NBA Finals. The two teams had met twice in the previous three seasons but would not meet again in the finals until 2008.

Magic Johnson won the NBA Finals MVP award, the last of the three times he would win the award. At the time, Johnson was the only player to win three Finals MVPs, though he was later joined by Michael Jordan (6), Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan.

The Lakers had home-court advantage for the finals, and they swept the two regular-season meetings between the teams.

Team	Celtics	Lakers
Regular Season	59-23, 1st in Atlantic Division	65-17, 1st in Pacific Division
First Round	Def. (8) Chicago Bulls, 3-0	Def. (8) Denver Nuggets, 3-0
Conference Semifinals	Def. (4) Milwaukee Bucks, 4-3	Def. (5) Golden State Warriors, 4-1
Conference Finals	Def. (3) Detroit Pistons, 4-3	Def. (7) Seattle SuperSonics, 4-0

The Lakers led from start to finish in Game 1, leading by as many as 21 points in the first half and 23 in the second half. Los Angeles dominated Boston on the boards, outrebounding them 47-32. James Worthy led the Lakers with 33 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds. Magic Johnson added 29 points, 13 assists and 8 rebounds.

The Lakers won easily despite 32 points from Larry Bird, including 11 straight made baskets during the third quarter. A highlight in this game was a one-handed dunk by Michael Cooper off an alley-oop pass from Johnson, dubbed the "Coop-a-loop."

The Celtics stayed close early in this one, but the Lakers outscored Boston 37-22 in the second quarter. Michael Cooper did most of the damage in the quarter during a stretch in which he accounted for 20 consecutive points for the Lakers with either a basket or an assist. Cooper tied an NBA Finals record with 9 assists in the quarter and finished with 20 points while making 6 of 7 3-pointers in the game.
Magic Johnson matched Cooper with nine third-quarter assists and finished with 20 in the game to go along with his 24 points. Three other Lakers players scored at least 20 points: James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Byron Scott.

The Lakers shot a then-NBA Finals record 61.5 percent from the field. Larry Bird led the Celtics with 23 points.

The Celtics trailed by 7 after the first quarter but finally turned things around in the second quarter, hitting 17 of 21 field goal attempts. Greg Kite was the unlikely second-quarter hero, filling in for Robert Parish, who was in foul trouble. Parish went out with over 8 minutes left in the quarter and the Celtics trailing 39-30.

The Celtics outscored the Lakers 30-17 over the rest of the quarter and never trailed again. Kite didn't score a point but held Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in check and grabbed 9 rebounds in the game. Magic Johnson led the Lakers with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. Larry Bird led the Celtics with 30 points despite hitting just 10 of 24 shots, 2 of 10 in the first quarter.

Danny Ainge scored 11 of the Celtics' 29 first-quarter points to take Boston to a 9-point lead after one. The Celtics extended their lead to as many as 16 points in the third quarter and still led by 8 with four minutes remaining.

However, the Lakers used a 9-0 run to take a 1-point lead after a Magic Johnson-to-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar alley-oop with 30 seconds to play. Larry Bird responded with a 3-pointer to give the Celtics a 2-point lead with 12 seconds to play.

Abdul-Jabbar drew a foul and made one free throw to cut the Celtics' lead to 106-105. Abdul-Jabbar missed the second, and Mychal Thompson and Kevin McHale fought over the loose ball that went out of bounds off McHale. Johnson took the ball on the wing and drove to the middle where he hit what is called his "junior, junior sky hook" to make it 107-106 with 2 seconds left. Bird missed a jumper, and the Lakers had a 3-1 series lead.

Johnson finished with a game-high 29 points, and McHale led the Celtics with 25 points.

When the NBA compilied its list of the 60 Greatest Playoff Moments to coincide with the league's 60th anniversary, Johnson's shot was ranked No. 8 on the list.

The Lakers led 34-26 in the second quarter, but the Celtics outscored Los Angeles 37-14 the rest of the half to take a 15-point halftime lead and cruised the rest of the way. All five Celtics starters had at least 20 points and were led by Dennis Johnson with 25 points. Johnson, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale each had double-doubles. The Celtics held James Worthy to 12 points on 6-of-19 from the field, including 1-of-9 in the first half. Magic Johnson led the Lakers with 29 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds.

The Lakers claimed their fourth title of the decade and 10th in the history of the franchise. Magic Johnson was selected NBA MVP for the third time.

In the first half, the Celtics were looking good, taking a 56-51 lead into the locker room. Boston held Johnson to just 4 first-half points. However, the Lakers started the third quarter scoring the first 10 points. After a Celtics bucket, the Lakers used another 8-0 run to take a 69-58 lead. The Celtics never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Lakers with 32 points, while Dennis Johnson led the Celtics with 33 points. Larry Bird finished with 16 points, his lowest total of the series.