The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Detroit Pistons four games to three in the best-of-seven NBA Finals series to conclude the 1987-88 season. It was the second consecutive championship for the Lakers, and the fifth in nine seasons.

The Pistons were making their first Finals appearance since 1956, when the team was based in Fort Wayne, Ind. It was also their first Finals appearance as an Eastern Conference team; the Fort Wayne Pistons were based in the Western Division.

James Worthy won the NBA Finals MVP award, becoming the fifth different Lakers player to win the award (Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).

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

Team	Pistons	Lakers
Regular Season	54-28, 1st in Central Division	62-20, 1st in Pacific Division
First Round	Def. (7) Washington Bullets, 3-2	Def. (8) San Antonio Spurs, 3-0
Conference Semifinals	Def. (3) Chicago Bulls, 4-1	Def. (5) Utah Jazz, 4-3
Conference Finals	Def. (1) Boston Celtics, 4-2	Def. (3) Dallas Mavericks, 4-3

The Pistons stunned the Lakers by scoring the games' first 8 points. Detroit seemingly put the game away, outscoring the Lakers 35-19 in the second quarter, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Bill Laimbeer and Isiah Thomas to end the half and give the Pistons a 17-point advantage. Adrian Dantley took care of the rest, scoring 22 of his game-high 34 points in the second half. Dantley was 14-of-16 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line. It was the Lakers' first loss in an opener at the Forum since May 1985. The Pistons shot 57.5 percent from the field while holding the Lakers to under 40 percent from the field. Magic Johnson led the Lakers with 28 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds.

The Lakers overcame the illness of Magic Johnson and an injured James Worthy to even the series at 1. Worthy had a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds despite a painful hip pointer. Johnson had 23 points and 11 assists despite suffering from the flu. After the Pistons tied the score at 80 with 12 unanswered points, the Lakers outscored the Pistons 28-16 the rest of the way. Worthy also helped hold Adrian Dantley, the star of Game 1, to 19 points on 5-of-10 from the field.

James Worthy led a balanced Lakers attack with 24 points, but it was Magic Johnson who did it all again. Johnson missed just one shot, 7-of-8 from the field, on his way to 18 points, 14 assists and 6 rebounds. The Lakers outscored the Pistons 31-18 in the third quarter to open up a 14-point lead and cruise the rest of the way. Pistons coach Chuck Daly was ejected from the game in the fourth quarter. Isiah Thomas led the Pistons with a game-high 28 points, 20 in the second half. The Pistons scored 40 total points in the second half. No Pistons player other than Thomas had more than 14 points.

The Pistons ramped up their defense in the second half, holding the Lakers to 32 points on 8-of-32 from the field. Adrian Dantley led the Pistons with a game-high 27 points and the Detroit bench had 47, including 16 by Vinnie Johnson. It was the largest margin of victory in an NBA Finals game since the Lakers beat the Celtics 136-111 in Game 3 in 1985. With about seven minutes remaining, things got a little tense when a frustrated Magic Johnson hit his best friend, Isiah Thomas, with a forearm to the jaw. Johnson finished with a team-high 23 points.

The Lakers scored the first 12 points of the game and took an early 15-2 lead. However, the Pistons didn't fold in their final game at the Silverdome. The Pistons rallied behind Adrian Dantley and Vinnie Johnson's combined 31 first-half points to take a 9-point lead at the half. Dantley finished with a team-high 25 points, while Johnson scored 16. The Lakers struggled at the free throw line, missing 14-of-33. The Pistons also owned the boards, outrebounding the Lakers 60-38. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Lakers with 26 points but Detroit did a good job on Magic Johnson, holding him to 15 points on 4-of-15 from the field.

Forty-one-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made two free throws with 14 seconds left to give the Lakers a 103-102 lead. Joe Dumars missed a 5-footer and Byron Scott got the rebound before being fouled. Scott missed both free throw attempts, but the Pistons couldn't get a shot off.

The Lakers led 53-46 at the half, but Isiah Thomas put on a third-quarter clinic, scoring 25 points on 11-of-13 from the field. However, Thomas injured his ankle in the third quarter after falling on Michael Cooper's foot. Thomas finished with a game-high 41 points. He left the arena on crutches later that night.

The Pistons were leading 102-99 when Scott hit a jumper to cut the lead to 1 before Abdul-Jabbar sealed the win for the Lakers after being fouled by Bill Laimbeer. Abdul-Jabbar finished with 14 points on 3-of-14 shooting. The early star for the Lakers was James Worthy, who finished with a team-high 28 points.

When the NBA compilied its list of the 60 Greatest Playoff Moments to coincide with the league's 60th anniversary, Thomas's performance in this game ranked No. 13 on the list.

It took 24 playoff games, the most in NBA history at the time, but the Lakers became the first repeat champion since the Celtics won titles in 1968 and 1969 and the first team in NBA history to win three seven-game playoff series in the same season. This was also the first time in six attempts that the Lakers were able to win the seventh game of a championship series.

NBA Finals MVP James Worthy had the first triple-double of his career with 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Joe Dumars led the Pistons with 25 points but their leader, Isiah Thomas, was hampered by his ankle injury and finished with just 10 points on 4-of-12 from the field in playing 28 minutes.

The Pistons held a 5-point lead at the half, but the Lakers outscored the Pistons 36-21 in the third quarter. The Lakers still were leading 90-75 in the fourth quarter, but the Pistons mounted a comeback and got to within 102-100 with over a minute left in the game. Magic Johnson and Byron Scott combined to hit three of four free throws to make it 105-100 with 40 seconds remaining. A Dumars basket followed by a Worthy free throw had the Lakers lead at 106-102. Bill Laimbeer hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 106-105 with 6 seconds left, but A.C. Green got free for a layup and the Pistons couldn't get another shot off.

When the NBA ranked the 60 Greatest Playoff Moments in conjunction with the league's 60th anniversary, Worthy's triple-double ranked No. 52 on the list.