1987–88 Washington Bullets season

The 1987–88 NBA season was the Bullets' 27th season in the NBA and their 15th season in the city of Washington, D.C. After Kevin Loughery was replaced by Wes Unseld during the season, the Bullets finished second in the Atlantic Division with a 38–44 record. In the first round of the playoffs, they lost to the Detroit Pistons in five games. This would be their final playoff appearance until 1997. Following the season, Moses Malone, who was selected for the 1988 NBA All-Star Game, signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Atlanta Hawks.

This season saw the team draft 5'3 Muggsy Bogues with the 12th overall pick in the 1987 NBA draft. He is the shortest player in NBA history. After his rookie season, Bogues left for the 1988 Expansion Draft.

Draft picks

Main article: 1987 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	12	Muggsy Bogues	PG	United States	Wake Forest
2	36	Duane Washington		United States	Middle Tennessee State
2	37	Derrick Dowell		United States	Southern California
3	59	Danny Pearson		United States	Jacksonville
4	81	Scott Thompson	C	United States	San Diego
5	106	Patrick Fairs		United States	Texas
6	128	Dwayne Scholten		United States	Washington State
7	150	Jamie Dixon		United States	Texas Christian

Roster

1987–88 Washington Bullets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From
PF	31	Alarie, Mark	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	217 lb (98 kg)	1963-12-11	Duke
PG	1	Bogues, Muggsy	5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)	136 lb (62 kg)	1965-01-09	Wake Forest
C	10	Bol, Manute	7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1962-10-16	Bridgeport
PF	33	Catledge, Terry	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1963-08-22	South Alabama
PG	20	Colter, Steve	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1962-07-24	New Mexico State
PG	15	Johnson, Frank	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1958-11-23	Wake Forest
PF	23	Jones, Charles	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1957-04-03	Albany State
SF	30	King, Bernard	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1956-12-04	Tennessee
SG	24	Malone, Jeff	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1961-06-28	Mississippi State
C	4	Malone, Moses	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1955-03-23	Petersburg HS (VA)
PF	42	Murphy, Jay	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1962-06-26	Boston College
SG	5	Walker, Darrell	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1961-03-09	Arkansas
SF	34	Williams, John	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	1966-10-26	LSU

Head coach

Kevin Loughery (fired)
Wes Unseld

Assistant coach(es)

Bill Blair

Legend

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

Roster
Last transaction: January 21, 1988

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Boston Celtics	57	25	.695	–	36–5	21–20	19–5
x-Washington Bullets	38	44	.463	19	25–16	13–28	13–11
x-New York Knicks	38	44	.463	19	29–12	9–32	10–14
Philadelphia 76ers	36	46	.439	21	27–14	9–32	12–12
New Jersey Nets	19	63	.232	38	16–25	3–38	6–18

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Boston Celtics	57	25	.695	–
2	y-Detroit Pistons	54	28	.659	3
3	x-Chicago Bulls	50	32	.610	7
4	x-Atlanta Hawks	50	32	.610	7
5	x-Milwaukee Bucks	42	40	.512	15
6	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	42	40	.512	15
7	x-Washington Bullets	38	44	.463	19
8	x-New York Knicks	38	44	.463	19

9	Indiana Pacers	38	44	.463	19
10	Philadelphia 76ers	36	46	.439	21
11	New Jersey Nets	19	63	.232	38

Notes

z, y – division champions
x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1987-88 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	–	2–4	2–3	5–1	2–0	1–1	2–4	2–0	1–1	4–2	2–0	0–2	3–3	5–0	3–3	6–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	3–3
Boston	4–2	–	3–3	2–3	2–0	0–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	5–0	2–0	0–2	3–3	5–1	5–1	4–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	5–1
Chicago	3–2	3–3	–	3–3	0–2	1–1	2–4	2–0	2–0	3–3	2–0	1–1	5–1	5–1	3–2	4–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–3
Cleveland	1–5	3–2	3–3	–	1–1	1–1	1–5	0–2	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	5–1	2–4	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–2	6–0
Dallas	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	–	3–3	1–1	4–1	4–2	2–0	5–0	1–4	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–0	3–2	5–1	5–1	3–2	3–3	1–1
Denver	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–3	–	1–1	4–1	4–2	1–1	5–0	3–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	3–2	2–3	4–2	5–1	4–1	2–4	2–0
Detroit	4–2	3–3	4–2	5–1	1–1	1–1	–	2–0	1–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	4–2	5–1	4–2	4–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–2
Golden State	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–4	1–4	0–2	–	0–5	0–2	3–3	0–6	0–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–4	1–5	2–3	3–2	1–5	1–4	0–2
Houston	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–4	2–4	1–1	5–0	–	2–0	3–2	1–4	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–1	4–1	4–2	2–4	3–2	3–3	2–0
Indiana	2–4	0–5	3–3	2–4	0–2	1–1	3–3	2–0	0–2	–	1–1	1–1	3–3	6–0	2–3	2–4	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–4
L.A. Clippers	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–5	0–5	1–1	3–3	2–3	1–1	–	1–5	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–4	0–6	3–2	0–5	1–5	1–4	0–2
L.A. Lakers	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	4–1	2–3	2–0	6–0	4–1	1–1	5–1	–	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	5–1	3–3	4–1	5–0	4–2	4–1	1–1
Milwaukee	3–3	3–3	1–5	4–2	0–2	1–1	2–4	2–0	0–2	3–3	2–0	2–0	–	3–2	3–3	2–4	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–1
New Jersey	0–5	1–5	1–5	1–5	1–1	0–2	1–5	0–2	1–1	0–6	2–0	0–2	2–3	–	3–3	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–6
New York	3–3	1–5	2–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	2–0	1–1	3–2	2–0	0–2	3–3	3–3	–	3–3	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–3
Philadelphia	0–6	2–4	2–4	2–3	1–1	0–2	1–4	1–1	1–1	4–2	1–1	0–2	4–2	4–2	3–3	–	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–3
Phoenix	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–5	2–3	0–2	4–2	1–4	0–2	4–2	1–5	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	–	0–6	3–2	2–3	2–4	2–3	0–2
Portland	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–3	3–2	1–1	5–1	1–4	2–0	6–0	3–3	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	6–0	–	4–1	5–0	3–3	1–4	2–0
Sacramento	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–5	2–4	0–2	3–2	2–4	0–2	2–3	1–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	1–4	–	3–3	1–4	1–5	0–2
San Antonio	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–5	1–5	1–1	2–3	4–2	0–2	5–0	0–5	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	0–5	3–3	–	3–2	3–3	0–2
Seattle	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	1–4	1–1	5–1	2–3	1–1	5–1	2–4	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	4–2	3–3	4–1	2–3	–	1–4	2–0
Utah	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	3–3	4–2	0–2	4–1	3–3	1–1	4–1	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–2	4–1	5–1	3–3	4–1	–	2–0
Washington	3–3	1–5	3–3	0–6	1–1	0–2	2–3	2–0	0–2	4–2	2–0	1–1	1–4	6–0	3–3	3–3	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	0–2	0–2	—

Game log

Regular season

1987–88 game log
Total: 38–44 (home: 25–16; road: 13–28)

November: 4–8 (home: 2–2; road: 2–6)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	November 6, 1987 7:30 p.m. EST	@ Atlanta	L 97–114	M. Malone (32)	M. Malone (12)	Bogues (6)	The Omni 16,064	0–1
2	November 7, 1987 7:30 p.m. EST	Boston	L 139–140 (2OT)	M. Malone (32)	M. Malone (13)	Bogues (7)	Capital Centre 19,643	0–2
3	November 10, 1987 8:30 p.m. CST	@ Milwaukee	L 100–115	J. Malone (18)	M. Malone (14)	Bogues (11)	MECCA Arena 10,586	0–3
4	November 13	New York	W 108–101				Capital Centre	1–3
5	November 15	@ New Jersey	W 113–109				Brendan Byrne Arena	2–3
6	November 17, 1987 8:30 p.m. EST	@ Chicago	L 101–105	J. Malone (26)	M. Malone (9)	Bogues (6)	Chicago Stadium 17,081	2–4
7	November 18, 1987 7:30 p.m. EST	Chicago	L 82–84	Williams (17)	Williams (14)	Bogues (6)	Capital Centre 13,721	2–5
8	November 20	@ Portland	L 101–120				Memorial Coliseum	2–6
9	November 21	@ Seattle	L 103–124				Seattle Center Coliseum	2–7
10	November 24, 1987 9:30 p.m. EST	@ Utah	L 83–100	M. Malone (17)	M. Malone (10)	Walker (4)	Salt Palace 12,212	2–8
11	November 25	@ L.A. Clippers	W 101–96				Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena	3–8
12	November 28, 1987 7:30 p.m. EST	Detroit	W 124–102	Williams (21)	M. Malone (9)	Johnson (7)	Capital Centre 13,028	4–8

December: 4–9 (home: 3–5; road: 1–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
13	December 2	@ Indiana	L 102–108				Market Square Arena	4–9
14	December 3, 1987 7:30 p.m. EST	Atlanta	L 94–102	J. Malone (28)	M. Malone (15)	Bogues (7)	Capital Centre 6,464	4–10
15	December 5	Seattle	L 99–115				Capital Centre	4–11
16	December 8	@ New York	L 92–116				Madison Square Garden	4–12
17	December 9, 1987 7:30 p.m. EST	L.A. Lakers	W 120–112 (OT)	J. Malone (29)	Catledge (15)	Bogues (9)	Capital Centre 18,643	5–12
18	December 11, 1987 7:30 p.m. EST	@ Detroit	L 108–114	Catledge (26)	Bol, Catledge, M. Malone (8)	Bogues, Johnson, Walker (4)	Pontiac Silverdome 17,884	5–13
19	December 12	@ New Jersey	W 122–107				Brendan Byrne Arena	6–13
20	December 15, 1987 7:30 p.m. EST	Boston	L 102–122	M. Malone (21)	M. Malone (10)	Walker (5)	Capital Centre 15,890	6–14
21	December 17	Indiana	W 115–111 (OT)				Capital Centre	7–14
22	December 19, 1987 7:30 p.m. EST	Chicago	W 109–96	King (28)	M. Malone (9)	Johnson (11)	Capital Centre 14,353	8–14
23	December 22, 1987 7:30 p.m. EST	Cleveland	L 102–106	J. Malone (27)	M. Malone (12)	Johnson (9)	Capital Centre 4,464	8–15
24	December 26, 1987 9:00 p.m. EST	@ Milwaukee	L 97–102	King (24)	Bol (8)	J. Malone, Williams (5)	MECCA Arena 11,052	8–16
25	December 30	Portland	L 112–117				Capital Centre	8–17

January: 9–6 (home: 8–2; road: 1–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
26	January 1, 1988 8:00 p.m. EST	Denver	L 109–124	Catledge (27)	M. Malone (15)	Bogues (10)	Capital Centre 5,326	8–18
27	January 2	Houston	L 100–111				Capital Centre	8–19
28	January 5	New Jersey	W 101–97				Capital Centre	9–19
29	January 8, 1988 7:30 p.m. EST	@ Boston	L 109–125	J. Malone (31)	M. Malone (13)	Colter, J. Malone (5)	Boston Garden 14,890	9–20
30	January 9	L.A. Clippers	W 108–76				Capital Centre	10–20
31	January 14, 1988 7:30 p.m. EST	Milwaukee	W 136–107	M. Malone (36)	M. Malone (14)	Bogues (9)	Capital Centre 8,316	11–20
32	January 17	Sacramento	W 130–113				Capital Centre	12–20
33	January 18, 1988 8:30 p.m. EST	@ Chicago	L 103–117	King (25)	Catledge, M. Malone (8)	Colter (7)	Chicago Stadium 17,767	12–21
34	January 20	@ Philadelphia	W 110–98				The Spectrum	13–21
35	January 22	Golden State	W 115–91				Capital Centre	14–21
36	January 24	Philadelphia	W 131–99				Capital Centre	15–21
37	January 25	Philadelphia	W 118–117 (OT)				Capital Centre	16–21
38	January 27, 1988 7:30 p.m. EST	@ Boston	L 100–106	King (32)	M. Malone (11)	Bogues (5)	Boston Garden 14,890	16–22
39	January 28	New York	W 104–90				Capital Centre	17–22
40	January 30, 1988 7:30 p.m. EST	@ Cleveland	L 126–128 (OT)	Catledge (23)	Catledge (13)	Bogues (12)	Richfield Coliseum 18,749	17–23

February: 5–9 (home: 1–2; road: 4–7)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
41	February 2	@ New York	L 106–110				Madison Square Garden	17–24
42	February 3, 1988 7:30 p.m. EST	Cleveland	L 106–107	J. Malone (27)	M. Malone (13)	Colter, King (5)	Capital Centre 6,806	17–25
All-Star Break
43	February 9	New Jersey	W 126–117 (OT)				Capital Centre	18–25
44	February 10, 1988 7:30 p.m. EST	@ Cleveland	L 102–118	J. Malone (34)	Catledge (10)	J. Malone (7)	Richfield Coliseum 9,179	18–26
45	February 13, 1988 7:30 p.m. EST	@ Atlanta	L 103–105	J. Malone (29)	Williams (10)	Colter (5)	The Omni 16,451	18–27
46	February 15, 1988 1:00 p.m. EST	Milwaukee	L 110–114	Williams (28)	Williams (8)	Bogues (4)	Capital Centre 9,564	18–28
47	February 17, 1988 8:30 p.m. EST	@ Dallas	L 108–123	Williams (22)	Jones, M. Malone (10)	Catledge, Colter, King, J. Malone (4)	Reunion Arena 17,007	18–29
48	February 19	@ San Antonio	W 106–102				HemisFair Arena	19–29
49	February 20	@ Houston	L 109–115				The Summit	19–30
50	February 22, 1988 9:30 p.m. EST	@ Denver	L 87–100	Johnson, M. Malone (17)	M. Malone (13)	Johnson (6)	McNichols Sports Arena 10,553	19–31
51	February 23, 1988 10:30 p.m. EST	@ L.A. Lakers	L 100–111	J. Malone (26)	Jones (14)	Colter (8)	The Forum 17,505	19–32
52	February 25	@ Sacramento	W 129–110				ARCO Arena	20–32
53	February 27	@ Phoenix	W 116–106				Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	21–32
54	February 29	@ Golden State	W 110–105				Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena	22–32

March: 8–7 (home: 7–3; road: 1–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
55	March 2	Indiana	W 111–102				Capital Centre	23–32
56	March 4	@ Indiana	W 95–88				Market Square Arena	24–32
57	March 5, 1988 7:30 p.m. EST	Detroit	W 101–97	J. Malone, M. Malone (21)	M. Malone (13)	Bogues (6)	Capital Centre 15,656	25–32
58	March 9	Phoenix	W 115–111				Capital Centre	26–32
59	March 11, 1988 8:00 p.m. EST	Utah	L 107–109	J. Malone (31)	M. Malone (17)	Colter, Williams (5)	Capital Centre 10,775	26–33
60	March 13	@ Philadelphia	L 96–104				The Spectrum	26–34
61	March 14	San Antonio	W 112–106				Capital Centre	27–34
62	March 16, 1988 7:30 p.m. EST	Chicago	W 106–103	J. Malone, Williams (28)	M. Malone (13)	Colter (8)	Capital Centre 16,515	28–34
63	March 17	@ Indiana	L 95–99				Market Square Arena	28–35
64	March 19	Philadelphia	L 89–94				Capital Centre	28–36
65	March 20, 1988 7:00 p.m. EST	@ Detroit	L 110–118	J. Malone (39)	M. Malone (11)	Colter (8)	Pontiac Silverdome 22,075	28–37
66	March 23, 1988 7:30 p.m. EST	@ Boston	L 89–104	Williams (27)	M. Malone (8)	Bogues (8)	Boston Garden 14,890	28–38
67	March 24, 1988 7:30 p.m. EST	Atlanta	W 94–91	J. Malone (21)	M. Malone (11)	J. Malone (5)	Capital Centre 13,629	29–38
68	March 26	New Jersey	W 99–88				Capital Centre	30–38
69	March 30, 1988 7:30 p.m. EST	Cleveland	L 96–107	J. Malone (20)	M. Malone (15)	Bogues, Colter, Williams (5)	Capital Centre 8,387	30–39

April: 7–5 (home: 3–2; road: 4–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
70	April 1, 1988 8:00 p.m. EST	Dallas	W 118–103	M. Malone (27)	M. Malone (9)	Bogues (7)	Capital Centre 13,783	31–39
71	April 3	@ New Jersey	W 105–103				Brendan Byrne Arena	32–39
72	April 5, 1988 8:30 p.m. EDT	@ Chicago	W 105–94	Williams (23)	M. Malone (13)	Bogues (12)	Chicago Stadium 17,773	33–39
73	April 6, 1988 7:30 p.m. EDT	@ Cleveland	L 87–98	Colter (29)	Jones (8)	Williams (5)	Richfield Coliseum 10,165	33–40
74	April 8	Indiana	W 107–100				Capital Centre	34–40
75	April 10	New York	L 98–118				Capital Centre	35–40
76	April 11, 1988 7:30 p.m. EDT	@ Atlanta	W 86–85	Walker (19)	Williams (14)	J. Malone (9)	The Omni 10,473	35–41
77	April 13	@ Philadelphia	L 97–98 (OT)				The Spectrum	35–42
78	April 15	@ New York	W 106–97				Madison Square Garden	36–42
79	April 17, 1988 3:30 p.m. EDT	Boston	W 98–92	M. Malone (24)	M. Malone (14)	Walker (7)	Capital Centre 18,643	37–42
80	April 20, 1988 8:30 p.m. EDT	@ Milwaukee	L 94–132	Alarie, King (14)	Bol (8)	Bogues (9)	MECCA Arena 11,052	37–43
81	April 21, 1988 7:30 p.m. EDT	Detroit	L 87–99	M. Malone (23)	M. Malone (11)	Walker (7)	Capital Centre 11,713	37–44
82	April 23, 1988 7:30 p.m. EDT	Atlanta	W 106–96	J. Malone, M. Malone (24)	Jones, M. Malone (7)	J. Malone (7)	Capital Centre 15,638	38–44

1987–88 schedule

Playoffs

1988 playoff game log

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

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 28, 1988 7:30 p.m. EDT	@ Detroit	L 87–96	J. Malone (33)	M. Malone (13)	Williams (9)	Pontiac Silverdome 17,356	0–1
2	April 30, 1988 8:00 p.m. EDT	@ Detroit	L 101–102	J. Malone (31)	M. Malone (14)	J. Malone (4)	Pontiac Silverdome 18,293	0–2
3	May 2, 1988 8:00 p.m. EDT	Detroit	W 114–106 (OT)	J. Malone (35)	M. Malone (9)	Colter (6)	Capital Centre 9,673	1–2
4	May 4, 1988 8:00 p.m. EDT	Detroit	W 106–103	J. Malone (25)	M. Malone (8)	Walker (5)	Capital Centre 10,513	2–2
5	May 8, 1988 3:30 p.m. EDT	@ Detroit	L 78–99	KIng (18)	M. Malone (12)	M. Malone, Walker, Williams (3)	Pontiac Silverdome 18,403	2–3

1988 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

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Playoffs

Awards and records

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Transactions

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References

"1987-88 Washington Bullets Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 16, 2021.

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