1986–87 Phoenix Suns season

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).

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 @ Basketball-Reference.com
RadioKTAR

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

Regular season

Standings
Pacific Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Los Angeles Lakers 6517.793–37–428–1324–6
x-Portland Trail Blazers 4933.5981634–715–2617–13
x-Golden State Warriors 4240.5122325–1617–2417–13
x-Seattle SuperSonics 3943.4762625–1614–2715–15
Phoenix Suns 3646.4392926–1510–3114–16
Los Angeles Clippers 1270.146539–323–383–27
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Los Angeles Lakers6517.793–
2 y-Dallas Mavericks5527.67110
3 x-Portland Trail Blazers4933.59816
4 x-Utah Jazz4438.53721
5 x-Golden State Warriors4240.51223
6 x-Houston Rockets4240.51223
7 x-Seattle SuperSonics3943.47626
8 x-Denver Nuggets3745.45128
9 Phoenix Suns3646.43929
10 Sacramento Kings2953.35436
11 San Antonio Spurs2854.34137
12 Los Angeles Clippers1270.14653


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 —3–34–24–22–02–03–31–11–13–32–01–13–35–05–13–31–11–12–02–02–02–05–0
Boston 3–3—6–03–22–02–03–22–02–05–12–00–23–34–24–23–32–02–02–02–02–01–14–2
Chicago 2–40–6—5–11–11–13–30–20–23–22–00–24–23–24–23–31–11–11–11–12–00–23–3
Cleveland 2–42–31–5—0–21–11–51–10–23–32–00–21–54–24–12–41–11–11–11–11–10–22–4
Dallas 0–20–21–12–0—4–21–15–03–30–25–03–22–02–02–02–03–22–35–14–25–03–31–1
Denver 0–20–21–11–12–4—0–24–13–31–12–30–51–12–02–00–23–23–22–45–12–32–41–1
Detroit 3–32–33–35–11–12–0—1–11–13–32–01–13–35–16–05–01–10–21–11–12–01–13–3
Golden State 1–10–22–01–10–51–41–1—4–10–26–02–40–22–02–01–11–54–24–14–14–22–30–2
Houston 1–10–22–02–03–33–31–11–4—2–04–11–40–21–11–10–23–22–35–15–11–43–31–1
Indiana 3–31–52–33–32–01–13–32–00–2—2–00–22–45–13–22–41–10–21–12–01–11–14–2
L.A. Clippers 0–20–20–20–20–53–20–20–61–40–2—0–60–21–10–20–21–50–61–41–42–42–30–2
L.A. Lakers 1–12–02–02–02–35–01–14–24–12–06–0—1–12–02–02–05–15–15–04–14–23–21–1
Milwaukee 3–33–32–45–10–21–13–32–02–04–22–01–1—4–24–22–32–00–22–01–12–01–14–1
New Jersey 0–52–42–32–40–20–21–50–21–11–51–10–22–4—5–13–31–10–20–20–20–21–12–4
New York 1–52–42–41–40–20–20–60–21–12–32–00–22–41–5—3–31–10–22–01–10–21–12–4
Philadelphia 3–33–33–34–20–22–00–51–12–04–22–00–23–23–33–3—1–12–02–01–12–01–13–3
Phoenix 1–10–21–11–12–32–31–15–12–31–15–11–50–21–11–11–1—2–42–32–31–54–10–2
Portland 1–10–21–11–13–22–32–02–43–22–06–01–52–02–02–00–24–2—3–24–14–23–21–1
Sacramento 0–20–21–11–11–54–21–11–41–51–14–10–50–22–00–20–23–22–3—3–32–31–51–1
San Antonio 0–20–21–11–12–41–51–11–41–50–24–11–41–12–01–11–13–21–43–3—1–42–40–2
Seattle 0–20–20–21–10–53–20–22–44–11–14–22–40–22–02–00–25–12–43–24–1—3–21–1
Utah 0–21–12–02–03–34–21–13–23–31–13–22–31–11–11–11–11–42–35–14–22–3—1–1
Washington 0–52–43–34–21–11–13–32–01–12–42–01–11–44–24–23–32–01–11–12–01–11–1—

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% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Alvan Adams684024.9.503.000.7885.03.3.9.511.1
Rafael Addison621211.5.441.320.7971.70.7.4.15.8
William Bedford501819.6.397.000.5814.91.1.4.76.7
Walter Davis797933.5.514.259.8623.14.61.2.123.6
James Edwards14921.7.518..7714.31.4.4.512.0
Kenny Gattison771414.3.476.000.6323.50.5.3.45.2
Grant Gondrezick64113.1.450.235.7011.71.3.4.15.5
Jeff Hornacek80319.5.454.279.7772.34.5.9.15.3
Jay Humphries828231.5.477.185.7693.27.71.4.111.3
Larry Nance696737.2.551.200.7738.73.41.22.122.5
Ed Pinckney806528.1.584.000.7397.31.51.1.710.5
Mike Sanders82420.2.494.118.7813.31.5.7.310.5
Bernard Thompson24213.8.400.000.8181.30.8.5.24.6
Nick Vanos571411.2.411.000.6443.20.8.3.42.9

Transactions

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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