1986–87 Utah Jazz season

The 1986–87 Utah Jazz season was the team's 13th in the NBA. They began the season hoping to improve upon their 42–40 output from the previous season. They bested it by two wins, finishing 44–38 and qualified for the playoffs for the fourth straight season.

1986–87 Utah Jazz season
Head coach	Frank Layden
General manager	Frank Layden
Owner	Larry H. Miller
Arena	Salt Palace
Results
Record	44–38 (.537)
Place	Division: 2nd (Midwest) Conference: 4th (Western)
Playoff finish	First round (lost to Warriors 2–3)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	KSL-TV Jazz Cable Network
Radio	KSL

Draft picks

Main article: 1986 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	15	Dell Curry	SG/SF	United States	Virginia Polytech
3	61	John Shasky	C	United States	Minnesota
3	63	Bill Breeding		United States	Rocky Mountain
4	84	Marty Embry		United States	DePaul
5	107	Kerry Boagni	PF	United States	California State-Fullerton
6	130	Chuck Everson		United States	Villanova
7	153	Mark Mitchell		United States	Hartford

Roster

Utah Jazz roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From F/C 41 Thurl Bailey 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 215 lb (98 kg) NC State C 54 Kent Benson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Indiana G 30 Dell Curry 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Virginia Tech C 53 Mark Eaton 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) 275 lb (125 kg) UCLA G 14 Rickey Green 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Michigan G 35 Darrell Griffith 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Louisville G 20 Bob Hansen 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Iowa F 43 Marc Iavaroni 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Virginia F 32 Karl Malone 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Louisiana Tech F 22 Carey Scurry 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Long Island G 12 John Stockton 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Gonzaga F 4 Kelly Tripucka 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Notre Dame

Head coach Frank Layden Assistant(s) Scott Layden Jerry Sloan Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Dallas Mavericks	55	27	.671	–	35–6	20–21	19–11
x-Utah Jazz	44	38	.537	11	31–10	13–28	19–11
x-Houston Rockets	42	40	.512	13	25–16	17–24	19–11
x-Denver Nuggets	37	45	.451	18	27–14	10–31	14–16
Sacramento Kings	29	53	.354	26	20–21	9–32	10–20
San Antonio Spurs	28	54	.341	27	21–20	7–34	9–21

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Los Angeles Lakers	65	17	.793	–
2	y-Dallas Mavericks	55	27	.671	10
3	x-Portland Trail Blazers	49	33	.598	16
4	x-Utah Jazz	44	38	.537	21
5	x-Golden State Warriors	42	40	.512	23
6	x-Houston Rockets	42	40	.512	23
7	x-Seattle SuperSonics	39	43	.476	26
8	x-Denver Nuggets	37	45	.451	28
9	Phoenix Suns	36	46	.439	29
10	Sacramento Kings	29	53	.354	36
11	San Antonio Spurs	28	54	.341	37
12	Los Angeles Clippers	12	70	.146	53

Game log

Regular season

1986–87 game log Total: 44–38 (home: 31–10; road: 13–28)
October: 0–1 (home: 0–0; road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 October 31 @ Dallas L 77–103 Reunion Arena 0–1
November: 7–6 (home: 7–1; road: 0–5) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 2 November 1 Portland W 119–110 Salt Palace 1–1 3 November 5 Cleveland W 111–95 Salt Palace 2–1 4 November 6 @ Denver L 121–135 McNichols Sports Arena 2–2 5 November 11 Dallas W 104–103 Salt Palace 3–2 6 November 13 L.A. Clippers 7 November 15 Denver W 111–103 Salt Palace 5–2 8 November 16 @ Portland L 103–124 Memorial Coliseum 5–3 9 November 20 @ Houston 10 November 22 New Jersey 11 November 25 @ Golden State 12 November 26 Seattle 13 November 28 Atlanta 14 November 29 @ Dallas L 107–118 Reunion Arena 7–7
December: 12–3 (home: 6–0; road: 6–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 15 December 3 Chicago 16 December 5 New York 17 December 6 @ Sacramento 18 December 10 @ Denver W 112–110 McNichols Sports Arena 11–7 19 December 11 Dallas W 103–99 Salt Palace 12–7 20 December 13 L.A. Clippers 21 December 16 @ Washington 22 December 17 @ Detroit 23 December 19 @ Cleveland W 134–128 (2OT) Richfield Coliseum 15–8 24 December 20 @ Chicago 25 December 22 @ Philadelphia 26 December 23 @ New Jersey 27 December 27 Houston 28 December 29 San Antonio 29 December 30 @ San Antonio
January: 6–8 (home: 5–3; road: 1–5) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 30 January 2 Philadelphia 31 January 4 @ L.A. Lakers 32 January 8 L.A. Lakers 33 January 10 Indiana 34 January 11 @ Seattle 35 January 13 @ Portland L 113–121 Memorial Coliseum 21–14 36 January 15 @ Phoenix 37 January 17 @ San Antonio 38 January 21 Detroit 39 January 23 Golden State 40 January 26 Seattle 41 January 27 @ Houston 42 January 29 Portland W 120–114 Salt Palace 25–17 43 January 31 L.A. Clippers
February: 7–6 (home: 5–4; road: 2–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 44 February 1 @ Sacramento 45 February 3 Sacramento 46 February 5 @ L.A. Clippers 47 February 10 Phoenix 48 February 13 @ Phoenix 49 February 14 San Antonio 50 February 16 Boston 51 February 18 Milwaukee 52 February 20 Washington 53 February 21 @ Houston 54 February 24 Seattle 55 February 26 Houston 56 February 28 L.A. Lakers
March: 8–8 (home: 6–0; road: 2–8) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 57 March 3 @ New York 58 March 4 @ Boston 59 March 6 @ Milwaukee 60 March 7 @ Atlanta 61 March 9 @ Indiana 62 March 11 @ Denver L 116–122 McNichols Sports Arena 33–29 63 March 12 @ Sacramento 64 March 14 Sacramento 65 March 17 Golden State 66 March 18 @ L.A. Lakers 67 March 21 Houston 68 March 23 Denver W 122–118 Salt Palace 38–30 69 March 25 @ L.A. Clippers 70 March 27 San Antonio 71 March 28 @ Golden State 72 March 31 Phoenix
April: 4–6 (home: 2–2; road: 2–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 73 April 1 @ San Antonio 74 April 3 @ Phoenix 75 April 4 @ Dallas L 107–121 Reunion Arena 41–34 76 April 6 Sacramento 77 April 8 Dallas W 103–90 Salt Palace 42–35 78 April 10 Denver W 106–103 Salt Palace 43–35 79 April 12 @ Golden State 80 April 14 @ Seattle 81 April 16 L.A. Lakers 82 April 17 @ Portland L 101–111 Memorial Coliseum 44–38
1986–87 schedule

Playoffs

1987 playoff game log
First Round: 2–3 (home: 2–1; road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 23 Golden State W 99–95 Malone, Bailey (20) Mark Eaton (15) Rickey Green (15) Salt Palace 11,376 1–0 2 April 25 Golden State W 103–100 Darrell Griffith (25) Karl Malone (13) Hansen, Stockton (5) Salt Palace 12,095 2–0 3 April 29 @ Golden State L 95–110 Kelly Tripucka (16) Karl Malone (9) John Stockton (8) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 15,025 2–1 4 May 1 @ Golden State L 94–98 Hansen, Malone (20) Mark Eaton (15) John Stockton (11) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 15,025 2–2 5 May 3 Golden State L 113–118 Karl Malone (23) Mark Eaton (10) John Stockton (13) Salt Palace 11,071 2–3
1987 schedule

Awards and records

• Mark Eaton, NBA All-Defensive Second Team