1987–88 Denver Nuggets season

The 1987–88 Denver Nuggets season was the 12th season for the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association, and their 21st season as a franchise. During the off-season, the Nuggets acquired Michael Adams, and Jay Vincent from the Washington Bullets, and later on sold second-year guard Otis Smith to the Golden State Warriors.

With the addition of Adams and Vincent, the Nuggets got off to an 8–4 start to the regular season, and later on held a 26–17 record at the All-Star break. The team posted a 10-game winning streak between March and April, and won 16 of their final 18 games of the season. The Nuggets finished in first place in the Midwest Division with a 54–28 record, and earned the second seed in the Western Conference. Head coach Doug Moe was named the NBA Coach of the Year, after leading his team to a 17-game improvement over the previous season.

Alex English averaged 25.0 points, and 4.7 rebounds and assists per game each, while Fat Lever averaged 18.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 2.7 steals per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and Vincent played a sixth man role off the bench, averaging 15.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. In addition, Adams provided the team with 13.9 points, 6.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game, and also led them with 139 three-point field goals, while Danny Schayes provided with 13.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and Blair Rasmussen contributed 12.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Calvin Natt averaged 9.6 points per game, but only played just 27 games due to injury, Wayne Cooper averaged 6.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game, but only appeared in just 45 games also due to injury, Bill Hanzlik provided with 4.5 points per game, and defensive guard T.R. Dunn contributed 2.2 points and 1.2 steals per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois, English and Lever were both selected for the 1988 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team. Lever finished in ninth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while English finished in eleventh place, and Adams finished tied in 14th place; Lever also finished tied in fifth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and Adams finished in fourth place in Most Improved Player voting.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1988 NBA playoffs, the Nuggets faced off against the 7th–seeded Seattle SuperSonics, a team that featured the trio of Dale Ellis, All-Star forward Xavier McDaniel, and All-Star forward Tom Chambers. The Nuggets took a 2–1 series lead before losing Game 4 to the SuperSonics on the road, 127–117 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. With the series tied at 2–2, the Nuggets won Game 5 over the SuperSonics at home, 115–96 at the McNichols Sports Arena to win in a hard-fought five-game series.

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 3rd–seeded Dallas Mavericks, a team that featured the quartet of All-Star forward Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman, Derek Harper and All-Star center James Donaldson. The Nuggets won Game 1 over the Mavericks at the McNichols Sports Arena, 126–115, but then lost Game 2 at home, 112–108 as the Mavericks evened the series. The Nuggets won Game 3 over the Mavericks on the road, 107–105 at the Reunion Arena to take a 2–1 series lead. However, the Nuggets lost the next three games, including a Game 6 loss to the Mavericks at the Reunion Arena, 108–95, thus losing the series in six games.

The Nuggets finished ninth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 520,881 at the McNichols Sports Arena during the regular season. Following the season, Dunn signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Suns during the next season.