1987–88 Milwaukee Bucks season

The 1987–88 Milwaukee Bucks season was the 20th season for the Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association. This was also the team's final season in which they played their home games at the MECCA Arena. After the resignation of Don Nelson, the Bucks hired Del Harris as their new head coach. In November, the team acquired second-year forward Larry Krystkowiak from the San Antonio Spurs; Krystkowiak previously played overseas in Italy, and was placed on the Spurs' suspended list for violating his contract.

Under Harris, the Bucks got off to a 9–4 start to the regular season, and played around .500 in winning percentage as the season progressed, holding a 22–20 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded three-point specialist Craig Hodges to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Jay Humphries. Despite losing 9 of their final 12 games of the season, the Bucks finished in fourth place in the Central Division with a 42–40 record, and earned the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Terry Cummings averaged 21.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, while Jack Sikma averaged 16.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, and sixth man Ricky Pierce provided the team with 16.4 points per game off the bench, but only played just 37 games due to injury. In addition, Paul Pressey contributed 13.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while Randy Breuer averaged 12.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, and Sidney Moncrief provided with 10.8 points per game. Meanwhile, John Lucas contributed 9.2 points and 4.8 assists per game, Jerry Reynolds contributed 8.0 points per game, Krystkowiak averaged 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, and Paul Mokeski provided with 4.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois, and before the mid-season trade, Hodges participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout for the third consecutive year. Pressey finished tied in eighth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, while Breuer finished tied in sixth place in Most Improved Player voting.

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1988 NBA playoffs, the Bucks faced off against the 4th–seeded Atlanta Hawks, who were led by All-Star forward Dominique Wilkins, All-Star guard Doc Rivers, and Kevin Willis. The Bucks lost the first two games to the Hawks on the road at the Omni Coliseum, but managed to win the next two games at home, which included a Game 4 win over the Hawks at the MECCA Arena, 105–99 to even the series. However, the Bucks lost Game 5 to the Hawks at the Omni Coliseum, 121–111, thus losing in a hard-fought five-game series.

The Bucks finished 18th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 441,615 at the MECCA Arena during the regular season. Following the season, Lucas signed as a free agent with the Seattle SuperSonics.