1989 NBA Finals; Game 3 vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Magic Johnson attempted to play with his bad hamstring, but had to leave after only 5 minutes with L.A. leading 11-8. The Lakers would build an 8-point bulge while Detroit would lead by as many as 5 in the 1st half. Despite playing without their starting backcourt, the Lakers built a 83-76 lead late in the 3rd period. Detroit stayed in it as Joe Dumars scored 21 of their 29 points in the period, including 17 straight at one point. The Microwave, Vinnie Johnson, heated up with 13 points in the 4th quarter as the Pistons took the lead. His jumper with 2:06 remaining gave Detroit a 109-104 lead. L.A. rallied and 2 free throws by David Rivers cut the lead to 113-110 with 13 seconds to play. Rivers had played a total of 8 minutes in the playoffs before this game. Dumars lost control of the ball and L.A. had a chance to tie the game. However, Dumars came right back and blocked Rivers' shot attempt and then saved the ball from going out of bounds. Detroit would sink a free throw to seal the win.
| DETROIT | MN | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | OR | DR | RB | AS | PF | ST | TO | BL | PTS |
| Aguirre | 24 | 0-6 | 2-2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Mahorn | 21 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Laimbeer | 29 | 4-7 | 2-3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Dumars | 35 | 12-21 | 7-7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 31 |
| Thomas | 43 | 9-20 | 7-9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 26 |
| Rodman | 28 | 3-6 | 6-6 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 12 |
| Salley | 23 | 4-6 | 1-1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Edwards | 19 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Johnson | 18 | 8-11 | 1-2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 |
| Team | 7 | |||||||||||
| TOTAL | 43-83 | 27-32 | 14 | 30 | 51 | 29 | 30 | 8 | 13 | 3 | 114 | |
| 3-PT: Thomas 1-2, Johnson 0-2, Laimbeer 0-1, Dumars 0-1, Rodman 0-1 | ||||||||||||
| L.A. | MN | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | OR | DR | RB | AS | PF | ST | TO | BL | PTS |
| Worthy | 42 | 9-18 | 8-9 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 26 |
| Green | 37 | 3-6 | 5-9 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| A-Jabbar | 33 | 10-19 | 4-4 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 24 |
| Cooper | 48 | 6-14 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| Johnson | 5 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Campbell | 23 | 3-4 | 5-7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| Thompson | 22 | 3-6 | 2-3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Woolridge | 18 | 3-4 | 3-4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Rivers | 11 | 2-6 | 2-3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Lamp | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team | ||||||||||||
| TOTALS | 39-79 | 29-39 | 13 | 25 | 45 | 24 | 27 | 9 | 13 | 5 | 110 | |
| 3-PT: Cooper 3-8, Rivers 0-2, Campbell 0-1 | ||||||||||||
| SCORING | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | F | |||||||
| Detroit | 27 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 114 | |||||||
| Los Angeles | 22 | 33 | 33 | 22 | 110 | |||||||
| A - 17,505 | ||||||||||||