What happened to Lakers vs Suns in 1990 playoff?

[iamgine]

Lakers almost got swept 1-4. With peak Magic Johnson and peak James worthy.

Lakers record: 63-19
Suns record: 54-28

Lakers vs Suns regular season: 3-1

Lakers should've won easy. What happened? Did Pat Riley choke?

[SouBeachTalents]

Pat Riley definitely choked.

[StrongLurk]

James Worthy wasn't that good in the series, plus the series was closer than 4-1 looks. Pheonix won both the close games, and really they were just slightly better at most things in the series compared to the Lakers. Definitely an upset, but Pheonix was no slouch.

[L.Kizzle]

I always here about this series, than Magic got son'd by little bro Kevin. Just checked the stats, and he avg 30/12 on 50%.

[JBSptfn]

The story I heard had to do with Riley working them harder that season (because of losing in the 89 Finals, I guess), and they had nothing left by the time they played the Suns. That was an aging team. They had several key contributors (Magic, Coop, Klay's dad, and Orlando Woolridge) that were 30 or older.

After that series, Riley left and took a year off (to do TV) before taking the Knicks job starting in the 1991-92 season.

[ArbitraryWater]

Pat Riley choked

[kawhileonard2]

I always here about this series, than Magic got son'd by little bro Kevin. Just checked the stats, and he avg 30/12 on 50%.He lost with HCA.