top the Midwest Division and qualify for the playoffs during that span. (On December 13, 1983, the Nuggets and the visiting Detroit Pistons combined for an NBA record 370 points, with Detroit winning in triple overtime, 186–184.) At the end of the season, English won the NBA scoring title, becoming the only Nugget to win the award despite the heavily favored offensive play of Doug Moe. In 1984–85, they made it to the Western Conference finals after being perennial playoff contenders, and they lost in 5 games to the Los Angeles Lakers. Vandeweghe was traded before the 1984–85 season to the Portland Trail Blazers for 6–3 rebounding guard Fat Lever, undersized power forward Calvin Natt and center Wayne Cooper. Spearheaded by Alex English and supported by the three new acquisitions and defensive specialists Bill Hanzlik and TR Dunn, the team replicated its success in the Western Conference despite the loss of Vandeweghe. They even managed to win 54 games in the 1987–88 season, the most they had ever won as an NBA team. However, the Mavericks eliminated the Nuggets in the second round of the 1988 NBA Playoffs. McCombs sold the team to Sidney Shlenker in 1985. Shlenker, in turn, sold the team to COMSAT in 1989. 1989–1991: A period of decline Moe left the team in 1990, and was replaced by Paul Westhead. Westhead also believed in a "run and gun" style of play, and gave the green light for players like Michael Adams and Chris Jackson to light up the scoreboards within seconds of possession. However, Westhead cared even less about defense than Moe. As a result, the Nuggets gave up points so quickly that even their prolific offense could not keep up. They finished with the worst record in the league during the 1990–91 season, despite setting many scoring records. As an insult, many sportswriters nicknamed the team at the time as the "Enver Nuggets" (as in no "D", or no defense). 1991–1996: The Dikembe Mutombo era Denver took a positive step in rebuilding by drafting Georgetown University center Dikembe Mutombo in 1991. Mutombo finished runner-up to Larry Johnson for the NBA rookie of the year that season. Denver finished 24–58 that year. Denver fired Westhead prior to the 1992–93 season and hired former star player Dan Issel as his successor. The Nuggets had two lottery picks that year and drafted University of Notre Dame forward LaPhonso