a career-high 38 points against the Atlanta Hawks. He led the Lakers in scoring in the 1988 play-offs and led the NBA in points scored during the play-offs. During the Finals against the Pistons Worthy once again excelled, averaging 22 ppg, 7.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in the series. A 28-point, 9 rebound Game 6 and monster 36–16–10 triple-double that carried the Lakers to victory in Game 7 earned Worthy the NBA Finals MVP award and the Lakers the first back-to-back titles in the NBA since '68–'69 Celtics. 1988–1989 With Riley clamoring for a "Three-peat" in 1988–89 the Lakers marched through the regular season and met the Pistons for an encore in the Finals. With Abdul-Jabbar playing his last games and Johnson and Byron Scott missing three due to injuries even Worthy at his play-off best was not nearly enough. In spite of averaging a career Finals high 25.5 ppg, including a career-high 40 points trying to stave off elimination in Game 4, the Lakers were swept in four. 1989–1990 The Lakers ran hot again in 1989–90 despite internal friction that had developed during Pat Riley's final year as head coach, their 63–19 record the NBA's best. Worthy averaged 21.1 points per game and became the first player in NBA history to shoot at least 53% in each of his first eight seasons. In spite of stepped-up performances by both Johnson (25.2 ppg) and Worthy (24.2 ppg) in the play-offs, LA fell in the Conference semifinals to a hot Phoenix Suns team. 1990–1991 The Lakers once more won the West in 1991 and marched through the playoffs to the Finals thanks to Worthy's team-leading and career-high 21.4 ppg in '91 and the addition of former North Carolina Tarheel star Sam Perkins at center. Unfortunately, Worthy suffered a high ankle sprain in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals against the Blazers and was very limited heading into the Finals against the Chicago Bulls. Despite LA pulling out a Game 1 victory in Chicago it ultimately wasn't enough against a surging Bulls squad led by another teammate from the 1982 NCAA Championship team, an emergent Michael Jordan. The Lakers ultimately fell in five, with Worthy sidelined for Game 5 after re-injuring his ankle the previous game. Retirement Johnson's sudden retirement in November 1991 threw the Lakers franchise into disarray. Injuries and high mileage soon spelled the end for Worthy. The high