1987–88 Boston Celtics season

The 1987–88 Boston Celtics season was the 42nd season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. The Celtics had the 22nd overall pick in the 1987 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Reggie Lewis out of Northeastern University.^[1][2][3]

Coming off from an NBA Finals defeat to their rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers in six games, the Celtics won their first six games of the regular season, then later on posted a seven-game winning streak in January, and held a 32–13 record at the All-Star break.^[4] At mid-season, the team traded Jerry Sichting to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Jim Paxson.^[5][6][7] The Celtics posted an eight-game winning streak between March and April, but then lost four of their final six games of the season afterwards, winning the Atlantic Division title with a 57–25 record, and earning the first seed in the Eastern Conference.^[8]

Larry Bird averaged 29.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game, contributed 98 three-point field goals, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, while Kevin McHale averaged 22.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, led the league with .604 in field-goal percentage, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. In addition, Danny Ainge provided the team with 15.7 points, 6.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and also led them with 148 three-point field goals, while Robert Parish provided with 14.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, and Dennis Johnson contributed 12.6 points and 7.8 assists per game. Off the bench, Paxson contributed 8.7 points per game in 28 games after the trade, while Fred Roberts provided with 6.1 points per game, and Mark Acres averaged 3.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.^[9]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois, Bird, McHale and Ainge were all selected for the 1988 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; it was Ainge's first and only All-Star appearance.^[10][11][12] In addition, Bird and Ainge both participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, in which Bird won for the third consecutive year.^[13][11][14] Bird also finished in second place in Most Valuable Player voting, behind Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls,^[15][16] while head coach K.C. Jones finished tied in sixth place in Coach of the Year voting.^[16]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1988 NBA playoffs, the Celtics faced off against the 8th–seeded New York Knicks, a team that featured All-Star center Patrick Ewing, Gerald Wilkins, and Rookie of the Year, Mark Jackson. The Celtics won the first two games over the Knicks at home at the Boston Garden, before losing Game 3 on the road, 109–100 at Madison Square Garden. The Celtics won Game 4 over the Knicks on the road, 102–94 to win the series in four games.^[17][18][19]

In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the team 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 Celtics won the first two games over the Hawks at the Boston Garden, and took a 2–0 series lead. However, the Celtics lost the next three games, including a Game 5 home loss to the Hawks at the Boston Garden, 112–104 as the Hawks took a 3–2 series lead. However, the Celtics managed to win Game 6 on the road, 102–100 at the Omni Coliseum to even the series, and then won Game 7 over the Hawks at the Boston Garden, 118–116 to win in a hard-fought seven-game series.^[20][21][22] The Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the fifth consecutive year, becoming the first team to do so since the 1968–69 Boston Celtics (which reached the previous thirteen).

In the Conference Finals, and for the second consecutive year, the Celtics faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Central Division champion Detroit Pistons, who were led by the trio of All-Star guard Isiah Thomas, Adrian Dantley and Joe Dumars. The Celtics lost Game 1 to the Pistons at the Boston Garden, 104–96, but managed to win Game 2 at home in overtime, 119–115 to even the series. However, with the series tied at 2–2, the Celtics lost the next two games, including a Game 6 loss to the Pistons on the road, 95–90 at the Pontiac Silverdome, thus losing the series in six games; this was the first time since the 1982–83 season that the Celtics failed to reach the NBA Finals.^[23][24][25] The Pistons would advance to the Finals, but would lose to the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in a full seven-game series in the 1988 NBA Finals.^[26][27][28]

The Celtics finished sixth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 611,231 fans at the Boston Garden during the regular season.^[9][29] Following the season, Jones resigned as head coach,^[30][31][32] and Roberts was left unprotected in the 1988 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Miami Heat expansion team, who then traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks.^[33][34][35]