1991–92 Boston Celtics season

The 1991–92 Boston Celtics season was the 46th season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association.^[1] The Celtics had the 24th overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft, and selected small forward Rick Fox from the University of North Carolina.^[2][3][4] This also marked the 13th and final NBA season for All-Star forward, and Celtics legend Larry Bird, who would retire after the season.^[5][6][7]

With the addition of Fox, the Celtics struggled losing four of their first six games of the regular season, but then won 15 of their next 18 games. However, Bird suffered a back injury in January, and only played just 45 games;^[8][9][10] also during that month, the team traded Brian Shaw to the Miami Heat in exchange for Sherman Douglas.^[11][12][13] The Celtics held a 28–18 record at the All-Star break,^[14] posted a seven-game winning streak between March and April, and won their final eight games of the season. The Celtics won the Atlantic Division title with a 51–31 record, and earned the second seed in the Eastern Conference;^[15] the team qualified for the NBA playoffs for the 13th consecutive year.^[16]

Bird averaged 20.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game, while Reggie Lewis averaged 20.8 points and 1.5 steals per game. In addition, Robert Parish averaged 14.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, and surpassed the 20,000 point mark during the regular season,^[17][18] while sixth man Kevin McHale provided the team with 13.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game off the bench, but only played 56 games due to a leg injury,^[8][9] Kevin Gamble provided with 13.5 points per game, and second-year guard Dee Brown contributed 11.7 points and 5.3 assists per game, but only played just 31 games due to a knee injury.^[19][20] Meanwhile, Fox contributed 8.0 points per game off the bench, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, Ed Pinckney averaged 7.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, John Bagley was the team's starting point guard this season, averaging 7.2 points and 6.6 assists per game, and Joe Kleine provided with 4.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.^[21]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida, Bird and Lewis were both selected for the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team, although Bird did not participate due to injury; it was Bird's final All-Star selection, and the first and only All-Star appearance for Lewis.^[22][23][24] In addition, Bird was also selected to participate in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, but withdrew due to injury, and was replaced with Dell Curry of the Charlotte Hornets.^[25][26]

One of the regular season highlights for Bird was a 49-point performance in a nationally televised double-overtime win over the eventual Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers.^[27][28] It was the most points for Bird since February 15, 1988, when he scored 49 against the Phoenix Suns. Bird also finished in 14th place in Most Valuable Player voting,^[29] while head coach Chris Ford finished tied in seventh place in Coach of the Year voting.^[29]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1992 NBA playoffs, and for the second consecutive year, the Celtics faced off against the 7th–seeded Indiana Pacers, a team that featured Reggie Miller, Chuck Person, and Sixth Man of the Year, Detlef Schrempf. Despite starting the series without Bird and Brown due to injuries, the Celtics won the first two games over the Pacers at home at the Boston Garden, before winning Game 3 on the road, 102–98 at the Market Square Arena to win the series in a three-game sweep.^[30][31][32]

In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 3rd–seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, who were led by the trio of All-Star center Brad Daugherty, All-Star guard Mark Price, and Larry Nance. Despite the Celtics winning the Atlantic Division title, the Cavaliers had home-court advantage in the series, since they finished with a better regular-season record. After losing Game 1 to the Cavaliers on the road, 101–76 at the Coliseum at Richfield, the Celtics won the next two games to take a 2–1 series lead.^[33][34] Bird returned to play in Game 4, in which the Celtics lost to the Cavaliers at the Boston Garden in overtime, 114–112. With the series tied at 3–3, the Celtics lost Game 7 to the Cavaliers at the Coliseum at Richfield, 122–104, thus losing in a hard-fought seven-game series.^[35][36][37]

The Celtics finished 16th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 610,776 at the Boston Garden during the regular season.^[21][38] Following their loss to the Cavaliers, the Celtics would not win an NBA playoff series again for another ten years.