1992–93 Boston Celtics season

The 1992–93 Boston Celtics season was the 47th season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association.^[1] This marked the first season since the 1978–79 season that Hall of Fame player Larry Bird was not on the team; this was also the final season for long-time Celtics All-Star forward Kevin McHale, as he would retire the following off-season.^[2][3][4] During the off-season, the Celtics signed free agent and former All-Star forward Xavier McDaniel,^[5][6][7] then later on in December, traded rookie shooting guard, and first-round draft pick Jon Barry out of Georgia Tech University to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Alaa Abdelnaby,^[8][9][10] and also re-signed free agent John Bagley; Bagley played for the team the previous season, but was not re-signed during the off-season.^[11][12]

Despite the addition of McDaniel, the Celtics got off to a bad start by losing eight of their first ten games of the regular season, as Ed Pinckney only played just seven games due to a knee injury.^[13][14] However, the team recovered by posting a seven-game winning streak in January, and later on held a 26–24 record at the All-Star break.^[15] The Celtics posted a nine-game winning streak in March, and won six of their final seven games of the season, finishing in second place in the Atlantic Division with a solid 48–34 record, and earning the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference;^[16] the team qualified for the NBA playoffs for the 14th consecutive year.^[1]

Reggie Lewis led the Celtics in scoring averaging 20.8 points, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while McDaniel averaged 13.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, and Kevin Gamble provided the team with 13.3 points per game. In addition, Robert Parish averaged 12.6 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, while Dee Brown contributed 10.9 points, 5.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game, and McHale provided with 10.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game off the bench, but shot a career-low of .459 in field-goal percentage. Meanwhile, Abdelnaby averaged 8.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in 63 games after the trade, Sherman Douglas contributed 7.8 points and 6.4 assists per game, second-year forward Rick Fox contributed 6.4 points per game, Pinckney averaged 4.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game during his short seven-game stint, and Joe Kleine provided with 3.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.^[17]

However, McHale briefly feuded with head coach Chris Ford near the end of the regular season over his lack of playing time, which did not help with causing distractions and lack of focus for the Celtics.^[18][19] Abdelnaby finished tied in eleventh place in Most Improved Player voting,^[20] while Ford finished in seventh place in Coach of the Year voting.^[21][20]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1993 NBA playoffs, the Celtics faced off against the 5th–seeded Charlotte Hornets, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward Larry Johnson, rookie center Alonzo Mourning, and Muggsy Bogues. However, during Game 1 at the Boston Garden, Lewis collapsed on the court;^[22][23][24] Lewis scored 17 points in 13 minutes as the Celtics defeated the Hornets at home, 112–101.^[25] However, without Lewis for the remainder of the series, the Celtics lost the next three games, which included a Game 4 loss to the Hornets on the road, 104–103 at the Charlotte Coliseum, as Mourning hit a game-winning buzzer-beater; the Celtics lost the series to the Hornets in four games.^[26][27][28] Game 1 of that series would also be the final game for Lewis, as he would die of cardiac arrest during practice three months later at the age of 27, before the next season began.^[29][30][31]

The Celtics finished 18th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 608,495 at the Boston Garden during the regular season.^[17][32] Following the season, Kleine signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Suns,^[33][34] and Bagley signed with the Atlanta Hawks during the next season.^[35][36]