2002–03 Boston Celtics season

The 2002–03 Boston Celtics season was the 57th season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association.^[1] During the off-season, the Celtics acquired Vin Baker and Shammond Williams from the Seattle SuperSonics,^[2][3][4] and signed free agent, and undrafted rookie point guard J.R. Bremer.^[5][6]

After losing their first two games of the regular season, the Celtics posted a six-game winning streak afterwards, and got off to a solid 16–7 start to the season, as the team later on held a 27–22 record at the All-Star break.^[7] At mid-season, the team traded Shammond Williams to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for former Celtics center Mark Blount.^[8][9] The Celtics posted a six-game losing streak in March, and finished in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 44–38 record, earning the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.^[10]

Paul Pierce averaged 25.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game, and also contributed 118 three-point field goals, but struggled only shooting .302 in three-point field-goal percentage, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team; Antoine Walker averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and led the Celtics with 188 three-point field goals, despite only shooting .323 in three-point field-goal percentage. In addition, Tony Delk contributed 9.8 points per game and 120 three-point field goals, while Eric Williams provided the team with 9.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, Bremer contributed 8.3 points and 2.6 assists per game, along with 101 three-point field goals, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and Tony Battie provided with 7.3 points, 6.5 rebounds per and 1.2 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Walter McCarty contributed 6.1 points per game, Baker averaged 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, but only played 52 games due to injury, and Blount provided with 4.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in 27 games after the trade.^[11]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Pierce and Walker were both selected for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; it was the third and final All-Star appearance for Walker.^[12][13][14] In addition, Walker also participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout.^[15][16] Pierce also finished tied in eleventh place in Most Valuable Player voting.^[17]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 2003 NBA playoffs, the Celtics faced off against the 3rd–seeded Indiana Pacers, who were led by the trio of All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal, All-Star center Brad Miller, and Ron Artest. Despite the Pacers having home-court advantage in the series, the Celtics took a 3–1 series lead after winning Game 4 over the Pacers at home, 102–92 at the FleetCenter. After losing Game 5 on the road in overtime, 93–88 at the Conseco Fieldhouse, the Celtics won Game 6 over the Pacers at the FleetCenter, 110–90 to win the series in six games.^[18][19][20]

In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, and for the second consecutive year, the team faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Atlantic Division champion New Jersey Nets, who were led by the trio of All-Star guard Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, and second-year star Richard Jefferson. The Celtics lost the first two games to the Nets on the road at the Continental Airlines Arena, and then lost the next two games at home, including a Game 4 loss to the Nets at the FleetCenter in double-overtime, 110–101, thus losing the series in a four-game sweep.^[21][22][23] The Nets would advance to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year, but would lose to the San Antonio Spurs in six games in the 2003 NBA Finals.^[24][25][26]

The Celtics finished 13th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 709,049 at the FleetCenter during the regular season.^[11][27] This was also Walker's final season with the Celtics, as he and Delk were both traded to the Dallas Mavericks the following off-season; Walker would return to the Celtics midway through the 2004–05 season.^[28][29][30] Meanwhile, Bremer was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers.^[31] The franchise gained new owners that season when Paul Gaston sold the team to the Boston Basketball Partners, represented by Wyc Grousbeck, in the fall of 2002.