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1986–87 Boston Celtics season

NBA basketball team season

Field	Value
team	Boston Celtics
ConferenceWin	yes
DivisionWin	yes
end_year	1987
wins	59
losses	23
division	Atlantic
division_place	1
conf_place	1
coach	K. C. Jones
gm	Jan Volk
arena	Boston Garden
Hartford Civic Center
owners	Don Gaston
Alan N. Cohen
Paul Dupee
television	WLVI
(Gil Santos, Bob Cousy)
SportsChannel New England
(Mike Gorman, Tom Heinsohn)
radio	WRKO
(Johnny Most, Glenn Ordway)
playoffs	[NBA Finals](1987-nba-finals)
(lost to [Lakers](1986-87-los-angeles-lakers-season) 2–4)
bbr_team	BOS

Hartford Civic Center Alan N. Cohen Paul Dupee (Gil Santos, Bob Cousy) SportsChannel New England (Mike Gorman, Tom Heinsohn) (Johnny Most, Glenn Ordway) (lost to Lakers 2–4)

The 1986–87 Boston Celtics season was the 41st season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics entered the season as the defending NBA Champions, having defeated the Houston Rockets in the 1986 NBA Finals in six games, winning their sixteenth NBA championship.

In the playoffs, the Celtics swept the Chicago Bulls in the First Round in three games, defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in the Semi-finals in seven games, and the Detroit Pistons in the conference finals in seven games to reach the NBA Finals for the fifth time in the 1980s. In the Finals, the Celtics faced off against their long time rival, the Los Angeles Lakers, in their third and final matchup in the NBA Finals in the 1980s. The Celtics would lose in six games to the Lakers, and it marked the last time the Celtics made it to the NBA Finals until 2008. Remarkably, the 1987 NBA Finals was the first playoff series for the Celtics in the Bird era in which they did not have the home court advantage, as they had played 24 consecutive series with the home court advantage starting in 1980.

NBA draft

Thanks to the 1984 trade of Gerald Henderson and the subsequent fall of the Seattle SuperSonics, at the end of the 1985–86 season the Celtics owned not only the best team in the NBA but also the second pick in the 1986 NBA draft. The Celtics drafted small forward Len Bias with the pick and had high hopes for the young Maryland Terrapins star. The hope was that his presence would ensure that the franchise would remain a powerhouse after Bird, McHale, and Parish retired. Unfortunately, Bias died 48 hours after he was drafted, after using cocaine at a party and overdosing.

Unlike the prior year, the Celtics were forced to endure major injuries to several key players including Bill Walton, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. With a road record of 20–21, the Celtics were a sub-.500 road team for the first time in the Larry Bird era and the first time since the 1978–79 season. However, they continued with the previous season's historic dominance at home with a record of 39–2 at Boston Garden.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club team
1	2	Len Bias	Forward	United States	Maryland
4	93	Tony Benford	N/A	United States	Texas Tech
5	116	Dave Colbert	N/A	United States	Dayton
6	139	Greg Wendt	N/A	United States	Detroit
7	162	Tom Ivey	N/A	United States	Boston University

Regular season

Season standings

Game log

|- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 1 || Fri. Oct. 31 || Washington Bullets || 120-102 ||Boston Garden ||1-0 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 2 || Sat. Nov. 1 || @ Milwaukee Bucks || 105-111 ||Milwaukee Arena (MECCA) ||1-1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 3 || Wed. Nov. 5 || Indiana Pacers || 133-102 || Boston Garden || 2–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 4 || Fri. Nov. 7 || @Washington Bullets || 88-86 || Capital Centre || 3–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 5 || Tue. Nov. 11 || @ New Jersey Nets || 110-114 || Brendan Byrne Arena || 3–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 6 || Wed. Nov. 12 || Milwaukee Bucks || 124-116 || Boston Garden || 4–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 7 || Fri. Nov. 14 || @ Chicago Bulls || 124-105 || Chicago Stadium ||5-2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 8 || Sat. Nov. 15 || @ Detroit Pistons || 118-111 || Pontiac Silverdome || 6–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 9 || Wed. Nov. 19 || Atlanta Hawks || 111-107 || Boston Garden || 7–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 10 || Fri. Nov. 21 || Golden State Warriors || 135-120 || Boston Garden || 8–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 11 || Sat. Nov. 22 || @ Atlanta Hawks || 96-97 || The Omni || 8–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 12 || Tue. Nov. 25 || @ Philadelphia 76ers || 100-102 || The Spectrum || 8–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 13 || Wed. Nov. 26 || New York Knicks || 101-90 || Boston Garden || 9–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 14 || Fri. Nov. 28 || San Antonio Spurs || 111-96 || Boston Garden || 10–4 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 15 || Tue. Dec. 2 || Washington Bullets || 109-117 || Hartford Civic Center || 10–5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 16 || Wed. Dec. 3 || Denver Nuggets || 119-113 || Boston Garden || 11–5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 17 || Fri. Dec. 5 || Philadelphia 76ers || 108-106 || Boston Garden || 12–5 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 18 || Sat. Dec. 6 || @ Cleveland Cavaliers || 86-88 || Richfield Coliseum || 12–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 19 || Wed. Dec. 10 || New Jersey Nets || 108-98 || Boston Garden || 13–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 20 || Fri. Dec. 12 || Los Angeles Lakers || 110-117 || Boston Garden || 13–7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 21 || Sat. Dec. 13 || @ Washington Bullets || 105-98 || Capital Centre || 14–7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 22 || Tue. Dec. 16 || @ New York Knicks || 107-96 || Madison Square Garden || 15–7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 23 || Wed. Dec. 17 || Indiana Pacers || 113-101 || Boston Garden || 16–7 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 24 || Fri. Dec. 19 || @ Philadelphia 76ers || 100-122 || The Spectrum || 16–8 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 25 || Sat. Dec. 20 || @ Milwaukee Bucks || 100-120 || Milwaukee Arena (MECCA) || 16–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 26 || Fri. Dec. 26 || @ Phoenix Suns || 122-112 || Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum || 17–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 27 || Sat. Dec. 27 || @ Los Angeles Clippers || 114-101 || L.A. Sports Arena || 18–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 28 || Mon. Dec. 29 || @ Sacramento Kings || 119-102 || ARCO Arena I || 19–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 29 || Tue. Dec. 30 || @ Seattle SuperSonics || 104-102 || Seattle Center Coliseum || 20–9 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 30 || Fri. Jan. 2 ||Chicago Bulls || 113-99 || Boston Garden || 21–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 31 || Wed. Jan. 7 || Milwaukee Bucks || 119-92 || Boston Garden || 22–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 32 || Fri. Jan. 9 || Sacramento Kings || 109-99 || Boston Garden || 23–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 33 || Sat. Jan. 10 || @ Detroit Pistons || 101-118 || Pontiac Silverdome || 23–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 34 || Tue. Jan. 13 || @ New Jersey Nets || 123-117 || Brendan Byrne Arena || 24–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 35 || Wed. Jan. 14 || Dallas Mavericks || 117-108 || Boston Garden || 25–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 36 || Fri. Jan. 16 || Cleveland Cavaliers || 133-128 (OT) || Boston Garden || 26–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 37 || Sun. Jan. 18 || Houston Rockets || 122-99 || Boston Garden || 27–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 38 || Mon. Jan. 19 || @ New York Knicks || 109-111 || Madison Square Garden || 27–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 39 || Wed. Jan. 21 || Indiana Pacers || 130-100 || Boston Garden || 28–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 40 || Fri. Jan. 23 || Atlanta Hawks || 126-106 || Boston Garden || 29–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 41 || Sun. Jan. 25 || Philadelphia 76ers || 111-96 || Boston Garden || 30–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 42 || Tue. Jan. 27 || @ Chicago Bulls || 105-97 || Chicago Stadium || 31–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 43 || Wed. Jan. 28 || Chicago Bulls || 132-103 || Boston Garden || 32–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 44 || Fri. Jan. 30 || @ Indiana Pacers || 100-94 || Market Square Arena || 33–11 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 45 || Tue. Feb. 3 || @ Atlanta Hawks || 123-126 (OT) || The Omni || 33–12 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 46 || Wed. Feb. 4 || Cleveland Cavaliers || 104-102 || Boston Garden || 34–12 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 47 || Tue. Feb. 10 || @ Denver Nuggets || 119-105 || McNichols Sports Arena || 35–12 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 48 || Thu. Feb. 12 || @ Golden State Warriors || 134-112 || Oakland Coliseum || 36–12 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 49 ||Fri. Feb. 13 || @ Portland Trail Blazers || 131-116 || Memorial Coliseum || 37–12 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 50 ||Sun. Feb. 15 || @ Los Angeles Lakers || 103-106 || The Forum || 37–13 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 51 ||Mon. Feb. 16 || @ Utah Jazz || 89-109 || Salt Palace || 37–14 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 52 ||Wed. Feb. 18 || @ Dallas Mavericks || 113-96 || Reunion Arena || 38–14 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 53 ||Thu. Feb. 19 || @ Houston Rockets || 99-92 || The Summit || 39–14 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 54 ||Sat. Feb. 21 || @ San Antonio Spurs || 121-113 || HemisFair Arena || 40–14 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 55 ||Mon. Feb. 23 || New Jersey Nets || 116-103 || Hartford Civic Center || 41–14 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 56 ||Wed. Feb. 25 || Portland Trail Blazers || 122-116 || Boston Garden || 42–14 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 57 ||Fri. Feb. 27 || @ Atlanta Hawks || 105-115 || The Omni || 42–15 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 58 ||Sun. Mar. 1 || Detroit Pistons || 112-102 || Boston Garden || 43–15 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 59 ||Wed. Mar. 4 || Utah Jazz || 123-105 || Boston Garden || 44–15 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 60 ||Fri. Mar. 6 || Los Angeles Clippers || 132-111 || Boston Garden || 45–15 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 61 ||Sun. Mar. 8 || @ Detroit Pistons || 119-122 (OT) || Pontiac Silverdome ||45-16 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 62 ||Wed. Mar. 11 || Phoenix Suns || 118-109 || Boston Garden ||46-16 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 63 ||Fri. Mar. 13 || @ Indiana Pacers || 109-116 || Market Square Arena ||46-17 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 64 ||Sun. Mar. 15 || New York Knicks || 113-104 || Boston Garden ||47-17 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 65 ||Tue. Mar. 17 || @ Milwaukee Bucks || 115-123 || Milwaukee Arena (MECCA) ||47-18 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 66 ||Wed. Mar. 18 || Milwaukee Bucks || 120-102 || Boston Garden ||48-18 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 67 ||Fri. Mar. 20 || Seattle SuperSonics || 112-108 || Boston Garden ||49-18 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 68 ||Sun. Mar. 22 || New Jersey Nets || 116-104 || Boston Garden ||50-18 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 69 ||Tue. Mar. 24 || Cleveland Cavaliers || 111-88 || Hartford Civic Center ||51-18 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 70 ||Thu. Mar. 26 || @ Washington Bullets || 103-106 || Capital Centre ||51-19 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 71 ||Fri. Mar. 27 || @ Chicago Bulls || 111-106 || Chicago Stadium ||52-19 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 72 ||Sun. Mar. 29 || Philadelphia 76ers || 118-100 || Boston Garden ||53-19 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 73 ||Tue. Mar. 31 || @ New York Knicks || 120-128 || Madison Square Garden ||53-20 |- |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 74 ||Wed. Apr. 1 || Washington Bullets || 103-86 || Boston Garden ||54-20 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 75 ||Fri. Apr. 3 || Detroit Pistons || 119-115 (OT) || Boston Garden ||55-20 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 76 ||Sun. Apr. 5 || @ Philadelphia 76ers || 104-106 (OT) || The Spectrum ||55-21 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 77 ||Tue. Apr. 7 || @ Cleveland Cavaliers || 83-107 || Richfield Coliseum ||55-22 |- align="center" bgcolor="edbebf" | 78 ||Fri. Apr. 10 || @ New Jersey Nets || 108-117 || Brendan Byrne Arena ||55-23 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 79 ||Sun. Apr. 12 || New York Knicks || 119-107 || Boston Garden ||56-23 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 80 ||Wed. Apr. 15 || @ Indiana Pacers || 108-85 || Market Square Arena ||57-23 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 81 ||Fri. Apr. 17 || Chicago Bulls || 108-105 || Boston Garden ||58-23 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 82 ||Sun. Apr. 19 || Atlanta Hawks || 118-107 || Boston Garden ||59-23

-
1986-87 Schedule

Roster

K. C. Jones
Jimmy Rodgers
Chris Ford

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Scoring Average

Player	GP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	AVG
Larry Bird	74	682	566	135	70	2076	28.1
Kevin McHale	77	763	198	38	172	2008	26.1
Robert Parish	80	851	173	64	144	1403	17.5
Dennis Johnson	79	261	594	87	38	1062	13.4
Danny Ainge	71	242	400	101	14	1053	14.8
Jerry Sichting	78	91	187	40	1	448	5.7
Fred Roberts	73	190	62	22	20	402	5.5
Darren Daye	61	124	75	25	7	236	3.9
Sam Vincent	46	27	59	13	1	171	3.7
Greg Kite	74	169	27	17	46	123	1.7
Conner Henry	36	27	27	6	1	98	2.7
Rick Carlisle	42	30	35	8	0	80	1.9
Bill Walton	10	31	9	1	10	28	2.8
David Thirdkill	17	19	2	2	0	25	1.5
Scott Wedman	6	9	6	2	2	20	3.3
Andre Turner	3	2	1	0	0	4	1.3

Playoffs

3–0
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
1
May 5
Milwaukee
W 111–98
Larry Bird (40)
Robert Parish (12)
Bird, Johnson (7)
Boston Garden
14,890
1–0
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
2
May 6
Milwaukee
W 126–124
Bird, Ainge (30)
Larry Bird (10)
Dennis Johnson (10)
Boston Garden
14,890
2–0
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
3
May 8
@ Milwaukee
L 121–126 (OT)
Dennis Johnson (32)
Robert Parish (16)
Dennis Johnson (14)
MECCA Arena
11,052
2–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
4
May 10
@ Milwaukee
W 138–137 (2OT)
Larry Bird (42)
Kevin McHale (11)
Dennis Johnson (12)
MECCA Arena
11,052
3–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
5
May 13
Milwaukee
L 124–129
Robert Parish (30)
Robert Parish (16)
Larry Bird (12)
Boston Garden
14,890
3–2
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
6
May 15
@ Milwaukee
L 111–121
Dennis Johnson (25)
Kevin McHale (16)
Dennis Johnson (14)
MECCA Arena
11,052
3–3
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
7
May 17
Milwaukee
W 119–113
Larry Bird (31)
Robert Parish (19)
Dennis Johnson (10)
Boston Garden
14,890
4–3
-
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
1
May 19
Detroit
W 104–91
Robert Parish (31)
Larry Bird (16)
Larry Bird (11)
Boston Garden
14,890
1–0
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
2
May 21
Detroit
W 110–101
Larry Bird (31)
Bird, Parish (9)
Larry Bird (12)
Boston Garden
14,890
2–0
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
3
May 23
@ Detroit
L 104–122
Sam Vincent (18)
Larry Bird (11)
Dennis Johnson (8)
Pontiac Silverdome
23,525
2–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
4
May 24
@ Detroit
L 119–145
Sam Vincent (18)
Kevin McHale (9)
Sam Vincent (7)
Pontiac Silverdome
27,387
2–2
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
5
May 26
Detroit
W 108–107
Larry Bird (36)
Larry Bird (12)
Larry Bird (9)
Boston Garden
14,890
3–2
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
6
May 28
@ Detroit
L 105–113
Larry Bird (35)
Kevin McHale (12)
Dennis Johnson (11)
Pontiac Silverdome
28,383
3–3
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
7
May 30
Detroit
W 117–114
Larry Bird (37)
Robert Parish (11)
Dennis Johnson (11)
Boston Garden
14,890
4–3
-
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
1
June 2
@ L.A. Lakers
L 113–126
Larry Bird (32)
Larry Bird (7)
Dennis Johnson (13)
The Forum
17,505
0–1
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
2
June 4
@ L.A. Lakers
L 122–141
Larry Bird (23)
Robert Parish (14)
Dennis Johnson (9)
The Forum
17,505
0–2
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
3
June 7
L.A. Lakers
W 109–103
Larry Bird (30)
Larry Bird (12)
Ainge, McHale (5)
Boston Garden
14,890
1–2
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
4
June 9
L.A. Lakers
L 106–107
Kevin McHale (25)
Kevin McHale (13)
Dennis Johnson (14)
Boston Garden
14,890
1–3
- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"
5
June 11
L.A. Lakers
W 123–108
Dennis Johnson (25)
Kevin McHale (14)
Dennis Johnson (11)
Boston Garden
14,890
2–3
- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc"
6
June 14
@ L.A. Lakers
L 93–106
Dennis Johnson (33)
Johnson, McHale (10)
Danny Ainge (6)
The Forum
17,505
2–4
-

Award winners

Larry Bird, All-NBA First Team
Kevin McHale, All-NBA First Team
Kevin McHale, All-NBA Defensive First Team

References

Celtics on Basketball Reference

3 Johnson 5 Walton 7 Turner 8 Wedman 11 Vincent 12 Sichting 20 Daye 32 McHale 33 Bird 34 Carlisle 43 Henry 44 Ainge 45 Thirdkill 50 Kite Coach Jones

References

(June 20, 1986). "All-American Basketball Star, Celtic Choice, Dies Suddenly". [[The New York Times]].

Info: Wikipedia Source

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