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1989–90 Boston Celtics season

NBA basketball team season

Hartford Civic Center Alan N. Cohen Paul Dupee (Mike Crispino, Bob Cousy) SportsChannel New England (Mike Gorman, Tom Heinsohn) (Johnny Most, Glenn Ordway, Doug Brown) (lost to Knicks 2–3)

The 1989–90 Boston Celtics season was the 44th season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. The Celtics had the 13th overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft, and selected power forward Michael Smith out of Brigham Young University, and acquired John Bagley from the New Jersey Nets during the off-season.

With Larry Bird returning after only playing just six games in the 1988–89 season due to heel injuries, and with last year's first-round draft pick Brian Shaw leaving the team to play overseas in Italy, the Celtics struggled around .500 in winning percentage during the first month of the regular season, but would win 11 of their next 15 games, holding a 28–18 record at the All-Star break, finishing in second place in the Atlantic Division with a solid 52–30 record, and earning the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference; the Celtics also qualified for the NBA playoffs for the eleventh consecutive year.

Bird averaged 24.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, while sixth man Kevin McHale averaged 20.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and Reggie Lewis contributed 17.0 points per game. In addition, Robert Parish provided the team with 15.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, while Dennis Johnson provided with 7.1 points and 6.5 assists per game. Off the bench, Jim Paxson contributed 6.4 points per game, while Joe Kleine averaged 5.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, Kevin Gamble contributed 5.1 points per game, Bagley provided with 4.3 points and 5.5 assists per game, and starting power forward Ed Pinckney averaged 4.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida, Bird, McHale and Parish were all selected for the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; this would be the final All-Star Game Bird would participate in. In addition, Bird also participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, and finished tied in tenth place in Most Valuable Player voting.

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1990 NBA playoffs, the Celtics faced off against the 5th–seeded New York Knicks, a team that featured All-Star center Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and Maurice Cheeks. The Celtics looked ready to make a serious run, as the team took a 2–0 series lead over the Knicks. In Game 2, the Celtics defeated the Knicks at home, 157–128 at the Boston Garden; the team's 157 points were an NBA playoff record for the most points scored in a game. However, the Celtics lost the next two games to the Knicks on the road, which included a Game 4 loss at Madison Square Garden, 135–108 as the Knicks evened the series. The Celtics lost Game 5 to the Knicks at the Boston Garden, 121–114, thus losing in a hard-fought five-game series.

Following the season, Johnson and Paxson both retired, and head coach Jimmy Rodgers was fired after coaching the Celtics for two seasons.

Draft picks

Main article: 1989 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	13	Michael Smith	SF/PF	United States	Brigham Young
2	40	Dino Rađa	PF		KK Jugoplastika

Roster

Jimmy Rodgers
Chris Ford
Lanny Van Eman

Regular season

Larry Bird, the Celtics star player, was coming back after surgery to both heels the previous season and later said he never felt the same. Despite the injury, the Celtics were able to rise to 2nd place in the Atlantic Division. By the end of the regular season, the Celtics had scored an average of 110 points per a game, and allowed an average of 106 points per game. During the playoffs against the Knicks that year, the Celtics quickly took the first 2 games of the series, but the New York Knicks would come back and rally to win 3 games in a row, sending the Celtics home.

Season standings

Game log

Playoffs

2–3

Player statistics

Regular season

|- | 54 || 17 || 20.3 || .459 || .056 || .744 || 1.6 || 5.5 || .7 || .1 || 4.3 |- | 75 || 75 || 39.3 || .473 || .333 || .930 || 9.5 || 7.5 || 1.4 || .8 || 24.3 |- | 71 || 10 || 13.9 || .455 || .167 || .794 || 1.6 || 1.7 || .4 || .1 || 5.1 |- | 75 || 65 || 27.1 || .434 || .042 || .843 || 2.7 || 6.5 || 1.1 || .2 || 7.1 |- | 81 || 4 || 16.9 || .480 || .000 || .830 || 4.4 || .6 || .2 || .3 || 5.4 |- | 79 || 54 || 31.9 || .496 || .267 || .808 || 4.4 || 2.8 || 1.1 || .8 || 17.0 |- | 82 || 25 || 33.2 || .549 || .333 || .893 || 8.3 || 2.1 || .4 || 1.9 || 20.9 |- | 79 || 78 || 30.3 || .580 || || .747 || 10.1 || 1.3 || .5 || .9 || 15.7 |- | 72 || 25 || 17.8 || .453 || .250 || .811 || 1.1 || 1.9 || .5 || .1 || 6.4 |- | 77 || 50 || 14.1 || .542 || .000 || .773 || 2.9 || .9 || .4 || .5 || 4.7 |- | 60 || 0 || 8.7 || .444 || .000 || .697 || 1.2 || 1.7 || .6 || .1 || 2.9 |- | 65 || 7 || 9.5 || .476 || .071 || .828 || 1.5 || 1.2 || .1 || .0 || 5.0 |- | 14 || 0 || 9.4 || .308 || .400 || .667 || .9 || 2.0 || .1 || .1 || 2.1 |}

Playoffs

|- | 5 || 0 || 14.0 || .533 || .000 || .750 || .8 || 3.4 || .8 || .2 || 3.8 |- | 5 || 5 || 41.4 || .444 || .263 || .906 || 9.2 || 8.8 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 24.4 |- | 3 || 0 || 2.7 || .600 || || || .3 || .7 || .0 || .0 || 2.0 |- | 5 || 5 || 32.4 || .484 || .333 || 1.000 || 2.8 || 5.6 || .4 || .4 || 13.8 |- | 5 || 0 || 15.8 || .765 || .000 || .833 || 2.8 || .4 || .4 || .6 || 6.2 |- | 5 || 5 || 40.0 || .597 || .000 || .771 || 5.0 || 4.4 || 1.4 || .4 || 20.2 |- | 5 || 5 || 38.4 || .609 || .333 || .862 || 7.8 || 2.6 || .4 || 2.0 || 22.0 |- | 5 || 5 || 34.0 || .574 || || .944 || 10.0 || 2.6 || 1.0 || 1.4 || 15.8 |- | 5 || 0 || 12.4 || .500 || .000 || .750 || .0 || 1.4 || 1.0 || .0 || 3.8 |- | 4 || 0 || 6.3 || .857 || || .778 || 1.5 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 4.8 |- | 3 || 0 || 3.0 || .500 || || || .3 || 1.0 || .3 || .0 || .7 |- | 4 || 0 || 4.0 || .625 || .000 || 1.000 || .0 || .0 || .3 || .0 || 4.3 |}

Player statistics citation:

Awards and records

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

References

"1989-90 Boston Celtics Roster and Stats".
Goldaper, Sam. (June 28, 1989). "Kings Take Ellison First in N.B.A. Draft; Clippers Pick Ferry". The New York Times.
McManis, Sam. (June 28, 1989). "THE NBA DRAFT: The Other Teams: Sacramento's Secret Is Out: It's Ellison". Los Angeles Times.
"1989 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.
(October 5, 1989). "For the Record". The Washington Post.
(October 6, 1989). "Celtics Get Bagley in Trade with Nets". United Press International.
Brown, Clifton. (October 13, 1989). "With Bird Walking Normally, Celtics Prepare to Walk Tall". The New York Times.
Aldridge, David. (October 31, 1989). "Bird Has the Floor, with Motion Being Considered". The Washington Post.
Eisenberg, John. (November 12, 1989). "Boston's Bird Still Scraping Off the Rust: Comeback: Celtics' Star Is Finally Able to Run Up and Down the Court Without Feeling Pain in His Feet". Los Angeles Times.
(August 10, 1989). "Celtics' Shaw Reportedly Will Play in Italy". Los Angeles Times.
(August 10, 1989). "Celtics' Shaw Signs with Italian club". United Press International.
(August 11, 1989). "SPORTS PEOPLE: BASKETBALL; Another Up-and-Comer Joins Italian Team". The New York Times.
"NBA Games Played on February 8, 1990". Basketball-Reference.
"1989–90 Boston Celtics Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference.
"Boston Celtics". Basketball-Reference.
"1989–90 Boston Celtics Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.
Howard-Cooper, Scott. (February 11, 1990). "NBA ALL-STAR GAME: Entire Family Is Back Together--Almost". Los Angeles Times.
(September 13, 2021). "1990 NBA All-Star Recap". NBA.com.
"1990 NBA All-Star Game: East 130, West 113". Basketball-Reference.
(February 9, 1990). "NBA All-Star Weekend". The Hour.
"NBA & ABA All-Star Game Contest Winners". Basketball-Reference.
"1989–90 NBA Awards Voting". Basketball-Reference.
Goldaper, Sam. (April 29, 1990). "Boston Massacre: Knicks Lose Historically". The New York Times.
Hafner, Dan. (April 29, 1990). "NBA ROUNDUP: Celtics Run Knicks Out of Town, 157-128". Los Angeles Times.
"1990 NBA Eastern Conference First Round Game 2: New York Knicks at Boston Celtics Box Score, April 28, 1990". Basketball-Reference.
Goldaper, Sam. (May 7, 1990). "Breakthrough in Boston: Knicks Roll, 121-114". The New York Times.
Aldridge, David. (May 7, 1990). "Knicks Nix Jinx, Celtics in Game 5". The Washington Post.
"1990 NBA Eastern Conference First Round: Knicks vs. Celtics". Basketball-Reference.
(October 1, 1990). "Celtics Won't Re-Sign Dennis Johnson". United Press International.
(October 2, 1990). "SPORTS PEOPLE: PRO BASKETBALL; Johnson Not Offered Contract by Celtics". The New York Times.
(October 2, 1990). "The Boston Celtics Have Decided Not to...". Los Angeles Times.
Thomas Jr., Robert McG.. (May 9, 1990). "Celtics Drop Rodgers as Coach After 2 Years". The New York Times.
(May 9, 1990). "Rodgers Is Fired by Celtics". Los Angeles Times.
Ryan, Bob. (May 9, 1990). "Celtics' Rodgers Fired by Bosses; He's Better Off". Sun Sentinel.
"Sports Apparel, Jerseys and Fan Gear at Fanatics.com Sports Shop".
"1989–90 Boston Celtics Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference.

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