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1997–98 Boston Celtics season

NBA basketball team season

NBA basketball team season

SportsChannel/Fox Sports New England

The 1997–98 Boston Celtics season was the 52nd season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. The Celtics received the third overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft, and selected point guard Chauncey Billups from the University of Colorado, and also selected shooting guard Ron Mercer from the University of Kentucky with the sixth overall pick.

Despite finishing with the league's second worst record the previous season, the Celtics were back in the headlines after hiring University of Kentucky head coach Rick Pitino as their new coach. During the off-season, the team signed free agent Chris Mills, but then traded him to the New York Knicks in exchange for second-year forward Walter McCarty in October, and also signed second-year center Travis Knight, Andrew DeClercq, Bruce Bowen and Tyus Edney.

Pitino's Celtics career had an auspicious beginning on opening night when the Celtics defeated Michael Jordan, and the 5-time defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls, 92–85 at the FleetCenter on October 31, 1997. After a slow 1–5 start to the regular season, the Celtics held a 16–14 record as of January 3, 1998, but then lost eight of their next nine games, and held a 22–25 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Billups along with Dee Brown to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Kenny Anderson, Popeye Jones and Žan Tabak; the Raptors had acquired Anderson from the Portland Trail Blazers. The Celtics continued to struggle as they later on posted a six-game losing streak in March; although the team did not qualify for the NBA playoffs, they improved their win total by 21 games from the previous season, finishing in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with a 36–46 record.

Second-year star Antoine Walker averaged 22.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, while Mercer averaged 15.3 points and 1.6 steals per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, and Anderson provided the team with 11.2 points, 6.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game in 16 games after the trade. In addition, McCarty provided with 9.6 points and 1.3 steals per game, while Dana Barros contributed 9.8 points and 3.6 assists per game, and led the Celtics with 100 three-point field goals, and Knight averaged 6.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Bowen provided with 5.6 points and 1.4 steals per game, DeClercq averaged 5.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, and Greg Minor contributed 5.0 points per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, Walker was selected for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; it was his first ever All-Star appearance. Meanwhile, before the mid-season trade, Mercer and Billups were both selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as members of the Eastern Conference Rookie team. Walker finished in twelfth place in Most Valuable Player voting, and also finished tied in eighth place in Most Improved Player voting, while Pitino finished tied in seventh place in Coach of the Year voting.

The Celtics finished tenth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 739,422 at the FleetCenter during the regular season. Following the season, Knight was traded back to his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, after only one season with the Celtics, and Edney and Tabak were both released to free agency.

Draft picks

Main article: 1997 NBA draft

RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalityCollege
13Chauncey BillupsPGColorado
16Ron MercerSF/SGKentucky
256Ben PepperCNewcastle Falcons

Roster

  • Rick Pitino
  • Winston Bennett
  • John Carroll
  • Jim O'Brien

Roster Notes

  • Power forward Popeye Jones was acquired by the Celtics from the Toronto Raptors in a mid-season trade, but was placed on the injured reserve list due to a knee injury he sustained with the Raptors, and did not play for the Celtics this season.

Regular season

Season standings

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

|- | 16 || 16 || 24.1 || .435 || .370 || .837 || 2.4 || 6.3 || 1.6 || .0 || 11.2 |- | 80 || 15 || 21.1 || .461 || .407 || .847 || 1.9 || 3.6 || 1.0 || .1 || 9.8 |- | 51 || 44 || 25.4 || .390 || .339 || .817 || 2.2 || 4.3 || 1.5 || .0 || 11.1 |- | 61 || 9 || 21.4 || .409 || .339 || .623 || 2.9 || 1.3 || 1.4 || .5 || 5.6 |- | 41 || 10 || 19.8 || .427 || .381 || .679 || 1.5 || 1.3 || 1.1 || .1 || 6.8 |- | 81 || 49 || 18.8 || .497 || .000 || .601 || 4.8 || .7 || 1.0 || .6 || 5.4 |- | 52 || 7 || 12.0 || .431 || .300 || .793 || 1.1 || 2.7 || 1.0 || .0 || 5.3 |- | 33 || 8 || 13.5 || .571 || || .588 || 3.3 || .9 || .6 || .9 || 3.0 |- | 8 || 0 || 3.3 || .500 || || || .8 || .1 || .3 || .1 || .8 |- | 15 || 0 || 6.1 || .333 || .261 || || .6 || .3 || .1 || .2 || 2.9 |- | 74 || 21 || 20.3 || .441 || .273 || .786 || 4.9 || 1.4 || .7 || 1.1 || 6.5 |- | 82 || 64 || 28.5 || .404 || .309 || .742 || 4.4 || 2.2 || 1.3 || .5 || 9.6 |- | 80 || 62 || 33.3 || .450 || .107 || .839 || 3.5 || 2.2 || 1.6 || .2 || 15.3 |- | 69 || 16 || 16.3 || .436 || .194 || .686 || 2.2 || 1.3 || .8 || .2 || 5.0 |- | 9 || 0 || 4.1 || .375 || || .500 || .6 || .1 || .2 || .4 || .8 |- | 18 || 5 || 12.9 || .473 || || .538 || 3.2 || .7 || .3 || .6 || 3.3 |- | 33 || 2 || 11.2 || .513 || || .788 || 2.1 || .4 || .6 || .3 || 3.3 |- | 82 || 82 || 39.9 || .423 || .312 || .645 || 10.2 || 3.3 || 1.7 || .7 || 22.4 |}

  • † Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Celtics only. Player statistics citation:

Awards and records

  • Ron Mercer, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

References

References

  1. [https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1998.html 1997-98 Boston Celtics]
  2. Wise, Mike. (June 26, 1997). "After Duncan, Utah Forward Steals Show". The New York Times.
  3. Heisler, Mark. (June 26, 1997). "Draft Over, But Not Finished". Los Angeles Times.
  4. "1997 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.
  5. Dohrmann, George. (May 7, 1997). "Pitino Is Lured by Celtic Green". Los Angeles Times.
  6. Greenberg, Alan. (May 7, 1997). "Pitino Celtics' 1st Step". Hartford Courant.
  7. (May 9, 1997). "With Pitino in Boston, Bird Goes to Pacers". The New York Times.
  8. (August 22, 1997). "Celtics Sign Chris Mills and Tyus Edney". Associated Press.
  9. (August 23, 1997). "Celtics Sign 2 Free Agents". The New York Times.
  10. (August 23, 1997). "Transactions". Hartford Courant.
  11. Roberts, Selena. (October 23, 1997). "PRO BASKETBALL; Knicks Send Four Players to the Celtics for Mills". The New York Times.
  12. (October 23, 1997). "Knicks Trade Four Players to Get Mills". Los Angeles Times.
  13. Greenberg, Alan. (October 23, 1997). "One of Pitino's Slick Moves". Hartford Courant.
  14. Howard-Cooper, Scott. (July 5, 1997). "Knight Agrees to $22-Million Celtic Contract". Los Angeles Times.
  15. Greenberg, Alan. (July 8, 1997). "To Sign Knight, Celtics Give Up Rights to Fox". Hartford Courant.
  16. Greenberg, Alan. (October 26, 1997). "Can Pitino Handle Full Control?". Hartford Courant.
  17. Berkow, Ira. (November 1, 1997). "PRO BASKETBALL; Pitino Begins Era by Beating Bulls". The New York Times.
  18. Berkow, Ira. (November 2, 1997). "ON BASKETBALL; Pitino's Young Guns Overrun the Bulls". The New York Times.
  19. "Chicago Bulls at Boston Celtics Box Score, October 31, 1997". Basketball-Reference.
  20. "NBA Games Played on February 5, 1998". Basketball-Reference.
  21. Wise, Mike. (February 19, 1998). "BASKETBALL; Kenny Anderson Is Traded to Celtics in 7-Player Deal". The New York Times.
  22. (February 19, 1998). "Celtics Land Anderson in Deal with Raptors". Los Angeles Times.
  23. (February 19, 1998). "In Seven-Player Swap, Raptors Trade Anderson to the Celtics". The Washington Post.
  24. Popper, Steve. (February 14, 1998). "PRO BASKETBALL; The Trade Comes, to Stoudamire's Relief". The New York Times.
  25. (February 14, 1998). "Stoudamire Finally Traded to Portland". Los Angeles Times.
  26. (February 14, 1998). "Raptors Deal Stoudamire for Blazers' Anderson". The Washington Post.
  27. "1997–98 Boston Celtics Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference.
  28. "1997–98 Boston Celtics Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.
  29. Howard-Cooper, Scott. (January 28, 1998). "Lakers Get Four-Star Rating as Van Exel, Jones Honored". Los Angeles Times.
  30. (September 13, 2021). "1998 NBA All-Star Recap". NBA.com.
  31. "1998 NBA All-Star Game: East 135, West 114". Basketball-Reference.
  32. (February 6, 1998). "1998 NBA Rookie Game Roster". Times-Union.
  33. "1998 NBA Rising Stars: East 85, West 80". Basketball-Reference.
  34. "1997–98 NBA Awards Voting". Basketball-Reference.
  35. "1997–98 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference.
  36. (January 20, 1999). "Knight's Out". Hartford Courant.
  37. Wise, Mike. (February 4, 1999). "PRO BASKETBALL; A Scrum for the Title". The New York Times.
  38. Szostak, Mike. (June 26, 1998). "Celtics Caught in the Middle". South Coast Today.
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