1986–87 Boston Celtics season


The 1986–87 Boston Celtics season was the 41st season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. 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 Semifinals 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 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.
RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalitySchool/Club Team
12Len BiasForwardUnited StatesMaryland
493Tony BenfordN/AUnited StatesTexas Tech
5116Dave ColbertN/AUnited StatesDayton
6139Greg WendtN/AUnited StatesDetroit
7162Tom IveyN/AUnited StatesBoston University

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game Log

Roster

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Scoring Average
PlayerGPREBASTSTLBLKPTSAVG
Larry Bird7468256613570207628.1
Kevin McHale7776319838172200826.1
Robert Parish8085117364144140317.5
Dennis Johnson792615948738106213.4
Danny Ainge7124240010114105314.8
Jerry Sichting78911874014485.7
Fred Roberts731906222204025.5
Darren Daye61124752572363.9
Sam Vincent4627591311713.7
Greg Kite741692717461231.7
Conner Henry36272761982.7
Rick Carlisle42303580801.9
Bill Walton10319110282.8
David Thirdkill1719220251.5
Scott Wedman69622203.3
Andre Turner3210041.3

Playoffs

East First Round

Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls:
Celtics win series 3–0
Boston Celtics vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Celtics win series 4–3
Boston Celtics vs. Detroit Pistons
Celtics win series 4–3
Despite the loss of Bias, the Celtics remained competitive in 1986–87, going 59–23 and again winning the Eastern Conference Championship. Celtics ran into perhaps the best Los Angeles Lakers team of the. The biggest injury was yet another foot injury for Bill Walton, who only played 10 regular season games in 1986–87 after playing 80 games the year before. Walton fought through the injury, playing 12 games in the playoffs, but was not the same player as he was the year before. Kevin McHale played on a broken foot through the playoffs. This combined with injuries to Parish and Ainge forced reserves Darren Daye and Fred Roberts to play larger roles in the series, which the Celtics would lose 4 games to 2.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics
Lakers win series 4–2