The 1988–89 Boston Celtics season was the 43rd season of the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). This was the first season for Jimmy Rodgers as head coach; Rodgers had been a Celtics assistant coach prior to this season. This year's Celtics team was severely hindered by the loss of All-Star forward

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

to a heel injury, which required surgery to have bone spurs removed from both heels; Bird only played just six early-season games before being lost to injury, averaging 19.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Initially, Bird was expected to be back in March, but it was delayed and ultimately became a season-ending injury. Without Bird, the Celtics struggled and played .500 basketball, holding a 23–23 record at the All-Star break. At midseason, the team traded

Danny Ainge Daniel Ray Ainge ( ; born March 17, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and former professional baseball player who serves as an executive for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-sp ...

and Brad Lohaus to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

in exchange for

Ed Pinckney Edward Lewis Pinckney (born March 27, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. College career He attended Villanova University and was a part of the Villanova Wildcats' 1981 heralded recruiting class that included Gary McL ...

and

Joe Kleine Joseph William Kleine (born January 4, 1962) is a retired American professional basketball player who played fifteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and for the US national team. He won a gold medal as a member of the Unite ...

. The results were dramatic as the Celtics, who had averaged over 60 wins per season thus far in the 1980s, fell to just 42 wins and 40 losses this season. Coming into the season, the Celtics had been the Eastern Conference's #1 seed five years in a row. This season, they were the #8 seed, clinching a playoff spot in the season's final game. This season included some bright spots, particularly the emergence of second-year guard

Reggie Lewis Reginald C. Lewis (November 21, 1965 – July 27, 1993) was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Boston Celtics from 1987 to 1993. Early life Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Lewis attended high schoo ...

, who had only been a minimal bench contributor in his rookie season of 1987–88, but showed a lot of improvement averaging 18.5 points and 1.5 steals per game, starting in 57 out of the 81 games he played this season. Lewis finished in second place in Most Improved Player voting. In addition, Kevin McHale averaged 22.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and selected for the

1989 NBA All-Star Game The 39th National Basketball Association All-Star Game was held at Houston on February 12, 1989. Karl Malone was named the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP). The east was composed of Mark Jackson, Kevin McHale, Michael Jordan, Patric ...

, while

Robert Parish Robert Lee Parish (born August 30, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player who played 21 seasons as a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), tied for second most in league history. He played an NBA-record 1,61 ...

provided the team with 18.6 points, 12.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, and

Dennis Johnson Dennis Wayne Johnson (September 18, 1954 – February 22, 2007), nicknamed "DJ", was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns, and Boston Celtics. He was a c ...

contributed 10.0 points, 6.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game. First round draft pick

Brian Shaw Brian Keith Shaw (born March 22, 1966) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play both guard positions, but wa ...

provided with 8.6 points and 5.8 assists per game, and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and

Jim Paxson James Joseph Paxson (born July 9, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player. A first round selection (12th overall) of the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1979 NBA draft, Paxson played for Portland and the Boston Celtics of the N ...

also contributed 8.6 points per game off the bench. The Celtics were still dangerous at the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (late ...

, posting a 32–9 home record (defeating both the Lakers and Pistons), but struggled mightily away from home, failing to record a road win over a team with a winning record. The Celtics faced the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

in the postseason for the 4th time in 5 seasons, but this time much earlier, in the Eastern Conference First Round. The Pistons were heavily favored, but hope arose for a competitive series when the Celtics activated Bird for their playoff roster. However, Bird never suited for a game and the Pistons easily dispatched the Celtics in a three-game sweep. This was the first time since

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

that the Celtics lost their opening round playoff series. The Celtics had won their previous 28 opening round playoff series dating back to 1957. The Pistons would reach the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

for the second consecutive year, and defeat the defending champion

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

in four straight games, winning their first ever championship.

Draft picks

Roster

Roster Notes

* Small forward

played 6 games but missed the majority of the season after undergoing surgery to remove bone spurs from both of his heels.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , April 28 , @

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

L 91–101
, Kevin McHale (27) ,

(12) ,

(8) ,

The Palace of Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly referred to as the Palace, was a multi-purpose arena built in 1988 and located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shoc ...

21,454 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , April 30 , @

L 95–102
,

(21) , Kevin McHale (11) ,

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

(5) ,

21,454 , 0–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , May 2 ,

L 85–100
,

(20) ,

(11) ,

(7) ,

14,890 , 0–3 , -

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

All-NBA Third Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sele ...

* Kevin McHale,

NBA All-Defensive Second Team The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of ten players in two ...

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...

2nd Team

Transactions

February 23rd 1989: Danny Ainge was traded with Brad Lohaus to Sacramento Kings for Joe Kleine & Ed Pinckney

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1988-89 Boston Celtics Season Boston Celtics seasons

Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

Draft picks

Roster

Roster Notes

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Transactions

See also

References