The 2006–07 Boston Celtics season was the 61st 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). The Celtics finished 24–58, the second-worst in franchise history after the 15–67 record in 1996–97. It was also the second-worst record in the league in 2006–07, only marginally in front of the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

. The season was overshadowed by many injuries, in particular the injury to All-Star

Paul Pierce Paul Anthony Pierce (born October 13, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), predominantly with the Boston Celtics. He was most recently an analyst on ESPN ...

, which caused him to miss seven weeks, and the deaths of Celtic legends

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. He served as a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Boston Celtics. ...

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 ...

Key dates

*June 28: The 2006 NBA Draft took place in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. *July 1: The

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

period started. *October 10: The pre-season started with a win against the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. *October 28:

died at the age of 89 due to a heart attack. *November 1: The regular season started with a loss to the

New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, and caused extensive damage to the New Orleans Arena. As a result, the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s New Orleans Hornets were unable to play any home games at th ...

. *December 20:

was injured in a loss to the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. *January 10: Tony Allen was injured in a loss to the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

, which caused him to miss the rest of the season. *February 9:

returned from his injury in a loss to the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. *February 14: The Celtics ended a franchise record 18-game losing streak with a win against the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

. *February 22:

died at the age of 52 due to a heart attack. *April 18: The season concluded with a loss to 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 ...

Summary

Just days before the start of the season, the Celtics were dealt an emotional blow when their patriarch

died at the age of 89. When the season started, the days of Auerbach seemed like a distant memory as the Celtics lost six of their first seven games en route to a 5–13 start. In December, the Celtics improved their play as they embarked on a 5-game winning streak. However, after losing All-Star

to a stress reaction in his left foot on December 20, the Celtics crumbled, winning just 3 of their next 42 games, including a franchise record 18-game losing streak that lasted from January 5 to February 14, and plunging into last place. In between the losing streak, the Celtics lost Tony Allen for the remainder of the season, who

tore Tore is a Scandinavian masculine name. It is derived from the Old Norse name ''Thórir'', which is composed of ''thorr'' which means thunder, and ''arr'' which means warrior. So Thunder Warrior or Thor's Warrior. The most famous person by this nam ...

both the ACL and

MCL The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3) ...

on an uncontested dunk attempt on January 10.Tony Allen Interview
, May 14, 2007 Adding to the pain was the death of another Celtics legend,

, who suffered a heart attack on February 22 at the age of 52 while coaching the Celtics

NBDL The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

affiliate, the

Austin Toros Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. After

Pierce Pierce may refer to: Places Canada * Pierce Range, a mountain range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia United States * Pierce, Colorado * Pierce, Idaho * Pierce, Illinois * Pierce, Kentucky * Pierce, Nebraska * Pierce, Texas * Pierce, We ...

had returned in early February after spending 7 weeks on the injured list, the Celtics played better and won 5 of 6 games in late February and early March. A few weeks later on St. Patrick's Day, the Celtics stunned the eventual

NBA champions The National Basketball Association (NBA) NBA Finals, Finals is the championship series for the NBA held at the conclusion of NBA playoffs, its postseason. All Finals have been played in a Playoff format#Best-of-seven playoff, best-of-seven for ...

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

91-85 on the road, making it the first time the Celtics won against

Tim Duncan Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Big Fundamental", he is widely regarded as the greatest power forward of all time and one of the greatest players in NBA histor ...

, whom they missed out on during the 1997 Draft Lottery. But nagging injuries would continue to hamper

, who sat out all of April, as the Celtics finished with a horrible 24-58 record that earned them the worst record in the Eastern Conference and 2nd worst record in the league, only marginally in front of the

. Afterwards, the Celtics turned their focus to the draft lottery, where they had good chances of landing a Top 2 pick, allowing them to select either

Greg Oden Gregory Wayne Oden Jr. (born January 22, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. Oden, a 7'0" (2.13m) center (basketball), center, played college basketball at Ohio State University for 2006–07 Ohio State Buckeyes men's bask ...

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for t ...

. However, even the draft lottery came out all wrong for the Celtics as they were assigned the 5th overall selection, which seemed to guarantee another disappointing season.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

, - , , 33 , , 18 , , 24.4 , , style=";", .514 , , .242 , , .784 , , 3.8 , , 1.7 , , 1.5 , , .4 , , 11.5 , - , , 73 , , style=";", 60 , , 31.2 , , .467 , , .381 , , .811 , , 5.6 , , 1.6 , , .7 , , .2 , , 12.1 , - , , style=";", 81 , , 26 , , 22.0 , , .419 , , .368 , , .805 , , 2.6 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .3 , , 10.4 , - , , 69 , , style=";", 60 , , 33.6 , , style=";", .514 , , .000 , , .681 , , style=";", 11.0 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , style=";", 1.5 , , 16.0 , - , , 24 , , 0 , , 9.8 , , .413 , , . , , .667 , , 2.0 , , .2 , , .3 , , .5 , , 1.7 , - , , 72 , , 53 , , 21.9 , , .491 , , .000 , , .600 , , 5.2 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 1.3 , , 4.5 , - , , 47 , , 46 , , style=";", 37.0 , , .439 , , .389 , , .796 , , 5.9 , , 4.1 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , style=";", 25.0 , - , , 6 , , 0 , , 16.7 , , .444 , , style=";", .500 , , .667 , , 2.5 , , .8 , , .5 , , .5 , , 5.2 , - , , 63 , , 2 , , 11.4 , , .446 , , .000 , , .736 , , 3.4 , , .2 , , .2 , , .3 , , 4.2 , - , , 2 , , 2 , , 22.0 , , .333 , , . , , .750 , , 3.5 , , .0 , , .5 , , style=";", 1.5 , , 2.5 , - , , 47 , , 5 , , 15.1 , , .386 , , .414 , , .764 , , 1.5 , , .9 , , .4 , , .1 , , 6.2 , - , , 78 , , 25 , , 23.5 , , .418 , , .207 , , .647 , , 3.7 , , 3.8 , , style=";", 1.6 , , .1 , , 6.4 , - , , 54 , , 17 , , 19.0 , , .403 , , .400 , , .783 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .3 , , 4.0 , - , , 32 , , 19 , , 28.1 , , .415 , , .415 , , style=";", .897 , , 3.1 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .1 , , 15.0 , - , , 78 , , 30 , , 20.2 , , .371 , , .289 , , .818 , , 1.4 , , 2.8 , , .6 , , .1 , , 6.1 , - , , 69 , , 47 , , 32.2 , , .427 , , .365 , , .853 , , 3.0 , , style=";", 4.4 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , 12.2

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

References

External links

2006–07 Boston Celtics season at Basketball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:2006-07 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 ...

Key dates

Summary

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

See also

References

External links