The

1994–95 NBA season The 1994–95 NBA season was the 49th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the Houston Rockets defeating the Orlando Magic 4–0 in the NBA Finals to be crowned champions. Notable occurrences *The Housto ...

was the 49th season for 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 Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

in the

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

. This was the Celtics' first season since the 1979–80 season without long-time center

Robert Parish Robert Lee Parish (born August 30, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player. A 7'1" Center (basketball), center, nicknamed "the Chief", Parish played for four teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1976 to 199 ...

, who left as a free agent to the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

. It was also the team's final season of play 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" (later ...

, as well as playing occasional home games at the

Hartford Civic Center Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 census. Hartford is the most populous city in the Capitol Planning Region and the core city of ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. After missing the playoffs the previous season, the Celtics received the ninth overall pick in the

1994 NBA draft The 1994 NBA draft took place on June 29, 1994, at Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. Two NBA rookies of the year were picked in the first round, as Jason Kidd and Grant Hill were co-winners of the award for the 1994–95 NBA season. Kidd and Hill ...

, and selected center Eric Montross from the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

. Prior to the season, the Celtics signed free agent All-Star forward

Dominique Wilkins Jacques Dominique Wilkins (born January 12, 1960) is a French-born American former professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Wilkins is a nine-time NBA All-Star, a seve ...

(a controversial move late in Wilkins' career), signed free agents Pervis Ellison, second-year guard David Wesley and rookie guard Greg Minor, and acquired Blue Edwards and

Derek Strong Derek Lamar Strong (born February 9, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played in ten National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons from 1991 to 2001 for six different teams. A 6'8" forward from Xavier University (Cin ...

from 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. The Celtics got off to a 7–6 start in November, but played below .500 basketball for the remainder of the regular season, holding a 19–27 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, Edwards was traded back to his former team, the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

in exchange for Jay Humphries. The Celtics won eight of their final twelve games of the season, finishing in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 35–47 record. Wilkins averaged 17.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game along with 112 three-point field goals, while second-year star Dino Radja averaged 17.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, and Dee Brown provided the team with 15.6 points and 1.4 steals per game, and also led them with 126 three-point field goals. In addition,

Sherman Douglas Sherman Douglas (born September 15, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player from Syracuse University who played for the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers from 1989 to 2 ...

contributed 14.7 points and 6.9 assists per game, while Montross averaged 10.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, and was named to the

NBA All-Rookie Second 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 play ...

. Off the bench,

Rick Fox Ulrich Alexander Fox (born July 24, 1969) is a Bahamian-Canadian actor and former basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, and played college basketball for the North Caro ...

contributed 8.8 points per game, but only played 53 games due to ankle and foot injuries, while Xavier McDaniel provided with 8.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Wesley contributed 7.4 points, 5.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game in only 51 games, starting in 36 of them due to a knee injury, while Ellison averaged 6.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, and Strong provided with 6.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Despite finishing six games under .500 in winning percentage, the Celtics qualified for the 1995 NBA playoffs as the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference. In the Eastern Conference First Round, the team suffered a 47-point margin in a Game 1 road loss to the #1 seed

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

, 124–77, but managed to defeat them in Game 2, 99–92 (seizing the "theoretical home court advantage" for the series). However, the Magic defeated the Celtics at Boston Garden in both Games 3 and 4 to close out the series. The Magic would go on to reach the

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

for the first time, but would lose in four straight games to the 6th-seeded, and defending champion

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

. Following the season, Wilkins and McDaniel both left to play overseas in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, while Strong signed as a free agent with the

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 Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, Humphries was released to free agency, and head coach

Chris Ford Christopher Joseph Ford (January 11, 1949 – January 17, 2023) was an American professional basketball player and head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Mad Bomber", Ford played most of his NBA career on the D ...

was fired; General Manager M.L. Carr explained the firing as having to do with "diminishing returns".

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , November 11, 1994
7:30p.m. EST ,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

L 82–102
, Radja (31) , Radja (11) ,

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

(6) ,

14,890 , 0–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 23 , December 17, 1994
8:30p.m. EST , @

W 112–109
, Wilkins (43) , Montross (12) , Wesley (11) , The Summit
15,757 , 10–13 , - align="center" , colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff", All-Star Break , - style="background:#cfc;" , - bgcolor="#bbffbb"

Playoffs

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

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

L 77–124
, Dee Brown (20) ,

(9) ,

(6) , Orlando Arena
16,010 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , April 30 , @

W 99–92
,

(24) ,

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

, Radja (8) ,

(15) , Orlando Arena
16,010 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , May 3 ,

L 77–82
,

, Wilkins (16) , Pervis Ellison (10) ,

(7) ,

14,890 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , May 5 ,

L 92–95
,

(22) ,

(18) , Douglas,

(5) ,

14,890 , 1–3 , -

Player statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", ^† , 9 , , 0 , , 6.8 , , .600 , , , , .667 , , .9 , , .7 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 79 , , 69 , , 35.3 , , .447 , , .385 , , .852 , , 3.2 , , 3.8 , , 1.4 , , .6 , , 15.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 2 , , 0 , , 6.5 , , .375 , , .333 , , 1.000 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 65 , , 43 , , 31.5 , , .475 , , .244 , , .689 , , 2.6 , , 6.9 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 14.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 30 , , 3 , , 6.9 , , .382 , , , , .483 , , 1.5 , , .1 , , .2 , , .3 , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", ^† , 31 , , 7 , , 16.4 , , .426 , , .256 , , .896 , , 2.1 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , .3 , , 7.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 55 , , 11 , , 19.7 , , .507 , , .000 , , .717 , , 5.6 , , .6 , , .4 , , 1.0 , , 6.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 53 , , 7 , , 19.6 , , .481 , , .413 , , .772 , , 2.9 , , 2.6 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 3 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .375 , , .000 , , .889 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", ^† , 6 , , 0 , , 8.7 , , .444 , , .000 , , .500 , , .5 , , 1.7 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 68 , , 15 , , 21.0 , , .451 , , .286 , , .712 , , 4.4 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , .3 , , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 63 , , 8 , , 15.0 , , .515 , , .167 , , .833 , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .3 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 78 , , 75 , , 29.7 , , .534 , , .000 , , .635 , , 7.3 , , .5 , , .4 , , .8 , , 10.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 66 , , 48 , , 32.5 , , .490 , , .000 , , .759 , , 8.7 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , 1.3 , , 17.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 70 , , 24 , , 19.2 , , .453 , , .286 , , .820 , , 5.4 , , .6 , , .3 , , .2 , , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 51 , , 36 , , 27.1 , , .409 , , .429 , , .755 , , 2.3 , , 5.2 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 77 , , 64 , , 31.5 , , .424 , , .388 , , .782 , , 5.2 , , 2.2 , , .8 , , .2 , , 17.8

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 4 , , 43.0 , , .419 , , .346 , , .875 , , 5.0 , , 4.8 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 18.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 4 , , 42.0 , , .353 , , .333 , , .727 , , 5.0 , , 8.3 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 1 , , 0 , , 10.0 , , .333 , , , , .000 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 0 , , 17.0 , , .579 , , , , 1.000 , , 4.3 , , .5 , , .5 , , 1.3 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 0 , , 14.8 , , .294 , , .000 , , .750 , , 1.5 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , .0 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 0 , , 9.3 , , .385 , , , , 1.000 , , .3 , , .5 , , .3 , , .3 , , 2.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 4 , , 15.5 , , .455 , , , , .500 , , 2.3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 3 , , 38.3 , , .400 , , , , .714 , , 7.0 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , 1.3 , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 1 , , 20.3 , , .333 , , , , .500 , , 6.0 , , .8 , , .8 , , .3 , , 2.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 4 , , 37.5 , , .426 , , .471 , , .889 , , 10.8 , , 2.0 , , .5 , , .8 , , 19.0 Player Statistics Citation:

Awards

Transactions

The Celtics were involved in the following transactions during the 1994–95 season.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Awards

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Additions

Subtractions

See also

References