2009–10 Boston Celtics Season

The 2009–10 Boston Celtics season was the 64th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics finished with a record of 50–32, a 12 win drop off from the previous season. They finished 1st in the Atlantic Division and 4th in the Eastern Conference.

In the playoffs, the Celtics defeated the Miami Heat in five games in the First Round, then defeated the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers (in a rematch of the 2008 Conference Semifinals) again in six games in the Semifinals, and finally, defeated the second-seeded Orlando Magic (the runner-up of last year's Finals as well as the team that defeated the Celtics in last season's Conference Semifinals in seven games) in six games in the Conference Finals to advance to the NBA Finals for the twenty-first time in franchise history.

The Celtics made it back to the NBA Finals after a one-year hiatus and played against the defending NBA champion and their rival, the Los Angeles Lakers for the 12th time. In a rematch of the 2008 NBA Finals, in which the Celtics defeated the Lakers in six games to capture their seventeenth championship, the Celtics were defeated this time by the Lakers in seven games.

The Celtics would not reach the Finals again until 2022 where they faced Golden State Warriors in a rematch of the 1964 NBA Finals and lost in six games.

Key dates

* June 25 – The 2009 NBA draft took place in New York City.
* July 8 – The free agency period started.
* October 27 – The regular season started with a 95–89 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
* March 24 – The Celtics clinched a spot in the Playoffs with a 113–99 win over the Denver Nuggets.
* March 26 – The Celtics clinched the Atlantic Division title with a 94–86 win over the Sacramento Kings.
* April 17 – The Celtics won Game 1 in their first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat (85–76).
* April 27 – The Celtics won their series against the Miami Heat 4–1 and advanced to the Eastern Conference semi-finals after a 96–86 win in Game 5.
* May 13 – The Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference finals after they won their series 4–2 against the Cleveland Cavaliers following a 94–85 win in Game 6.
* May 28 – The Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals after they defeated the Orlando Magic 96–84 in Game 6 to win the series 4–2.
* June 17 – The Celtics lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 83–79 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals and failed to capture their 18th NBA Championship.

Summary

NBA Draft 2009

Free agency

Draft picks

Roster

Pre-season

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, 1 , , October 7 , , @ Houston Rockets , , 90–96 , , , , , , , , 6,300
(Hidalgo, Texas) , , 0–
recap
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, 2 , , October 9 , , New York Knicks , , 82–96 , , , , , , , , 18,624 , , 1–
recap
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, 3 , , October 11 , , Brooklyn Nets , , 93–100 , , , , , , , , 18,624 , , 2–
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, 4 , , October 13 , , @Brooklyn Nets , , 91–88 , , , , , , , , 12,790
(Newark, New Jersey) , , 3–
recap
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, 5 , , October 14 , , Toronto Raptors , , 90–106 , , , , , , , , 10,117
( Hartford, Connecticut) , , 4–
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, 6 , , October 18 , , @Toronto Raptors , , 101–82 , , , , , , , , 13,607 , , 5–

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, 7 , , October 20 , , @New York Knicks , , 103–108 , , , , , , , , 18,792 , , 5–

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, 8 , , October 21 , , @Cleveland Cavaliers , , 96–82 , , , , , , , , 18,021
(Columbus, Ohio) , , 6–
recap
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Regular season

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

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, 1
, October 27
, @ Cleveland
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