1986–87 Boston Celtics season

1986–87 Boston Celtics season
Eastern Conference Champions
Head coach	K. C. Jones
Owner(s)	Don Gaston, Alan N. Cohen, Paul Dupee
Arena	Boston Garden Hartford Civic Center
Results
Record	59–23 (.720)
Place	Division: 1st (Atlantic) Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	NBA Finals(Eliminated 2–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	SportsChannel New England, WLVI, WTXX
Radio	WRKO, WTIC

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. Fans believed Bias had superstar potential, and that he would be the perfect complement to the aging, but still strong, Celtics. 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. It would be the first in a long string of bad luck for the Celtics.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	2	Len Bias	Forward	United States	Maryland
4	93	Tony Bedford	N/A	United States	Texas Tech
5	116	Dave Colbert	N/A	United States	Dayton
6	139	Greg Wendt	N/A	United States	Detroit
7	162	Tom Ivey	N/A	United States	Boston University

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Boston Celtics	59	23	.720	–	39–2	20–21	15–9
x-Philadelphia 76ers	45	37	.549	14	28–13	17–24	12–12
x-Washington Bullets	42	40	.512	17	27–14	15–26	13–11
New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	35	19–22	5–36	12–12
New York Knicks	24	58	.293	35	18–23	6–35	8–16

#	Eastern Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Boston Celtics	59	23	.720	–
2	y-Atlanta Hawks	57	25	.695	2
3	x-Detroit Pistons	52	30	.634	7
4	x-Milwaukee Bucks	50	32	.610	9
5	x-Philadelphia 76ers	45	37	.549	14
6	x-Washington Bullets	42	40	.512	17
7	x-Indiana Pacers	41	41	.500	18
8	x-Chicago Bulls	40	42	.488	19
9	Cleveland Cavaliers	31	51	.378	28
10	New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	35
11	New York Knicks	24	58	.293	35

Roster

Boston Celtics roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From G/F 44 Ainge, Danny 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1959–03–17 Brigham Young F 33 Bird, Larry (C) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1956–12–07 Indiana State University G 34 Carlisle, Rick 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1959–10–27 Virginia G/F 20 Daye, Darren 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1960–11–30 UCLA G 43 Henry, Conner 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1963–07–21 UC Santa Barbara G 3 Johnson, Dennis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1954–09–18 Pepperdine C 50 Kite, Greg 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1961–08–05 Brigham Young F/C 32 McHale, Kevin 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1957–12–19 Minnesota C 00 Parish, Robert 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1953–08–30 Centenary College of Louisiana F/C 31 Roberts, Fred 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1960–08–10 Brigham Young G 12 Sichting, Jerry 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 168 lb (76 kg) 1956–11–29 Purdue F 45 Thirdkill, David (waived) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1960–04–12 Bradley G 7 Turner, Andre (waived) 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1964–12–13 Memphis G 11 Vincent, Sam 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1963–05–18 Michigan State C 5 Walton, Bill 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1952–11–05 UCLA G 8 Wedman, Scott 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1952–07–29 Colorado	Head coach K.C. Jones (San Francisco) Assistant coach(es) Jimmy Rodgers (Ohio State) Chris Ford (Villanova) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Robert Parish		Greg Kite Bill Walton
PF	Kevin McHale	Fred Roberts
SF	Larry Bird	Darren Daye		Scott Wedman
SG	Danny Ainge		Conner Henry	Rick Carlisle
PG	Dennis Johnson	Jerry Sichting	Sam Vincent

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Scoring Average

Player	GP	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PTS	AVG
Larry Bird	74	682	566	135	70	2076	28.1
Kevin McHale	77	763	198	38	172	2008	26.1
Robert Parish	80	851	173	64	144	1403	17.5
Dennis Johnson	79	261	594	87	38	1062	13.4
Danny Ainge	71	242	400	101	14	1053	14.8
Jerry Sichting	78	91	187	40	1	448	5.7
Fred Roberts	73	190	62	22	20	402	5.5
Darren Daye	61	124	75	25	7	236	3.9
Sam Vincent	46	27	59	13	1	171	3.7
Greg Kite	74	169	27	17	46	123	1.7
Conner Henry	36	27	27	6	1	98	2.7
Rick Carlisle	42	30	35	8	0	80	1.9
Bill Walton	10	31	9	1	10	28	2.8
David Thirdkill	17	19	2	2	0	25	1.5
Scott Wedman	6	9	6	2	2	20	3.3
Andre Turner	3	2	1	0	0	4	1.3

Playoffs

East First Round

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Chicago Bulls: Celtics win series 3–0

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 108, Chicago 104
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 105, Chicago 96
• Game 3 @ Chicago: Boston 105, Chicago 94

East Conference Semifinals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Milwaukee Bucks Celtics win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 111, Milwaukee 98
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 126, Milwaukee 124
• Game 3 @ Milwaukee: Milwaukee 126, Boston 121
• Game 4 @ Milwaukee: Boston 138, Milwaukee 137
• Game 5 @ Boston: Milwaukee 129, Boston 124
• Game 6 @ Milwaukee: Milwaukee 121, Boston 111
• Game 7 @ Boston: Boston 119, Milwaukee 113

East Conference Finals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Detroit Pistons Celtics win series 4–3

• Game 1 @ Boston: Boston 104, Detroit 91
• Game 2 @ Boston: Boston 110, Detroit 101
• Game 3 @ Detroit: Detroit 122, Boston 104
• Game 4 @ Detroit: Detroit 145, Boston 119
• Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 108, Detroit 107
• Game 6 @ Detroit: Detroit 113, Boston 105
• Game 7 @ Boston: Boston 117, Detroit 114

NBA finals

Main article: 1987 NBA Finals

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 "Showtime" era. 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 (out of 23) in the playoffs, but was not the same player as he was the year before. McHale, Parish, and Ainge were also fighting injuries, forcing reserves Darren Daye and Fred Roberts to play larger roles in the series, which the Celtics would lose 4 games to 2.

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (1) Boston Celtics Lakers win series 4–2

• Game 1 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 126, Boston 113
• Game 2 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 141, Boston 122
• Game 3 @ Boston: Boston 109, Los Angeles 103
• Game 4 @ Boston: Los Angeles 107, Boston 106
• Game 5 @ Boston: Boston 123, Los Angeles 108
• Game 6 @ Los Angeles: Los Angeles 106, Boston 93

Award winners

• Larry Bird, All-NBA First Team
• Kevin McHale, All-NBA First Team
• Kevin McHale, All-NBA Defensive First Team

References

• Celtics on Database Basketball
• Celtics on Basketball Reference