1986–87 Boston Celtics season

The 1986–87 Boston Celtics season was the 41st season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics entered the season as the defending NBA Champions, having defeated the Houston Rockets in the 1986 NBA Finals in six games, winning their sixteenth NBA championship.

1986–87 Boston Celtics season
Conference champions
Division champions
Head coachK. C. Jones
OwnersDon Gaston
Alan N. Cohen
Paul Dupee
ArenaBoston Garden
Hartford Civic Center
Results
Record59–23 (.720)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Atlantic)
Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishNBA Finals
(Lost to Lakers 2–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWLVI
(Gil Santos, Bob Cousy)
SportsChannel New England
(Mike Gorman, Tom Heinsohn)
RadioWRKO
(Johnny Most, Glenn Ordway)

In the playoffs, the Celtics swept the Chicago Bulls in the First Round in three games, defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in the Semifinals in seven games, and the Detroit Pistons in the Conference Finals in seven games to reach the NBA Finals for the fifth time in the 1980s. In the Finals, the Celtics faced off against their long time rival, the Los Angeles Lakers, in their third and final matchup in the NBA Finals in the 1980s. The Celtics would lose in six games to the Lakers, and it marked the last time the Celtics made it to the NBA Finals until 2008. Remarkably, the 1987 NBA Finals was the first playoff series for the Celtics in the Bird era in which they did not have the home court advantage, as they had played 24 consecutive series with the home court advantage starting in 1980.

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. 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.[1]

Unlike the prior year, the Celtics were forced to endure major injuries to several key players including Bill Walton, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. With a road record of 20–21, the Celtics were a sub-.500 road team for the first time in the Larry Bird era and the first time since the 1978–79 season. However, they continued with the previous season's historic dominance at home with a record of 39–2 at Boston Garden.

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 2 Len Bias Forward  United States Maryland
4 93 Tony Benford 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 5923.720–39–220–2115–9
x-Philadelphia 76ers 4537.5491428–1317–2412–12
x-Washington Bullets 4240.5121727–1415–2613–11
New Jersey Nets 2458.2933519–225–3612–12
New York Knicks 2458.2933518–236–358–16
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Boston Celtics5923.720–
2 y-Atlanta Hawks5725.6952
3 x-Detroit Pistons5230.6347
4 x-Milwaukee Bucks5032.6109
5 x-Philadelphia 76ers4537.54914
6 x-Washington Bullets4240.51217
7 x-Indiana Pacers4141.50018
8 x-Chicago Bulls4042.48819
9 Cleveland Cavaliers3151.37828
10 New Jersey Nets2458.29335
11 New York Knicks2458.29335


Record vs. opponents
1986-87 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS CHI CLE DAL DEN DET GSW HOU IND LAC LAL MIL NJN NYK PHI PHO POR SAC SAS SEA UTA WAS
Atlanta —3–34–24–22–02–03–31–11–13–32–01–13–35–05–13–31–11–12–02–02–02–05–0
Boston 3–3—6–03–22–02–03–22–02–05–12–00–23–34–24–23–32–02–02–02–02–01–14–2
Chicago 2–40–6—5–11–11–13–30–20–23–22–00–24–23–24–23–31–11–11–11–12–00–23–3
Cleveland 2–42–31–5—0–21–11–51–10–23–32–00–21–54–24–12–41–11–11–11–11–10–22–4
Dallas 0–20–21–12–0—4–21–15–03–30–25–03–22–02–02–02–03–22–35–14–25–03–31–1
Denver 0–20–21–11–12–4—0–24–13–31–12–30–51–12–02–00–23–23–22–45–12–32–41–1
Detroit 3–32–33–35–11–12–0—1–11–13–32–01–13–35–16–05–01–10–21–11–12–01–13–3
Golden State 1–10–22–01–10–51–41–1—4–10–26–02–40–22–02–01–11–54–24–14–14–22–30–2
Houston 1–10–22–02–03–33–31–11–4—2–04–11–40–21–11–10–23–22–35–15–11–43–31–1
Indiana 3–31–52–33–32–01–13–32–00–2—2–00–22–45–13–22–41–10–21–12–01–11–14–2
L.A. Clippers 0–20–20–20–20–53–20–20–61–40–2—0–60–21–10–20–21–50–61–41–42–42–30–2
L.A. Lakers 1–12–02–02–02–35–01–14–24–12–06–0—1–12–02–02–05–15–15–04–14–23–21–1
Milwaukee 3–33–32–45–10–21–13–32–02–04–22–01–1—4–24–22–32–00–22–01–12–01–14–1
New Jersey 0–52–42–32–40–20–21–50–21–11–51–10–22–4—5–13–31–10–20–20–20–21–12–4
New York 1–52–42–41–40–20–20–60–21–12–32–00–22–41–5—3–31–10–22–01–10–21–12–4
Philadelphia 3–33–33–34–20–22–00–51–12–04–22–00–23–23–33–3—1–12–02–01–12–01–13–3
Phoenix 1–10–21–11–12–32–31–15–12–31–15–11–50–21–11–11–1—2–42–32–31–54–10–2
Portland 1–10–21–11–13–22–32–02–43–22–06–01–52–02–02–00–24–2—3–24–14–23–21–1
Sacramento 0–20–21–11–11–54–21–11–41–51–14–10–50–22–00–20–23–22–3—3–32–31–51–1
San Antonio 0–20–21–11–12–41–51–11–41–50–24–11–41–12–01–11–13–21–43–3—1–42–40–2
Seattle 0–20–20–21–10–53–20–22–44–11–14–22–40–22–02–00–25–12–43–24–1—3–21–1
Utah 0–21–12–02–03–34–21–13–23–31–13–22–31–11–11–11–11–42–35–14–22–3—1–1
Washington 0–52–43–34–21–11–13–32–01–12–42–01–11–44–24–23–32–01–11–12–01–11–1—

Game Log
1986-87 Game Log
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
1986-87 Schedule

Roster
Roster listing
Boston Celtics roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
SG 44 Ainge, Danny 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1959-03-17 BYU
SF 33 Bird, Larry (C) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1956-12-07 Indiana State
SG 34 Carlisle, Rick 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1959-10-27 Virginia
SF 20 Daye, Darren 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1960-11-30 UCLA
SG 43 Henry, Conner 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1963-07-21 UC Santa Barbara
PG 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 BYU
PF 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
PF 31 Roberts, Fred 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1960-08-10 BYU
PG 12 Sichting, Jerry 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 168 lb (76 kg) 1956-11-29 Purdue
PG 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
SF 8 Wedman, Scott 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1952-07-29 Colorado
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

[2]

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 Bird7468256613570207628.1
Kevin McHale7776319838172200826.1
Robert Parish8085117364144140317.5
Dennis Johnson792615948738106213.4
Danny Ainge7124240010114105314.8
Jerry Sichting78911874014485.7
Fred Roberts731906222204025.5
Darren Daye61124752572363.9
Sam Vincent4627591311713.7
Greg Kite741692717461231.7
Conner Henry36272761982.7
Rick Carlisle42303580801.9
Bill Walton10319110282.8
David Thirdkill1719220251.5
Scott Wedman69622203.3
Andre Turner3210041.3

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. Kevin McHale played on a broken foot through the playoffs. This combined with injuries to Parish and Ainge forced 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
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References
  1. "All-American Basketball Star, Celtic Choice, Dies Suddenly". The New York Times. June 20, 1986.
  2. https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1987.html
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