1990–91 Boston Celtics season
Encyclopedia
The 1990–91 Boston Celtics season was the 45th season of the Boston Celtics
in the National Basketball Association
(NBA). After failing to advance past the first round in the two previous seasons, it appeared going into the 90-91 season that the Celtics were fading as NBA title contenders. However, the Celtics burst to a 31-4 start reminicient of their title years of the 1980s and once again established themselves as contenders. Besides general team improvement (and perhaps the chemistry employed by new head coach Chris Ford), the Celtics were helped by the return of 1988 first round draft pick Brian Shaw (who had played in Italy in the 89-90 season). Beginning in January, Larry Bird began to miss significant playing time due to back injuries (Bird would miss 22 regular season games) and the team struggled in his absence. The team limped to the finish, losing 9 of their final 10 games to finish at 56-26 (still good for the Atlantic Division title and #2 seed in the East). In the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the Celtics survived a scare from #7 seed Indiana, going the full five games before winning a classic finale (in which Bird went to the locker room during the game with injury, only to return and finish with 32 points). In the eastern semis, the Celtics held home court advantage against the 2-time defending NBA Champion Detroit Pistons, but Bird missed game 1 with injury and the Pistons took the game at Boston Garden. Bird returned for the remainder of the series and the Celtics rallied to win games 2 and 3 (game 3 a blowout win in Detroit), but Detroit won 3 in a row afterwards to take the series.
60
60
38.0
.454
.389
.891
8.5
7.2
1.8
1.0
19.4
82
5
23.7
.464
.206
.873
2.2
4.2
1.0
0.2
8.7
82
76
33.0
.587
.000
.815
3.3
3.1
1.2
0.4
15.6
72
1
11.8
.468
.000
.783
3.4
0.3
0.2
0.2
3.6
79
79
36.4
.491
.077
.826
5.2
2.5
1.2
1.1
18.7
68
10
30.4
.553
.405
.829
7.1
1.9
0.4
2.1
18.4
81
81
30.1
.598
.000
.767
10.6
0.8
0.8
1.3
14.9
70
16
16.6
.539
.000
.897
4.9
0.6
0.9
0.6
5.2
19
0
3.4
.406
.000
.900
0.7
0.1
0.1
0.1
1.8
79
79
35.1
.469
.111
.819
4.7
7.6
1.3
0.4
13.8
5
0
6.0
.429
.000
.600
0.4
1.2
0.2
0.0
1.8
2
0
8.0
.250
.000
.750
0.0
2.5
0.5
0.5
2.5
47
3
8.3
.475
.250
.815
1.2
0.9
0.1
0.0
4.6
31
0
5.4
.462
.000
.556
1.6
0.1
0.0
0.9
1.9
6
0
6.5
.250
.000
.750
0.5
1.3
0.2
0.0
2.0
10
10
39.6
.408
.143
.863
7.2
6.5
1.3
0.3
17.1
11
0
25.8
.491
.000
.824
4.1
3.7
1.0
0.5
12.2
11
11
21.6
.483
.000
.667
1.2
1.7
0.4
0.2
6.0
5
1
6.2
.444
.000
.000
2.2
0.2
0.0
0.0
1.6
11
11
42.0
.487
.000
.824
6.2
2.9
1.1
0.5
22.4
11
1
34.2
.527
.545
.825
6.5
1.8
0.5
1.3
20.7
10
10
29.6
.598
.000
.689
9.2
0.6
0.8
0.7
15.8
11
0
15.5
.762
.000
.810
3.6
0.2
0.5
0.2
4.5
11
11
28.7
.470
.333
.867
3.5
4.6
0.9
0.1
11.0
10
0
8.6
.429
.000
.786
0.9
0.5
0.3
0.1
2.9
2
0
3.0
.500
.000
.000
0.0
0.5
0.0
0.0
1.0
1
0
4.0
1.000
.000
.000
2.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
2.0
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
in the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA). After failing to advance past the first round in the two previous seasons, it appeared going into the 90-91 season that the Celtics were fading as NBA title contenders. However, the Celtics burst to a 31-4 start reminicient of their title years of the 1980s and once again established themselves as contenders. Besides general team improvement (and perhaps the chemistry employed by new head coach Chris Ford), the Celtics were helped by the return of 1988 first round draft pick Brian Shaw (who had played in Italy in the 89-90 season). Beginning in January, Larry Bird began to miss significant playing time due to back injuries (Bird would miss 22 regular season games) and the team struggled in his absence. The team limped to the finish, losing 9 of their final 10 games to finish at 56-26 (still good for the Atlantic Division title and #2 seed in the East). In the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the Celtics survived a scare from #7 seed Indiana, going the full five games before winning a classic finale (in which Bird went to the locker room during the game with injury, only to return and finish with 32 points). In the eastern semis, the Celtics held home court advantage against the 2-time defending NBA Champion Detroit Pistons, but Bird missed game 1 with injury and the Pistons took the game at Boston Garden. Bird returned for the remainder of the series and the Celtics rallied to win games 2 and 3 (game 3 a blowout win in Detroit), but Detroit won 3 in a row afterwards to take the series.
Draft picks
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Dee Brown | SG Shooting guard The shooting guard , also known as the two or off guard, is one of five traditional positions on a basketball team. Players of the position are often shorter, leaner, and quicker than forwards. A shooting guard's main objective is to score points for his team... /PG Point guard Point guard , also called the play maker or "the ball-handler", is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position – essentially, he is expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that... |
Jacksonville Jacksonville University Jacksonville University is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida, on the banks of the St. Johns River. The school was founded in 1934 as a two year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College until 1958, when it shifted its focus to four-year university degrees and adopted its... |
Roster
| Boston Celtics 1990–91 roster | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||
| class="sortable" style="background:transparent; margin:0px; width:100%;"> | Pos. | # | Nat. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | From | ||||
| 1990-91 Game Log | |
|---|---|
| 1990-91 Schedule | |
Season
14.9
Playoffs
Transactions
| Players Added Draft
Free agency
|
Players Lost Released
Free agency
|
See also
- 1990–91 NBA season