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. 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 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

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	—	3–3	4–2	4–2	2–0	2–0	3–3	1–1	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	3–3	5–0	5–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	5–0
Boston	3–3	—	6–0	3–2	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–0	2–0	5–1	2–0	0–2	3–3	4–2	4–2	3–3	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	4–2
Chicago	2–4	0–6	—	5–1	1–1	1–1	3–3	0–2	0–2	3–2	2–0	0–2	4–2	3–2	4–2	3–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	3–3
Cleveland	2–4	2–3	1–5	—	0–2	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	3–3	2–0	0–2	1–5	4–2	4–1	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–4
Dallas	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–0	—	4–2	1–1	5–0	3–3	0–2	5–0	3–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–3	5–1	4–2	5–0	3–3	1–1
Denver	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	—	0–2	4–1	3–3	1–1	2–3	0–5	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	3–2	3–2	2–4	5–1	2–3	2–4	1–1
Detroit	3–3	2–3	3–3	5–1	1–1	2–0	—	1–1	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	3–3	5–1	6–0	5–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–3
Golden State	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–5	1–4	1–1	—	4–1	0–2	6–0	2–4	0–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–5	4–2	4–1	4–1	4–2	2–3	0–2
Houston	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	3–3	3–3	1–1	1–4	—	2–0	4–1	1–4	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–2	2–3	5–1	5–1	1–4	3–3	1–1
Indiana	3–3	1–5	2–3	3–3	2–0	1–1	3–3	2–0	0–2	—	2–0	0–2	2–4	5–1	3–2	2–4	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	4–2
L.A. Clippers	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–5	3–2	0–2	0–6	1–4	0–2	—	0–6	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–5	0–6	1–4	1–4	2–4	2–3	0–2
L.A. Lakers	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–3	5–0	1–1	4–2	4–1	2–0	6–0	—	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	5–1	5–1	5–0	4–1	4–2	3–2	1–1
Milwaukee	3–3	3–3	2–4	5–1	0–2	1–1	3–3	2–0	2–0	4–2	2–0	1–1	—	4–2	4–2	2–3	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	4–1
New Jersey	0–5	2–4	2–3	2–4	0–2	0–2	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	2–4	—	5–1	3–3	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	2–4
New York	1–5	2–4	2–4	1–4	0–2	0–2	0–6	0–2	1–1	2–3	2–0	0–2	2–4	1–5	—	3–3	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–4
Philadelphia	3–3	3–3	3–3	4–2	0–2	2–0	0–5	1–1	2–0	4–2	2–0	0–2	3–2	3–3	3–3	—	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–3
Phoenix	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–3	2–3	1–1	5–1	2–3	1–1	5–1	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	—	2–4	2–3	2–3	1–5	4–1	0–2
Portland	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–3	2–0	2–4	3–2	2–0	6–0	1–5	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	4–2	—	3–2	4–1	4–2	3–2	1–1
Sacramento	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–5	4–2	1–1	1–4	1–5	1–1	4–1	0–5	0–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	3–2	2–3	—	3–3	2–3	1–5	1–1
San Antonio	0–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	1–5	1–1	1–4	1–5	0–2	4–1	1–4	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–2	1–4	3–3	—	1–4	2–4	0–2
Seattle	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–5	3–2	0–2	2–4	4–1	1–1	4–2	2–4	0–2	2–0	2–0	0–2	5–1	2–4	3–2	4–1	—	3–2	1–1
Utah	0–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–3	4–2	1–1	3–2	3–3	1–1	3–2	2–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–4	2–3	5–1	4–2	2–3	—	1–1
Washington	0–5	2–4	3–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	2–0	1–1	2–4	2–0	1–1	1–4	4–2	4–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	—

Game Log

1986-87 Game Log

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

1986-87 Schedule

Roster

Boston Celtics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB (YYYY–MM–DD)	From
2.5 !G/F	44	USA !	Ainge, Danny	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1959-03-17	Brigham Young
4.0 !F	33	USA !	Bird, Larry (C)	7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1956-12-07	Indiana State University
1.5 !G	34	USA !	Carlisle, Rick	7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1959-10-27	Virginia
2.5 !G/F	20	USA !	Daye, Darren	7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1960-11-30	UCLA
1.5 !G	43	USA !	Henry, Conner	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1963-07-21	UC Santa Barbara
1.5 !G	3	USA !	Johnson, Dennis	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1954-09-18	Pepperdine
6.0 !C	50	USA !	Kite, Greg	7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	1961-08-05	Brigham Young
5.5 !F/C	32	USA !	McHale, Kevin	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1957-12-19	Minnesota
6.0 !C	00	USA !	Parish, Robert	7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1953-08-30	Centenary College of Louisiana
5.5 !F/C	31	USA !	Roberts, Fred	7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	218 lb (99 kg)	1960-08-10	Brigham Young
1.5 !G	12	USA !	Sichting, Jerry	7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	168 lb (76 kg)	1956-11-29	Purdue
4.0 !F	45	USA !	Thirdkill, David (waived)	7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1960-04-12	Bradley
1.5 !G	7	USA !	Turner, Andre (waived)	7000180340000000000♠5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	1964-12-13	Memphis
1.5 !G	11	USA !	Vincent, Sam	7000187960000000000♠6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1963-05-18	Michigan State
6.0 !C	5	USA !	Walton, Bill	7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	1952-11-05	UCLA
1.5 !G	8	USA !	Wedman, Scott	7000200659999999999♠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

^[2]

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. 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

References

1986–87 NBA season by team

Eastern

Atlantic	Boston New Jersey New York Philadelphia Washington

Central	Atlanta Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Milwaukee

Western

Midwest	Dallas Denver Houston Sacramento San Antonio Utah

Pacific	Golden State L.A. Clippers L.A. Lakers Phoenix Portland Seattle

Boston Celtics

Founded in 1946 Based in Boston, Massachusetts

Franchise	Franchise Team history All-time roster Seasons Accomplishments Head coaches Current season

Arenas	Boston Arena Boston Garden Hartford Civic Center TD Garden

Administration	Boston Basketball Partners (owner) Wyc Grousbeck (CEO) Wyc Grousbeck, H. Irving Grousbeck, Stephen Pagliuca (Managing Partners) Danny Ainge (General Manager) Brad Stevens (Head Coach)

General managers	Brown Auerbach Volk Wallace Ainge

Retired numbers	00 1 2 3 6 10 14 15 16 17 18 LOSCY 19 21 22 23 24 25 31 32 33 35 MIC

Hall of Famers	Boston Celtics Hall of Famers

D-League affiliate	Maine Red Claws

Rivals	Philadelphia 76ers Los Angeles Lakers Detroit Pistons New York Knicks

Culture	Celtic Pride Greatest game ever played Tommy Points "Love ya, Cooz!" Close, but no cigar! Bill Russell Beat L.A. Mike Gorman Johnny Most "Havlicek stole the ball!" Henderson steals the ball! Bird steals the ball! Boston Garden North Station Larry Legend DJ The Chief The Truth The Sports Museum of New England

NBA Championships (17)	1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1968 1969 1974 1976 1981 1984 1986 2008

Conference championships (21)	1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1968 1969 1974 1976 1981 1984 1985 1986 1987 2008 2010

Media	TV CSN New England Radio WBZ-FM Announcers Mike Gorman Tom Heinsohn Brian Scalabrine Sean Grande Cedric Maxwell

Boston Celtics seasons

1940s

1950s

1956–57

1958–59

1960s

1959–60

1960–61

1961–62

1962–63

1963–64

1964–65

1965–66

1966–67

1967–68

1968–69

1970s

1973–74

1975–76

1980s

1980–81

1983–84

1985–86

1990s

2000s

2007–08

2010s

Bold indicates NBA Finals victory

Boston Celtics 1986-87 NBA Eastern Conference Champions

00 Parish \| 3 Johnson \| 5 Walton \| 7 Turner \| 8 Wedman \| 11 Vincent \| 12 Sichting \| 20 Daye \| 32 McHale \| 33 Bird \| 34 Carlisle \| 43 Henry \| 44 Ainge \| 45 Thirdkill \| 50 Kite \| Coach Jones

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