1990–91 Boston Celtics season

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 1990–91 season that the Celtics were fading as NBA title contenders. However, the Celtics burst to a 29–5 start reminiscent 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 6 of their final 8 games to finish at 56–26 (still good for the Atlantic Division title and #2 seed in the East). Rookie Dee Brown won the Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star Weekend in Charlotte.

Contents

• Depth chart
• Season standings
• Awards and records
• References

In the first round of the playoffs, the Celtics survived a scare from the 7th-seeded Indiana Pacers, 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.