The 1990–91 Boston Celtics season was the 45th season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[1] 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 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). 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[edit]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	19	Dee Brown	SG/PG	United States	Jacksonville

Roster[edit]

Boston Celtics 1990–91 roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From 4.0 !F 33 USA ! Bird, Larry 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Indiana State 1.5 !G 7 USA ! Brown, Dee 7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jacksonville 2.5 !G/F 34 USA ! Gamble, Kevin 7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Iowa 6.0 !C 53 USA ! Kleine, Joe 7000210820000000000♠6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Arkansas 2.5 !G/F 35 USA ! Lewis, Reggie 7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Northeastern 5.5 !F/C 32 USA ! McHale, Kevin 7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Minnesota 6.0 !C 00 USA ! Parish, Robert 7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Centenary (Louisiana) 4.0 !F 54 USA ! Pinckney, Ed 7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Villanova 5.5 !F/C 42 USA ! Popson, Dave 7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) North Carolina 1.5 !G 20 USA ! Shaw, Brian 7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) UC Santa Barbara 1.5 !G 13 USA ! Smith, Charles E. 7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Georgetown 2.5 !G/F 43 USA ! Smith, Derek 7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Louisville 4.0 !F 11 USA ! Smith, Mike 7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Brigham Young 6.0 !C 52 CRO ! Vranković, Stojko 7000218440000000000♠7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 260 lb (118 kg) 1.5 !G 12 USA ! Wynder, A. J. 7000187960000000000♠6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fairfield	Head coach Chris Ford (Villanova) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Depth chart[edit]

PG-20 Brian Shaw SG-35 Reggie Lewis SF-33 Larry Bird PF-34 Kevin Gamble C-00 Robert Parrish

Regular season[edit]

Season standings[edit]

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Game log[edit]

Playoffs[edit]

Player statistics[edit]

Season[edit]

Playoffs[edit]

Awards and records[edit]

• Dee Brown, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

Transactions[edit]

References[edit]

See also[edit]

• 1990–91 NBA season