1980–81 Boston Celtics season

In 1980–81 the Boston Celtics went 62-20 under coach Bill Fitch. Despite losing center Dave Cowens to retirement late in training camp, the Celtics went on to capture the 1981 NBA Championship over the Houston Rockets. The highlight was that this championship was achieved just two years after Larry Bird had been drafted. Cedric Maxwell was named NBA Finals MVP.

1980–81 Boston Celtics season
NBA champions
Conference champions
Division champions
Head coachBill Fitch
General managerRed Auerbach
OwnersHarry Mangurian
ArenaBoston Garden
Hartford Civic Center
Results
Record62–20 (.756)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Atlantic)
Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishNBA Champions
(Defeated Rockets 4-2)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWBZ-TV, WATR
RadioWBZ Radio, WTIC
A ticket for a March 1981 game between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks.

Offseason

NBA draft

After the 1979-80 season, Auerbach completed what may be the most lopsided trade in NBA history. Auerbach had always been a fan of stockpiling draft picks, so even after the success of 1979-80 the Celtics had both the 1st and 13th picks in the 1980 NBA draft left over from the M.L. Carr trade. Auerbach saw an opportunity to improve the team immediately, sending the two picks to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for center Robert Parish and the Warriors first round pick, the 3rd overall, University of Minnesota power forward Kevin McHale. With these three future Hall of Famers on the team the Celtics had a core in place to become a dominant team in the NBA.

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 1 Joe Barry Carroll Center  United States Purdue
1 13 Rickey Brown Center  United States Mississippi State

[1]

Roster
Roster listing
1980–81 Boston Celtics roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
PG 7 Archibald, Nate 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1948–09–02 UTEP
PF 33 Bird, Larry (C) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1956–12–07 Indiana State
SF 30 Carr, M. L. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1951–01–09 Guilford
SG 40 Duerod, Terry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1956–07–29 Detroit
C 45 Fernsten, Eric 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1953–11–01 San Francisco
SG 42 Ford, Chris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1949–01–11 Villanova
PG 43 Henderson, Gerald 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1956–01–16 Virginia Commonwealth
SF 31 Maxwell, Cedric 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1955–11–21 Charlotte
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 1 in (2.16 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1953–08–30 Centenary College of Louisiana
C 53 Robey, Rick 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1956–01–30 Kentucky
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (L) On leave from the team
  • Injured

Roster

Regular season

Season standings
Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Boston Celtics6220.756–35–627–1419–5
x-Philadelphia 76ers6220.756–37–425–1615–9
x-New York Knicks5032.61012.028–1322–1914–10
Washington Bullets3943.47623.026–1513–288–16
New Jersey Nets2458.29338.016–258–338–16
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Boston Celtics6220.756 –
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks6022.7322
3 x-Philadelphia 76ers6220.756–
4 x-New York Knicks5032.61012
5 x-Chicago Bulls4537.54917
6 x-Indiana Pacers4438.53718
7 Washington Bullets3943.47623
8 Atlanta Hawks3151.37831
9 Cleveland Cavaliers2854.34134
10 New Jersey Nets2458.29338
11 Detroit Pistons2161.25641


Notes

  • z, y – division champions
  • x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents
1980-81 NBA Records
Team ATL BOS CHI CLE DAL DEN DET GSW HOU IND KCK LAL MIL NJN NYK PHI PHO POR SAS SDC SEA UTA WAS
Atlanta —2–42–41–52–01–14–22–01–11–51–10–21–53–22–41–50–21–11–11–11–12–01–4
Boston 4–2—5–14–12–02–04–11–12–03–31–12–03–36–05–13–32–02–02–02–01–11–15–1
Chicago 4–21–5—5–11–11–15–11–11–13–22–01–13–33–23–32–40–20–20–21–11–12–05–1
Cleveland 5–11–41–5—2–01–13–31–10–22–40–20–20–63–30–50–61–11–11–11–10–21–14–2
Dallas 0–20–21–10–2—3–30–22–30–60–20–60–50–21–11–10–21–41–41–52–31–41–50–2
Denver 1–10–21–11–13–3—2–03–22–41–14–23–21–11–10–21–11–42–32–43–23–22–40–2
Detroit 2–41–41–53–32–00–2—0–21–12–41–10–21–53–31–51–40–20–20–21–10–20–21–5
Golden State 0–21–11–11–13–22–32–0—3–21–15–01–51–11–12–00–22–42–41–42–43–34–11–1
Houston 1–10–21–12–06–04–21–12–3—1–12–42–30–22–00–20–21–43–23–31–44–14–20–2
Indiana 5–13–32–34–22–01–14–21–11–1—2–00–22–45–13–20–61–10–22–01–10–21–14–2
Kansas City 1–11–10–22–06–02–41–10–54–20–2—0–51–12–01–10–23–23–22–43–22–35–11–1
Los Angeles 2–00–21–12–05–02–32–05–13–22–05–0—0–22–02–01–12–43–32–33–36–03–21–1
Milwaukee 5–13–33–36–02–01–15–11–12–04–21–12–0—5–13–33–21–12–01–12–02–02–04–1
New Jersey 2–30–62–33–31–11–13–31–10–21–50–20–21–5—0–61–51–12–00–20–21–11–13–3
New York 4–21–53–35–01–12–05–10–22–02–31–10–23–36–0—3–31–11–10–22–02–02–04–2
Philadelphia 5–13–34–26–02–01–14–12–02–06–02–01–12–35–13–3—1–11–12–02–02–02–04–2
Phoenix 2–00–22–01–14–14–12–04–24–11–12–34–21–11–11–11–1—3–33–26–05–15–01–1
Portland 1–10–22–01–14–13–22–04–22–32–02–33–30–20–21–11–13–3—2–34–24–22–32–0
San Antonio 1–10–22–01–15–14–22–04–13–30–24–23–21–12–02–00–22–33–2—4–13–25–11–1
San Diego 1–10–21–11–13–22–31–14–24–11–12–33–30–22–00–20–20–62–41–4—5–13–20–2
Seattle 1–11–11–12–04–12–32–03–31–42–03–20–60–21–10–20–21–52–42–31–5—4–11–1
Utah 0–21–10–21–15–14–22–01–42–41–11–52–30–21–10–20–20–53–21–52–31–4—0–2
Washington 4–11–51–52–42–02–05–11–12–02–41–11–11–43–32–42–41–10–21–12–01–12–0—

Game log

Regular season
1980–81 game log: 62–20 (Home: 35–6; Road: 27–14)
October: 6–3 (Home: 2–1; Road: 4–2)
November: 9–4 (Home: 7–1; Road: 2–3)
December: 14–1 (Home: 7–1; Road: 7–0)
January: 14–2 (Home: 10–0; Road: 4–2)
February: 8–5 (Home: 3–0; Road: 5–5)
March: 11–5 (Home: 6–3; Road: 5–2)
1981 regular season schedule

Playoffs
1981 playoff game log: 12–5 (Home: 7–2; Road: 5–3)
Eastern Conference Semifinals: 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0)
Eastern Conference Finals: 4–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–2)
NBA Finals: 4–2 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–1)
1981 playoff schedule

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average

Player GP REB AST STL BLK PTS AVG
Nate Archibald801766187518110613.8
Larry Bird8289545116163174121.2
M. L. Carr41835630182486.0
Eric Fernsten45621067962.1
Chris Ford82163295100237288.9
Wayne Kreklow2512921301.2
Cedric Maxwell815252197968123415.2
Kevin McHale82359552715181810.0
Robert Parish8277714481214155218.9
Rick Robey8239012638197409.0

Playoffs

Eastern Conference First Round

The Celtics have a first-round bye.

Eastern Conference Semifinals

Boston defeats the Chicago Bulls four games to none (4-0) in a best of seven series.

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (5) Chicago Bulls: Celtics win series 4–0

  • Game 1 @ Boston (April 5): Boston 121, Chicago 109
  • Game 2 @ Boston (April 7): Boston 106, Chicago 97
  • Game 3 @ Chicago (April 10): Boston 113, Chicago 107
  • Game 4 @ Chicago (April 12): Boston 109, Chicago 103

Last Playoff Meeting: Not available (first playoff series)

Eastern Conference Finals

Boston defeats the Philadelphia 76ers four games to three (4-3) in a best of seven series after making a comeback when they were losing 3-1.

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Philadelphia 76ers: Celtics win series 4–3

  • Game 1 @ Boston (April 21): Philadelphia 105, Boston 104 (Andrew Toney hits the game-winning free throws with 2 seconds left)
  • Game 2 @ Boston (April 22): Boston 118, Philadelphia 99
  • Game 3 @ Philadelphia (April 24): Philadelphia 110, Boston 100
  • Game 4 @ Philadelphia (April 26): Philadelphia 107, Boston 105
  • Game 5 @ Boston (April 29): Boston 111, Philadelphia 109
  • Game 6 @ Philadelphia (May 1): Boston 100, Philadelphia 98
  • Game 7 @ Boston (May 3): Boston 91, Philadelphia 90

Last Playoff Meeting: 1980 Eastern Conference Finals (Philadelphia won 4-1)

NBA Finals
Main article: 1981 NBA Finals

(E1) Boston Celtics vs. (W6) Houston Rockets: Celtics win series 4–2

  • Game 1 @ Boston (May 5): Boston 98, Houston 95 (Larry Bird's famous play of following a missed jumper, jumping for the rebound, and switching ball from his right to left hand as his momentum was carrying him out of bounds as he scored.)
  • Game 2 @ Boston (May 7): Houston 92, Boston 90
  • Game 3 @ Houston (May 9): Boston 94, Houston 71
  • Game 4 @ Houston (May 10): Houston 91, Boston 86
  • Game 5 @ Boston (May 12): Boston 109, Houston 80
  • Game 6 @ Houston (May 14): Boston 102, Houston 91

Last Playoff Meeting: 1980 Eastern Conference Semifinals (Boston won 4-0)

Award winners
  • Nate Archibald, All-NBA Second Team
  • Larry Bird, All-NBA First Team
  • Cedric Maxwell, NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
  • Kevin McHale, All-NBA Rookie Team

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-03-21. Retrieved 2009-04-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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