1985–86 Boston Celtics season

The 1985–86 Boston Celtics season was the 40th season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They finished with the best record in the league at 67–15, including a 40–1 record at home (37–1 at the Boston Garden, 3–0 at the Hartford Civic Center). Those 40 home wins set an NBA record which would only be matched by the San Antonio Spurs in 2016. Widely regarded among the greatest teams in NBA history, their 67 total wins were one win shy of tying their franchise record of 68 wins set in 1972–73, and tied for seventh all-time for total wins by a team in a single season.

1985–86 Boston Celtics season
NBA champions
Conference champions
Division champions
Head coachK. C. Jones
OwnersDon Gaston
Alan N. Cohen
Paul Dupee
ArenaBoston Garden
Hartford Civic Center
Results
Record67–15 (.817)
PlaceDivision: 1st (Atlantic)
Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finishNBA Champions
(Defeated Rockets 4–2)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWLVI
(Gil Santos, Bob Cousy)
SportsChannel New England
(Mike Gorman, Tom Heinsohn)
RadioWRKO
(Johnny Most, Glenn Ordway)

The Celtics were coming off of an NBA Finals loss in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers, marking the first instance the Celtics were defeated by the Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Larry Bird won his third consecutive MVP award and Bill Walton won the Sixth Man of the Year Award. The team was anchored by the "Big Three" frontcourt of Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, which is frequently ranked among the best frontcourts in NBA history.

In the playoffs, the Celtics swept the Chicago Bulls in three games in the First Round, then defeated the Atlanta Hawks in five games in the Semi-finals, before sweeping the Milwaukee Bucks in four games in the Conference Finals to reach the NBA Finals for a third consecutive season. In the NBA Finals, the Celtics faced off against the Houston Rockets in a rematch of the 1981 NBA Finals, which the Celtics won in six games. The Celtics would go on to win their 16th championship and the last for 22 years, defeating the Houston Rockets in six games in the NBA Finals, and had won 82 combined regular season and playoff games, a record that stood until the Chicago Bulls racked up 87 combined wins en route to a title (the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors broke that record with 88 combined wins).

NBA Draft

The 1985 NBA Draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA Draft of the "Lottery" era. The lottery was put into place so teams could not intentionally lose games to receive the number one pick.

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 20 Sam Vincent Guard  United States Michigan State
3 70 Andre Battle Guard  United States Loyola (IL)
4 93 Cliff Webber Forward  United States Liberty Baptist
5 116 Albert Butts Forward  United States La Salle
6 139 Ralph Lewis Guard  United States La Salle
7 162 Chris Remly  United States Rutgers

Season Synopsis

The Celtics were coming from a 6-game NBA Finals series against their arch-rival the Los Angeles Lakers. They ended with a record 63-19 during the regular season, a league-best record, earning home court advantage throughout the playoffs.

November

They started their 1985–86 season campaign with a 109-113 OT loss to the New Jersey Nets, despite a near quadruple-double performance from Larry Bird who recorded 21 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 8 steals for the Celtics.[1] The next day, Kevin McHale's 26 points and 15 rebounds led the Celtics towards a 105-100 road win over the Cavaliers.[2] Four days later, the Celtics defeated the visiting Bucks, 117–106, with Bird, McHale, Parish and Johnson, all scoring at least 20 points.[3] They ended the month of November with a 2–1 record.

Regular season
  • Under head coach K.C. Jones, the 1985–86 Boston Celtics finished the regular season with a record of 67–15. This team is generally considered to be the best of Larry Bird's career. In addition to longtime Celtics Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, the franchise was joined on the front line by former NBA MVP Bill Walton. Despite a career plagued by a series of serious injuries to his knees, ankles and feet, Walton would win the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. Walton had missed essentially the past two seasons and the Los Angeles Clippers put him on the trade bloc as his contract ran out. The Los Angeles Lakers and the Celtics were both interested, but the Lakers wanted Walton to be cleared by their team doctor before making any trade. The Celtics, on the other hand, were willing to trade former Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell for Walton-based solely on his word that he felt he was healthy enough to play. Walton appeared in a career high 80 games. The backcourt was led by the MVP of the 1979 NBA Finals, defensive stopper Dennis Johnson, and former Toronto Blue Jays baseball player, shooting guard Danny Ainge. Off the bench, the Celtics featured former All-Star Scott Wedman and recent acquisition (from the Indiana Pacers) Jerry Sichting.

Season standings
Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Boston Celtics 6715.817–40–127–1418–6
x-Philadelphia 76ers 5428.6591331–1023–1815–9
x-Washington Bullets 3943.4762826–1513–2811–13
x-New Jersey Nets 3943.4762826–1513–2811–13
New York Knicks 2359.2804415–268–335–19
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Boston Celtics6715.817–
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks5725.69510
3 x-Philadelphia 76ers5428.65913
4 x-Atlanta Hawks5032.61017
5 x-Detroit Pistons4636.56121
6 x-Washington Bullets3943.47628
7 x-New Jersey Nets3943.47628
8 x-Chicago Bulls3052.36637
9 Cleveland Cavaliers2953.35438
10 Indiana Pacers2656.31741
11 New York Knicks2359.28044

Record vs. opponents
1985-86 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 –0–65–14–21–11–14–21–11–15–12–01–13–34–25–14–12–02–02–01–11–10–21–4
Boston 6–0–5–15–11–11–14–12–02–05–12–02–05–04–25–14–21–11–11–12–02–02–05–1
Chicago 1–51–5–3–30–22–02–42–01–13–31–10–21–52–34–21–51–11–10–21–11–11–11–4
Cleveland 2–41–53–3–1–11–11–50–20–23–21–11–11–53–34–10–62–00–22–01–11–10–21–5
Dallas 1–11–12–01–1–3–30–24–11–52–02–31–40–22–01–10–25–02–33–34–23–25–11–1
Denver 1–11–10–21–13–3–1–13–23–32–04–13–22–01–11–11–14–13–23–33–32–33–32–0
Detroit 2–41–44–25–12–01–1–1–11–15–12–01–12–44–24–12–40–21–10–21–12–01–14–2
Golden State 1–10–20–22–01–42–31–1–0–51–15–12–40–21–11–11–12–41–52–32–32–42–31–1
Houston 1–10–21–12–05–13–31–15–0–2–03–21–40–21–12–01–13–23–24–25–13–23–32–0
Indiana 1–51–53–32–30–20–21–51–10–2–2–00–22–42–32–40–61–10–20–21–12–00–25–1
L.A. Clippers 0–20–21–11–13–21–40–21–52–30–2–2–41–12–02–00–22–42–45–01–43–33–20–2
L.A. Lakers 1–10–22–01–14–12–31–14–24–12–04–2–2–01–11–12–05–16–05–04–14–25–02–0
Milwaukee 3–30–55–15–12–00–24–22–02–04–21–10–2–4–26–04–11–12–02–02–02–02–04–2
New Jersey 2–42–43–23–30–21–12–41–11–13–20–21–12–4–5–12–42–02–02–01–10–22–02–4
New York 1–51–52–41–41–11–11–41–10–24–20–21–10–61–5–0–62–00–21–11–11–10–23–3
Philadelphia 1–42–45–16–02–01–14–21–11–16–02–00–21–44–26–0–2–02–02–01–11–11–13–3
Phoenix 0–21–11–10–20–51–42–04–22–31–14–21–51–10–20–20–2–2–42–33–25–11–41–1
Portland 0–21–11–12–03–22–31–15–12–32–04–20–60–20–22–00–24–2–3–21–45–12–30–2
Sacramento 0–21–12–00–23–33–32–03–22–42–00–50–50–20–21–10–23–22–3–5–15–02–41–1
San Antonio 1–10–21–11–12–43–31–13–21–51–14–11–40–21–11–11–12–34–11–5–2–32–42–0
Seattle 1–10–21–11–12–33–20–24–22–30–23–32–40–22–01–11–11–51–50–53–2–2–31–1
Utah 2–00–21–12–01–53–31–13–23–32–02–30–50–20–22–01–14–13–24–24–23–2–1–1
Washington 4–11–54–15–11–10–22–41–10–21–52–00–22–44–23–33–31–12–01–10–21–11–1—

Game log
1985–86 Game Log
October
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationRecord
1Fri. Oct. 25@ New Jersey Nets109–113Brendan Byrne Arena0–1
2Sat. Oct. 26@ Cleveland Cavaliers105–100Richfield Coliseum1–1
3Wed. Oct. 30Milwaukee Bucks117–106Boston Garden2–1
November
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationRecord
4Fri. Nov. 1Atlanta Hawks109–105Boston Garden3–1
5Sat. Nov. 2@ Washington Bullets88–73Capital Centre4–1
6Fri. Nov. 8Phoenix Suns125–101Boston Garden5–1
7Sat. Nov. 9@ Detroit Pistons124–105Pontiac Silverdome6–1
8Wed. Nov. 13Indiana Pacers118–114Boston Garden7–1
9Fri. Nov. 15Washington Bullets118–114Boston Garden8–1
10Sat. Nov. 16@ Indiana Pacers109–111Market Square Arena8–2
11Wed. Nov. 20Utah Jazz115–106 (OT)Boston Garden9–2
12Fri. Nov. 22Philadelphia 76ers110–103Boston Garden10–2
13Sat. Nov. 23@ New York Knicks113–104Madison Square Garden11–2
14Tue. Nov. 26@ Philadelphia 76ers98–91The Spectrum12–2
15Wed. Nov. 27Detroit Pistons132–124Boston Garden13–2
16Fri. Nov. 29New York Knicks94–88Boston Garden14–2
17Sat. Nov. 30@ Atlanta Hawks102–97The Omni15–2
December
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationRecord
18Tue. Dec. 3@ Milwaukee Bucks112–109The MECCA16–2
19Wed. Dec. 4@ New Jersey Nets130–111Brendan Byrne Arena17–2
20Fri. Dec. 6Portland Trail Blazers103–121Boston Garden17–3
21Tue. Dec. 10Atlanta Hawks114–110Hartford Civic Center18–3
22Wed. Dec. 11Sacramento Kings118–101Boston Garden19–3
23Sat. Dec. 14@ Cleveland Cavaliers99–109Richfield Coliseum19–4
24Sun. Dec. 15Chicago Bulls109–104Boston Garden20–4
25Tue. Dec. 17@ Chicago Bulls108–116Chicago Stadium20–5
26Wed. Dec. 18Dallas Mavericks137–117Boston Garden21–5
27Sat. Dec. 21@ Philadelphia 76ers102–108The Spectrum21–6
28Wed. Dec. 25@ New York Knicks104–113 (2 OT)Madison Square Garden21–7
29Sat. Dec. 28@ Utah Jazz110–108Salt Palace22–7
30Mon. Dec. 30@ Los Angeles Clippers125–103Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena23–7
January
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationRecord
31Thu. Jan. 2@ Indiana Pacers122–104Market Square Arena24–7
32Fri. Jan. 3New Jersey Nets129–117Boston Garden25–7
33Tue. Jan. 7@ Detroit Pistons109–113Pontiac Silverdome25–8
34Wed. Jan. 8Cleveland Cavaliers126–95Boston Garden26–8
35Fri. Jan. 10Atlanta Hawks115–108Boston Garden27–8
36Wed. Jan. 15Denver Nuggets123–100Boston Garden28–8
37Fri. Jan. 17@ Indiana Pacers123–105Market Square Arena29–8
38Sat. Jan. 18@ Atlanta Hawks125–122 (OT)The Omni30–8
39Wed. Jan. 22Los Angeles Lakers110–95Boston Garden31–8
40Fri. Jan. 24Golden State Warriors135–114Boston Garden32–8
41Sun. Jan. 26Philadelphia 76ers105–103Boston Garden33–8
42Thu. Jan. 30@ Chicago Bulls101–91Chicago Stadium34–8
43Fri. Jan. 31@ Washington Bullets97–88Capital Centre35–8
February
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationRecord
44Sun. Feb. 2Seattle SuperSonics114–101Boston Garden36–8
45Tue. Feb. 4@ Milwaukee Bucks112–93The MECCA37–8
46Wed. Feb. 5Washington Bullets103–88Boston Garden38–8
47Tue. Feb. 11@ Sacramento Kings100–105ARCO Arena I38–9
48Thu. Feb. 13@ Seattle SuperSonics107–98Seattle Center Coliseum39–9
49Fri. Feb. 14@ Portland Trail Blazers120–119 (OT)Memorial Coliseum40–9
50Sun. Feb. 16@ Los Angeles Lakers105–99The Forum41–9
51Mon. Feb. 17@ Phoenix Suns101–108Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum41–10
52Wed. Feb. 19@ Golden State Warriors115–100Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena42–10
53Thu. Feb. 20@ Denver Nuggets100–102McNichols Sports Arena42–11
54Sun. Feb. 23Indiana Pacers113–98Hartford Civic Center43–11
55Tue. Feb. 25@ New York Knicks91–74Madison Square Garden44–11
56Wed. Feb. 26San Antonio Spurs120–100Boston Garden45–11
57Fri. Feb. 28Los Angeles Clippers124–108Boston Garden46–11
March
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationRecord
58Sun. Mar. 2Detroit Pistons129–109Boston Garden47–11
59Tue. Mar. 4@ Chicago Bulls106–94Chicago Stadium48–11
60Wed. Mar. 5Chicago Bulls108–97Boston Garden49–11
61Fri. Mar. 7New York Knicks115–108Boston Garden50–11
62Sat. Mar. 8@ Washington Bullets108–110 (OT)Capital Centre50–12
63Mon. Mar. 10@ Dallas Mavericks115–116Reunion Arena50–13
64Tue. Mar. 11@ Houston Rockets116–104The Summit51–13
65Thu. Mar. 13@ San Antonio Spurs135–119HemisFair Arena52–13
66Fri. Mar. 14@ Atlanta Hawks121–114The Omni53–13
67Sun. Mar. 16Philadelphia 76ers118–101Boston Garden54–13
68Tue. Mar. 18Cleveland Cavaliers126–96Hartford Civic Center55–13
69Wed. Mar. 19Indiana Pacers127–108Boston Garden56–13
70Fri. Mar. 21Chicago Bulls126–105Boston Garden57–13
71Mon. Mar. 24Houston Rockets114–107Boston Garden58–13
72Wed. Mar. 26Milwaukee Bucks121–115Boston Garden59–13
73Fri. Mar. 28Washington Bullets116–97Boston Garden60–13
74Sun. Mar. 30New Jersey Nets122–117Boston Garden61–13
April
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationRecord
75Tue. Apr. 1@ Cleveland Cavaliers123–105Richfield Coliseum62–13
76Wed. Apr. 2Detroit Pistons122–106Boston Garden63–13
77Fri. Apr. 4New York Knicks119–98Boston Garden64–13
78Sun. Apr. 6@ Philadelphia 76ers94–95The Spectrum64–14
79Tue. Apr. 8@ Milwaukee Bucks126–114The MECCA65–14
80Wed. Apr. 9@ New Jersey Nets98–108Brendan Byrne Arena65–15
81Fri. Apr. 11Cleveland Cavaliers117–104Boston Garden66–15
82Sun. Apr. 13New Jersey Nets135–107Boston Garden67–15
1985–86 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
Larry Bird8280555716651211525.8
Kevin McHale6855118129134144821.3
Robert Parish8177014565116130516.1
Dennis Johnson7826845611035121315.6
Danny Ainge8023540594785510.7
Scott Wedman791928238226348.0
Bill Walton80544165381066067.6
Jerry Sichting821041885005376.5
David Thirdkill4970151131633.3
Sam Vincent5748691741843.2
Sly Williams615211172.8
Rick Carlisle77771041941992.6
Greg Kite6412817328831.3

Playoffs
1986 playoff game log
First round: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 17 Chicago W 123–104 Larry Bird (30) McHale, Parish (10) Larry Bird (8) Boston Garden
14,890		 1–0
2 April 20 Chicago W 135–131 (2OT) Larry Bird (36) McHale, Walton (15) Bird, Johnson (8) Boston Garden
14,890		 2–0
3 April 22 @ Chicago W 122–104 Kevin McHale (31) Bill Walton (9) Larry Bird (8) Chicago Stadium
18,968		 3–0
Conference Semi-finals: 4–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 27 Atlanta W 103–91 Kevin McHale (24) Larry Bird (12) Dennis Johnson (14) Boston Garden
14,890		 1–0
2 April 29 Atlanta W 119–108 Larry Bird (36) Kevin McHale (9) Dennis Johnson (9) Boston Garden
14,890		 2–0
3 May 2 @ Atlanta W 111–107 Larry Bird (28) Robert Parish (14) Larry Bird (12) Omni Coliseum
12,357		 3–0
4 May 4 @ Atlanta L 94–106 Kevin McHale (26) Kevin McHale (12) Larry Bird (5) Omni Coliseum
12,357		 3–1
5 May 6 Atlanta W 132–99 Larry Bird (36) Robert Parish (13) Dennis Johnson (8) Boston Garden
14,890		 4–1
Conference Finals: 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 May 13 Milwaukee W 128–96 Larry Bird (26) Danny Ainge (10) Jerry Sichting (8) Boston Garden
14,890		 1–0
2 May 15 Milwaukee W 122–111 Larry Bird (26) Robert Parish (9) Larry Bird (9) Boston Garden
14,890		 2–0
3 May 17 @ Milwaukee W 111–107 Kevin McHale (29) Larry Bird (16) Larry Bird (13) MECCA Arena
11,052		 3–0
4 May 18 @ Milwaukee W 111–98 Larry Bird (30) Kevin McHale (11) Ainge, Bird (5) MECCA Arena
11,052		 4–0
NBA Finals: 4–2 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 May 26 Houston W 112–100 Robert Parish (23) Dennis Johnson (11) Larry Bird (13) Boston Garden
14,890		 1–0
2 May 29 Houston W 117–95 Larry Bird (31) Larry Bird (8) Larry Bird (7) Boston Garden
14,890		 2–0
3 June 1 @ Houston L 104–106 Kevin McHale (28) Larry Bird (15) Larry Bird (11) The Summit
16,016		 2–1
4 June 3 @ Houston W 106–103 Robert Parish (22) Robert Parish (15) Larry Bird (10) The Summit
16,016		 3–1
5 June 5 @ Houston L 96–111 Kevin McHale (33) Kevin McHale (8) Danny Ainge (5) The Summit
16,016		 3–2
6 June 8 Houston W 114–97 Larry Bird (29) Larry Bird (11) Larry Bird (12) Boston Garden
14,890		 4–2
1986 schedule

Following the conclusion of the 1986 NBA Finals, a video documentary of the 1986 NBA season, known as Sweet Sixteen, was released.[4] David Perry was the narrator after Dick Stockton had narrated the last three NBA season documentaries.

Roster
1985–86 Boston Celtics roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
SG 44 Ainge, Danny 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1959-03-17 BYU
SF 33 Bird, Larry (C) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1956-12-07 Indiana State
SG 34 Carlisle, Rick 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1959-10-27 Virginia
PG 3 Johnson, Dennis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1954-09-18 Pepperdine
C 50 Kite, Greg 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1961-08-05 BYU
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
PG 12 Sichting, Jerry 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 168 lb (76 kg) 1956-11-29 Purdue
SF 45 Thirdkill, David 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1960-04-12 Bradley
PG 11 Vincent, Sam 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1963-05-18 Michigan State
C 5 Walton, Bill 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1952-11-05 UCLA
SF 8 Wedman, Scott 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1952-07-29 Colorado
SG 35 Williams, Sly 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1958-01-26 Rhode Island
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster

Award winners

References
  1. "Boston Celtics at New Jersey Nets Box Score, October 25, 1985". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  2. "Boston Celtics at Cleveland Cavaliers Box Score, October 26, 1985". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  3. "Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Celtics Box Score, October 30, 1985". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  4. "Sweet Sixteen" documentary on YouTube
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