1981–82 Boston Celtics season

1981–82 Boston Celtics season
1981–82 Boston Celtics season
Division champions
Head coach	Bill Fitch
General manager	Red Auerbach
Arena	Boston Garden; Hartford Civic Center
Results
Record	63–19 (.768)
Place	Division: 1st (Atlantic); Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Eastern Conference finals; (lost to 76ers 3–4)
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	PRISM New England, WBZ, WATR
Radio	WRKO, WTIC
< 1980–81	1982–83 >

The 1981–82 Boston Celtics season was the 36th season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics entered the season as the defending NBA champions. They finished the season with the best record in the NBA.

Boston was notably defeated in a seven-game series with their bitter rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers; in the final game, with the contest well decided, fans chanted "Beat L.A.," helping kick off one of American sports' most famous fan chants.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	23	Charles Bradley	SG	United States	Wyoming–Sr.
5	95	Glen Grunwald	C	United States	Indiana

^[1]

Roster

1981–82 Boston Celtics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From
SG	44	Ainge, Danny	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1959–03–17	BYU
PG	7	Archibald, Nate	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	1948–09–02	UTEP
PF	33	Bird, Larry	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	1956–12–07	Indiana State
SG	35	Bradley, Charles	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1959–05–16	Wyoming
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 Mercy
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	VCU
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
C	53	Robey, Rick	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1956–01–30	Kentucky

Head coach

Bill Fitch

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
(L) On leave from the team
Injured

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Boston Celtics	63	19	.768	–	35–6	28–13	20–4
x-Philadelphia 76ers	58	24	.707	5.0	32–9	26–15	16–8
x-New Jersey Nets	44	38	.537	19.0	25–16	19–22	12–12
x-Washington Bullets	43	39	.524	20.0	22–19	21–20	7–17
New York Knicks	33	49	.402	30.0	19–22	14–27	5–19

#	Eastern Conference v t e
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	63	19	.768	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	55	27	.671	8
3	x-Philadelphia 76ers	58	24	.707	5
4	x-New Jersey Nets	44	38	.537	19
5	x-Washington Bullets	43	39	.524	20
6	x-Atlanta Hawks	42	40	.512	21

7	Detroit Pistons	39	43	.476	24
8	Indiana Pacers	35	47	.427	28
9	Chicago Bulls	34	48	.415	29
10	New York Knicks	33	49	.402	30
11	Cleveland Cavaliers	15	67	.183	48

Record vs. opponents

1981-82 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	–	1–5	2–3	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	0–2	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–2	3–3	3–2	5–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–4
Boston	5–1	–	4–2	5–0	2–0	1–1	6–0	1–1	1–1	4–1	2–0	1–1	3–3	5–1	5–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	6–0
Chicago	3–2	2–4	–	5–1	1–1	1–1	0–6	0–2	1–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	1–5	2–4	3–2	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–4
Cleveland	2–4	0–5	1–5	–	2–0	0–2	1–5	1–1	1–1	1–5	1–1	0–2	0–6	0–6	0–6	0–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–5
Dallas	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	–	1–5	1–1	0–5	2–4	1–1	4–2	1–4	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–3	2–3	1–5	2–3	1–4	3–3	1–1
Denver	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	5–1	–	1–1	3–2	5–1	0–2	4–2	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–3	2–3	2–4	5–0	2–3	3–3	2–0
Detroit	4–2	0–6	6–0	5–1	1–1	1–1	–	2–0	2–0	2–4	2–0	0–2	2–4	2–4	3–3	2–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–4
Golden State	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	5–0	2–3	0–2	–	1–4	2–0	3–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	4–2	2–4	3–2	5–1	1–5	3–2	1–1
Houston	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–2	1–5	0–2	4–1	–	2–0	3–3	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	4–1	3–3	4–1	2–3	6–0	2–0
Indiana	2–4	1–5	3–3	5–1	1–1	2–0	4–2	0–2	0–2	–	1–1	0–2	0–6	4–2	3–2	0–6	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–5
Kansas City	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	2–4	0–2	2–3	3–3	1–1	–	1–4	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–3	0–5	1–5	4–1	2–3	3–3	0–2
Los Angeles	2–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	4–1	4–1	2–0	3–3	4–1	2–0	4–1	–	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–2	5–1	2–3	5–1	4–2	5–0	2–0
Milwaukee	3–3	3–3	5–1	6–0	1–1	1–1	4–2	0–2	1–1	6–0	1–1	2–0	–	4–1	3–3	4–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	3–2
New Jersey	2–3	1–5	4–2	6–0	0–2	1–1	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–4	1–1	1–1	1–4	–	4–2	3–3	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	4–2
New York	1–5	1–5	2–3	6–0	1–1	1–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	2–3	0–2	2–0	3–3	2–4	–	1–5	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	0–2	2–0	1–5
Philadelphia	3–3	2–4	5–1	5–0	2–0	1–1	3–2	2–0	1–1	6–0	2–0	1–1	2–4	3–3	5–1	–	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	6–0
Phoenix	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	3–2	3–2	2–0	2–4	2–3	1–1	3–2	2–4	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	–	3–3	4–1	4–2	3–3	3–2	1–1
Portland	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	3–2	2–0	4–2	1–4	1–1	5–0	1–5	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–3	–	3–2	4–2	3–3	4–1	0–2
San Antonio	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	5–1	4–2	2–0	2–3	3–3	0–2	5–1	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–4	2–3	–	3–2	4–1	3–3	1–1
San Diego	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–1	3–2	0–5	0–2	1–5	1–4	0–2	1–4	1–5	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–4	2–4	2–3	–	1–5	1–4	0–2
Seattle	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	4–1	3–2	1–1	5–1	3–2	1–1	3–2	2–4	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–4	5–1	–	5–0	1–1
Utah	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–2	3–3	3–3	1–1	2–3	0–6	1–1	3–3	0–5	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–3	1–4	3–3	4–1	0–5	–	1–1
Washington	4–2	0–6	4–2	5–1	1–1	0–2	4–1	1–1	0–2	5–1	2–0	0–2	2–3	2–4	5–1	0–6	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	—

Game log

Regular season

1981–82 game log
Total: 63–19 (home: 35–6; road: 28–13)

October: 1–1 (home: 1–0; road: 0–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	October 30	Washington	W 124–100				Boston Garden	1–0
2	October 31	@ Milwaukee	L 103–119				MECCA Arena	1–1

November: 12–1 (home: 7–1; road: 5–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
3	November 4	Chicago	W 115–93	Boston Garden	2–1
4	November 6	Indiana	W 111–94	Boston Garden	3–1
5	November 7	@ Detroit	W 129–88	Pontiac Silverdome	4–1
6	November 10	@ Washington	W 90–84	Capital Centre	5–1
7	November 11	Kansas City	W 115–100	Boston Garden	6–1
8	November 13	New Jersey	W 111–97	Hartford Civic Center	7–1
9	November 14	@ Cleveland	W 92–91	Richfield Coliseum	8–1
10	November 17	@ Chicago	W 98–95	Chicago Stadium	9–1
11	November 18	Houston	L 104–106	Boston Garden	9–2
12	November 20	Milwaukee	W 112–89	Boston Garden	10–2
13	November 25	Golden State	W 122–101	Boston Garden	11–2
14	November 27	Washington	W 113–100	Boston Garden	12–2
15	November 28	@ Atlanta	W 98–90	The Omni	13–2

December: 9–5 (home: 6–0; road: 3–5)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
16	December 1	@ Indiana	L 87–90	Market Square Arena	13–3
17	December 2	Detroit	W 115–114	Boston Garden	14–3
18	December 4	Philadelphia	W 111–103	Boston Garden	15–3
19	December 5	@ New York	L 83–103	Madison Square Garden	15–4
20	December 9	New Jersey	W 109–100	Boston Garden	16–4
21	December 11	Atlanta	W 94–86	Hartford Civic Center	17–4
22	December 12	@ Atlanta	L 97–108	The Omni	17–5
23	December 16	Dallas	W 109–92	Boston Garden	18–5
24	December 18	@ Washington	W 99–98	Capital Centre	19–5
25	December 19	@ Philadelphia	L 118–123 (OT)	The Spectrum	19–6
26	December 22	Cleveland	W 120–116	Boston Garden	20–6
27	December 26	@ Kansas City	W 124–119 (OT)	Kemper Arena	21–6
28	December 29	@ Denver	L 123–128	McNichols Sports Arena	21–7
29	December 30	@ Utah	W 121–110	Salt Palace Acord Arena	22–7

January: 10–4 (home: 5–3; road: 5–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
30	January 2	@ Cleveland	W 106–103	Richfield Coliseum	22–8
31	January 6	Chicago	L 102–116	Boston Garden	23–8
32	January 8	Philadelphia	W 96–90	Boston Garden	24–8
33	January 10	Detroit	W 134–124	Hartford Civic Center	25–8
34	January 11	@ New Jersey	W 112–94	Brendan Byrne Arena	26–8
35	January 13	Atlanta	W 116–95	Boston Garden	27–8
36	January 15	@ Milwaukee	L 118–122	MECCA Arena	27–9
37	January 16	@ Detroit	W 128–120	Pontiac Silverdome	28–9
38	January 19	@ New York	W 111–107	Madison Square Garden	29–9
39	January 20	Indiana	W 112–103	Boston Garden	30–9
40	January 22	Seattle	L 106–118	Boston Garden	30–10
41	January 24	Portland	L 119–123	Boston Garden	30–11
42	January 27	New York	W 131–99	Boston Garden	31–11
43	January 28	@ Cleveland	W 116–104	Richfield Coliseum	32–11

February: 8–4 (home: 4–1; road: 4–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
44	February 2	@ Indiana	W 109–105	Market Square Arena	33–11
45	February 5	Denver	W 145–144	Boston Garden	34–11
46	February 7	Los Angeles	L 113–119	Boston Garden	34–12
47	February 10	@ Phoenix	L 110–112	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	34–13
48	February 12	@ San Diego	W 129–116	San Diego Sports Arena	35–13
49	February 14	@ Los Angeles	W 108–103	The Forum	36–13
50	February 17	@ Golden State	L 105–121	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena	36–14
51	February 19	@ Portland	W 127–117	Memorial Coliseum	37–14
52	February 21	@ Seattle	L 100–103	Kingdome	37–15
53	February 24	Utah	W 132–90	Boston Garden	38–15
54	February 26	San Diego	W 122–110	Boston Garden	39–15
55	February 28	Milwaukee	W 106–102	Boston Garden	40–15

March: 16–1 (home: 8–1; road: 8–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
56	March 2	@ Dallas	W 101–97	Reunion Arena	41–15
58	March 5	@ Houston	W 100–98	The Summit	43–15
59	March 7	New York	W 107–106	Boston Garden	44–15
60	March 8	@ Detroit	W 111–101	Pontiac Silverdome	45–15
61	March 10	Indiana	W 121–100	Boston Garden	46–15
62	March 12	@ New Jersey	W 113–109	Brendan Byrne Arena	47–15
63	March 14	Phoenix	W 105–92	Boston Garden	48–15
64	March 16	@ Washington	W 98–97 (OT)	Capital Centre	49–15
65	March 17	Atlanta	W 113–109	Boston Garden	50–15
67	March 21	@ Philadelphia	W 123–111	The Spectrum	52–15
68	March 23	@ Chicago	W 110–103	Chicago Stadium	53–15
69	March 24	Cleveland	W 136–115	Boston Garden	54–15
70	March 26	Detroit	W 125–104	Boston Garden	55–15
71	March 28	Philadelphia	L 98–116	Boston Garden	55–16
72	March 31	Washington	W 119–109	Boston Garden	56–16

April: 7–3 (home: 4–0; road: 3–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	Location Attendance	Record
73	April 2	@ Atlanta	W 110–107	The Omni	57–16
74	April 4	Chicago	W 114–112	Boston Garden	58–16
75	April 6	@ Milwaukee	L 116–122	MECCA Arena	58–17
76	April 8	@ New York	W 110–106	Madison Square Garden	59–17
77	April 9	New Jersey	W 106–103	Boston Garden	60–17
78	April 11	@ Philadelphia	W 110–109 (OT)	The Spectrum	61–17
79	April 13	@ Chicago	L 115–120	Chicago Stadium	61–18
80	April 14	Milwaukee	W 100–91	Boston Garden	62–18
81	April 16	@ New Jersey	L 96–113	Brendan Byrne Arena	62–19
82	April 18	New York	W 119–99	Boston Garden	63–19

1981–82 schedule

Playoffs

1982 playoff game log

Conference semifinals: 4–1 (home: 2–1; road: 2–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	April 25	Washington	W 109–91	M. L. Carr (21)	Larry Bird (12)	Tiny Archibald (7)	Boston Garden 15,320	1–0
2	April 28	Washington	L 102–103	Larry Bird (26)	Bird, Parish (10)	Tiny Archibald (6)	Boston Garden 15,320	1–1
3	May 1	@ Washington	W 92–83	Robert Parish (25)	Parish, Archibald (13)	Tiny Archibald (5)	Capital Centre 15,035	2–1
4	May 2	@ Washington	W 103–99 (OT)	Robert Parish (28)	Robert Parish (15)	Tiny Archibald (4)	Capital Centre 16,295	3–1
5	May 5	Washington	W 131–126 (2OT)	Robert Parish (33)	Robert Parish (13)	Tiny Archibald (11)	Boston Garden 15,320	4–1

Conference finals: 3–4 (home: 2–2; road: 1–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	May 9	Philadelphia	W 121–81	Bird, Parish (24)	Larry Bird (15)	Larry Bird (10)	Boston Garden 15,320	1–0
2	May 12	Philadelphia	L 113–121	Tiny Archibald (24)	Larry Bird (14)	Tiny Archibald (13)	Boston Garden 15,320	1–1
3	May 15	@ Philadelphia	L 97–99	Cedric Maxwell (18)	Larry Bird (13)	Larry Bird (11)	Spectrum 18,364	1–2
4	May 16	@ Philadelphia	L 94–119	Robert Parish (18)	Larry Bird (9)	Gerald Henderson (7)	Spectrum 18,364	1–3
5	May 19	Philadelphia	W 114–85	Robert Parish (26)	Larry Bird (20)	Larry Bird (8)	Boston Garden 15,320	2–3
6	May 21	@ Philadelphia	W 88–75	Kevin McHale (17)	Larry Bird (17)	Danny Ainge (7)	Spectrum 18,364	3–3
7	May 23	Philadelphia	L 106–120	Robert Parish (23)	Robert Parish (14)	Larry Bird (9)	Boston Garden 15,320	3–4

1982 schedule

References

^ "1981 NBA Draft on databaseBasketball.com". Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved November 5, 2012.

Awards and honors

Larry Bird, All-NBA First Team

v t e Boston Celtics
Founded in 1946 Based in Boston, Massachusetts
Franchise	History All-time roster Draft history Accomplishments and records Head coaches Seasons Current season
Arenas	Boston Arena Boston Garden Hartford Civic Center TD Garden
Personnel	Owner(s) Boston Basketball Partners President Rich Gotham General manager Brad Stevens Head coach Joe Mazzulla
G League affiliate	Maine Celtics
Retired numbers	00 1 2 3 5 6 10 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 24 25 31 32 33 34 35 LOSCY MIC
NBA championships	1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1968 1969 1974 1976 1981 1984 1986 2008 2024
Rivalries	Detroit Pistons Los Angeles Lakers Miami Heat New York Knicks Philadelphia 76ers
Culture and lore	Broadcasters Radio network Celtic Pride Celtics/Lakers: Best of Enemies Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs Mike Gorman Johnny Most "Havlicek stole the ball" 1961 Boston Celtics boycott Auerbach Center North Station The Sports Museum of New England Reebok Pro Summer League Newhart Uncut Gems Extended Family Starting 5
Category Commons

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

Playoffs

References

Awards and honors

See also