1984–85 Boston Celtics season

1984–85 Boston Celtics season
Eastern Conference Champions
Head coach	K.C. Jones
Owner(s)	Don Gaston, Alan N. Cohen, Paul Dupee
Arena	Boston Garden Hartford Civic Center
Results Record 63–19 (.768) Place Division: 1st (Atlantic) Conference: 1st (Eastern) Playoff finish NBA Finals (Eliminated 2–4) Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com Local media Television SportsChannel New England, WBZ, WTXX Radio WRKO, WTIC < 1983–84 1985–86 >

The 1984–85 Boston Celtics season was the 39th season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

On March 3, 1985, Kevin McHale surpassed Larry Bird's Celtics single game scoring record when he netted 56 points against the Detroit Pistons.^[1] Less than two weeks later, on March 12, Bird answered, scoring a career-high 60 points against the Atlanta Hawks.

Trivia

A majority of this team moved onto coaching later in their careers. Kevin McHale, Rick Carlisle, Larry Bird, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, and Sam Vincent have all coached in the NBA.^[2][3]

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	24	Michael Young	SF/SG	United States	Houston
2	47	Ronnie Williams		United States	Florida
3	70	Rick Carlisle	G	United States	Virginia
4	93	Kevin Mullin		United States	Princeton
5	116	Todd Orlando		United States	Bentley
6	139	Steve Carfino	G	United States	Iowa
7	162	Mark Van Valkenburg		United States	Framingham State
8	184	Champ Godboldt		United States	Holy Cross
9	206	Joe Dixon		United States	Merrimack
10	228	Dan Trant		United States	Clark

Roster

Boston Celtics roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From 2.5 !G/F 44 USA ! Ainge, Danny style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Brigham Young 4.0 !F 33 USA ! Bird, Larry (C) style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Indiana State University 1.5 !G 28 USA ! Buckner, Quinn style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Indiana 1.5 !G 34 USA ! Carlisle, Rick style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Virginia 2.5 !G/F 30 USA ! Carr, M.L. style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Guilford 1.5 !G 40 USA ! Clark, Carlos style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Mississippi 1.5 !G 3 USA ! Johnson, Dennis style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Pepperdine 6.0 !C 50 USA ! Kite, Greg style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 83 !6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Brigham Young 4.0 !F 31 USA ! Maxwell, Cedric style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Charlotte 5.5 !F/C 32 USA ! McHale, Kevin style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Minnesota 6.0 !C 00 USA ! Parish, Robert style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 84 !7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Centenary College of Louisiana 2.5 !G/F 8 USA ! Wedman, Scott style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Colorado 1.5 !G 20 USA ! Williams, Ray style="text-align:right; white-space:nowrap; | 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Minnesota	Head coach K.C. Jones (San Francisco) Assistant coach(es) Jimmy Rodgers (Ohio State) Chris Ford (Villanova) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

^[4]

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Robert Parish		Greg Kite
PF	Larry Bird	Kevin McHale
SF	Cedric Maxwell	Scott Wedman	M. L. Carr
SG	Danny Ainge	Ray Williams	Carlos Clark	Rick Carlisle
PG	Dennis Johnson		Quinn Buckner

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Boston Celtics	63	19	.768	–	35–6	28–13	19–5
x-Philadelphia 76ers	58	24	.707	5	34–7	24–17	15–9
x-New Jersey Nets	42	40	.512	21	27–14	15–26	13–11
x-Washington Bullets	40	42	.488	23	28–13	12–29	11–13
New York Knicks	24	58	.293	39	19–22	5–36	2–22

#	Eastern Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	63	19	.768	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	59	23	.720	4
3	x-Philadelphia 76ers	58	24	.707	5
4	x-Detroit Pistons	46	36	.561	17
5	x-New Jersey Nets	42	40	.512	21
6	x-Washington Bullets	40	42	.488	23
7	x-Chicago Bulls	38	44	.463	25
8	x-Cleveland Cavaliers	36	46	.439	27
9	Atlanta Hawks	34	48	.415	29
10	New York Knicks	24	58	.293	39
11	Indiana Pacers	22	60	.268	41

Game log

1984-85 Game Log
October Game Date Opponent Score Location Record 1 Fri. Oct. 26 @ Detroit Pistons 130-123 Pontiac Silverdome 1-0 2 Wed. Oct. 31 New Jersey Nets 116-105 Boston Garden 2-0
November Game Date Opponent Score Location Record 3 Fri. Nov. 2 Detroit Pistons 127-116 Boston Garden 3-0 4 Wed. Nov. 7 Los Angeles Clippers 135-108 Boston Garden 4-0 5 Fri. Nov. 9 Philadelphia 76ers 130-119 Boston Garden 5-0 6 Sat. Nov. 10 @ Washington Bullets 95-112 Capital Centre 5-1 7 Mon. Nov. 12 @ Indiana Pacers 132-115 Market Square Arena 6-1 8 Wed. Nov. 14 New York Knicks 115-99 Boston Garden 7-1 9 Thu. Nov. 15 @ Chicago Bulls 125-105 Chicago Stadium 8-1 10 Wed. Nov. 21 Golden State Warriors 135-91 Boston Garden 9-1 11 Fri. Nov. 23 Washington Bullets 118-110 Boston Garden 10-1 12 Sat. Nov. 24 @ Kansas City Kings 135-124 Kemper Arena 11-1 13 Tue. Nov. 27 @ Dallas Mavericks 114-99 Reunion Arena 12-1 14 Wed. Nov. 28 @ Houston Rockets 110-100 The Summit 13-1
December Game Date Opponent Score Location Record 15 Sat. Dec. 1 @ Cleveland Cavaliers 110-104 Richfield Coliseum 14-1 16 Sun. Dec. 2 Cleveland Cavaliers 122-99 Boston Garden 15-1 17 Tue. Dec. 4 @ Detroit Pistons 99-104 Pontiac Silverdome 15-2 18 Wed. Dec. 5 Denver Nuggets 123-107 Boston Garden 16-2 19 Sat. Dec. 8 @ New Jersey Nets 107-98 Brendan Byrne Arena 17-2 20 Sun. Dec. 9 Atlanta Hawks 128-127 Boston Garden 18-2 21 Tue. Dec. 11 New Jersey Nets 130-121 Hartford Civic Center 19-2 22 Wed. Dec. 12 @ Philadelphia 76ers 107-110 The Spectrum 19-3 23 Fri. Dec. 14 Utah Jazz 117-106 Boston Garden 20-3 24 Sat. Dec. 15 @ Atlanta Hawks 101-94 The Omni 21-3 25 Tue. Dec. 18 @ New York Knicks 126-108 Madison Square Garden 22-3 26 Wed. Dec. 19 Milwaukee Bucks 92-107 Boston Garden 22-4 27 Fri. Dec. 21 Indiana Pacers 117-107 Boston Garden 23-4 28 Sat. Dec. 22 @ Chicago Bulls 85-110 Chicago Stadium 23-5 29 Wed. Dec. 26 @ Phoenix Suns 119-114 Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 24-5 30 Thu. Dec. 27 @ Los Angeles Clippers 118-103 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 25-5 31 Sat. Dec. 29 @ San Antonio Spurs 120-112 HemisFair Arena 26-5 32 Sun. Dec. 30 @ Milwaukee Bucks 98-114 The MECCA 26-6
January Game Date Opponent Score Location Record 33 Wed. Jan. 2 @ New Jersey Nets 110-95 Brendan Byrne Arena 27-6 34 Fri. Jan. 4 New York Knicks 105-94 Boston Garden 28-6 35 Mon. Jan. 7 @ New York Knicks 108-97 Madison Square Garden 29-6 36 Wed. Jan. 9 Chicago Bulls 111-108 Boston Garden 30-6 37 Fri. Jan. 11 Washington Bullets 103-101 Boston Garden 31-6 38 Sat. Jan. 12 @ Atlanta Hawks 119-111 The Omni 32-6 39 Wed. Jan. 16 Los Angeles Lakers 104-102 Boston Garden 33-6 40 Fri. Jan. 18 @ Indiana Pacers 86-91 Market Square Arena 33-7 41 Sun. Jan. 20 Philadelphia 76ers 113-97 Boston Garden 34-7 42 Wed. Jan. 23 Seattle SuperSonics 97-107 Boston Garden 34-8 43 Fri. Jan. 25 Indiana Pacers 125-94 Boston Garden 35-8 44 Sun. Jan. 27 Portland Trail Blazers 128-127 Boston Garden 36-8 45 Tue. Jan. 29 Detroit Pistons 131-130 Hartford Civic Center 37-8 46 Wed. Jan. 30 @ Philadelphia 76ers 104-122 The Spectrum 37-9
February Game Date Opponent Score Location Record 47 Fri. Feb. 1 Kansas City Kings 142-123 Boston Garden 38-9 48 Sat. Feb. 2 @ Washington Bullets 97-91 Capital Centre 39-9 49 Tue. Feb. 5 @ Chicago Bulls 110-106 Chicago Stadium 40-9 50 Wed. Feb. 6 Cleveland Cavaliers 113-108 Boston Garden 41-9 51 Tue. Feb. 12 @ Portland Trail Blazers 103-111 Memorial Coliseum 41-10 52 Thu. Feb. 14 @ Seattle SuperSonics 110-94 Seattle Center Coliseum 42-10 53 Fri. Feb. 15 @ Golden State Warriors 107-100 Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Arena 43-10 54 Sun. Feb. 17 @ Los Angeles Lakers 111-117 The Forum 43-11 55 Mon. Feb. 18 @ Utah Jazz 110-94 Salt Palace 44-11 56 Wed. Feb. 20 @ Denver Nuggets 129-132 McNichols Sports Arena 44-12 57 Fri. Feb. 22 Chicago Bulls 115-105 Hartford Civic Center 45-12 58 Sun. Feb. 24 @ Indiana Pacers 113-110 Market Square Arena 46-12 59 Wed. Feb. 27 San Antonio Spurs 111-102 Boston Garden 47-12
March Game Date Opponent Score Location Record 60 Fri. Mar. 1 Atlanta Hawks 105-114 Boston Garden 47-13 61 Sun. Mar. 3 Detroit Pistons 138-129 Boston Garden 48-13 62 Tue. Mar. 5 @ New York Knicks 110-102 Madison Square Garden 49-13 63 Wed. Mar. 6 Chicago Bulls 104-107 Boston Garden 49-14 64 Fri. Mar. 8 Dallas Mavericks 133-122 Boston Garden 50-14 65 Tue. Mar. 12 @ Atlanta Hawks 126-115 Lakefront Arena 51-14 66 Wed. Mar. 13 Phoenix Suns 123-106 Boston Garden 52-14 67 Fri. Mar. 15 @ Cleveland Cavaliers 119-96 Richfield Coliseum 53-14 68 Sun. Mar. 17 Houston Rockets 134-120 Boston Garden 54-14 69 Wed. Mar. 20 Milwaukee Bucks 107-105 Boston Garden 55-14 70 Fri. Mar. 22 Cleveland Cavaliers 129-117 Boston Garden 56-14 71 Sat. Mar. 23 @ Washington Bullets 104-98 Capital Centre 57-14 72 Wed. Mar. 27 @ New Jersey Nets 105-95 Brendan Byrne Arena 58-14 73 Fri. Mar. 29 Philadelphia 76ers 112-108 Boston Garden 59-14 74 Sun. Mar. 31 @ Detroit Pistons 105-113 Joe Louis Arena 59-15
April Game Date Opponent Score Location Record 75 Tue. Apr. 2 @ Milwaukee Bucks 103-109 The MECCA 59-16 76 Wed. Apr. 3 Indiana Pacers 119-103 Boston Garden 60-16 77 Fri. Apr. 5 Washington Bullets 115-104 Boston Garden 61-16 78 Sun. Apr. 7 New York Knicks 114-102 Boston Garden 62-16 79 Tue. Apr. 9 @ Philadelphia 76ers 104-113 The Spectrum 62-17 80 Thu. Apr. 11 @ Cleveland Cavaliers 121-115 Richfield Coliseum 63-17 81 Fri. Apr. 12 Milwaukee Bucks 113-115 (OT) Boston Garden 63-18 82 Sun. Apr. 14 New Jersey Nets 118-129 Boston Garden 63-19
1984-85 Schedule

Playoffs

East First Round

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Cleveland Cavaliers: Celtics win series 3-1

• Game 1 @ Boston Garden, Boston (April 18): Boston 126, Cleveland 123
• Game 2 @ Boston Garden, Boston (April 20): Boston 108, Cleveland 106
• Game 3 @ The Coliseum, Richfield (April 23): Cleveland 105, Boston 98
• Game 4 @ The Coliseum, Richfield (April 25): Boston 117, Cleveland 115

East Conference Semifinals

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (4) Detroit Pistons: Celtics win series 4-2

• Game 1 @ Boston Garden, Boston (April 28): Boston 133, Detroit 99
• Game 2 @ Boston Garden, Boston (April 30): Boston 121, Detroit 114
• Game 3 @ Joe Louis Arena, Detroit (May 2): Detroit 125, Boston 117
• Game 4 @ Joe Louis Arena, Detroit (May 5): Detroit 102, Boston 99
• Game 5 @ Boston Garden, Boston (May 8): Boston 130, Detroit 123
• Game 6 @ Joe Louis Arena, Detroit (May 10): Boston 123, Detroit 113

East Conference Finals

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

• Game 1 @ Boston Garden, Boston (May 12): Boston 108, Philadelphia 93
• Game 2 @ Boston Garden, Boston (May 14): Boston 106, Philadelphia 98
• Game 3 @ The Spectrum, Philadelphia (May 18): Boston 105, Philadelphia 94
• Game 4 @ The Spectrum, Philadelphia (May 19): Philadelphia 115, Boston 104
• Game 5 @ Boston Garden, Boston (May 22): Boston 102, Philadelphia 100

NBA Finals

(E1) Boston Celtics vs. (W1) Los Angeles Lakers: Lakers win series 4-2

• Game 1 @ Boston Garden, Boston (May 27): Boston 148, Los Angeles 114
• Game 2 @ Boston Garden, Boston (May 30): Los Angeles 109, Boston 102
• Game 3 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (June 2): Los Angeles 136, Boston 111
• Game 4 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (June 5): Boston 107, Los Angeles 105
• Game 5 @ The Forum, Los Angeles (June 7): Los Angeles 120, Boston 111
• Game 6 @ Boston Garden, Boston (June 9): Los Angeles 111, Boston 100

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Awards and records

• Larry Bird, NBA Most Valuable Player Award
• Kevin McHale, NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award
• Larry Bird, All-NBA First Team
• Dennis Johnson, NBA All-Defensive Second Team

See also

• 1984–85 NBA season

References

1984–85 NBA season by team 1984 NBA Draft All-Star Game Playoffs Finals Transactions Eastern Atlantic Boston New Jersey New York Philadelphia Washington Central Atlanta Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Milwaukee Western Midwest Dallas Denver Houston Kansas City San Antonio Utah Pacific Golden State L.A. Clippers L.A. Lakers Phoenix Portland Seattle

Boston Celtics Founded in 1946 Based in Boston, Massachusetts The franchise Franchise Team history All-time roster Seasons Accomplishments Head coaches Current season Arenas Boston Arena Boston Garden Hartford Civic Center TD Garden Administration Boston Basketball Partners (owner) Wyc Grousbeck (CEO) Wyc Grousbeck, H. Irving Grousbeck, Stephen Pagliuca (Managing Partners) Danny Ainge (General Manager) Brad Stevens (Head Coach) General managers Brown Auerbach Volk Wallace Ainge Retired numbers 00 1 2 3 6 10 14 15 16 17 18 LOSCY 19 21 22 23 24 25 31 32 33 35 MIC Hall of Famers Boston Celtics Hall of Famers D-League Affiliate Maine Red Claws Rivals Philadelphia 76ers Los Angeles Lakers Detroit Pistons New York Knicks Brooklyn Nets Miami Heat Culture Celtics parquet floor Celtic Pride Greatest game ever played Tommy Points "Love ya, Cooz!" Close, but no cigar! Bill Russell Beat L.A. Mike Gorman Johnny Most "Havlicek stole the ball!" Henderson steals the ball! Bird steals the ball! Boston Garden North Station The Heat Game Memorial Day Massacre Larry Legend DJ The Chief The Truth The Big Three Media TV CSN New England Radio WEEI Announcers Mike Gorman Tom Heinsohn Donny Marshall Greg Dickerson Sean Grande Cedric Maxwell NBA Championships (17) 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1968 1969 1974 1976 1981 1984 1986 2008

Boston Celtics seasons Franchise History Seasons 1940s 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1950s 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1960s 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1970s 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1980s 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1990s 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 2000s 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2010s 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 Bold indicates NBA Finals victory