1989–90 Boston Celtics season

The 1989–90 Boston Celtics season was the 44th season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. The Celtics had the 13th overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft, and selected power forward Michael Smith out of Brigham Young University, and acquired John Bagley from the New Jersey Nets during the off-season.

With Larry Bird returning after only playing just six games in the 1988–89 season due to heel injuries, and with last year's first-round draft pick Brian Shaw leaving the team to play overseas in Italy, the Celtics struggled around .500 in winning percentage during the first month of the regular season, but would win 11 of their next 15 games, holding a 28–18 record at the All-Star break, finishing in second place in the Atlantic Division with a solid 52–30 record, and earning the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference; the Celtics also qualified for the NBA playoffs for the eleventh consecutive year.

Bird averaged 24.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, while sixth man Kevin McHale averaged 20.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and Reggie Lewis contributed 17.0 points per game. In addition, Robert Parish provided the team with 15.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, while Dennis Johnson provided with 7.1 points and 6.5 assists per game. Off the bench, Jim Paxson contributed 6.4 points per game, while Joe Kleine averaged 5.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, Kevin Gamble contributed 5.1 points per game, Bagley provided with 4.3 points and 5.5 assists per game, and starting power forward Ed Pinckney averaged 4.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida, Bird, McHale and Parish were all selected for the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; this would be the final All-Star Game Bird would participate in. In addition, Bird also participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, and finished tied in tenth place in Most Valuable Player voting.

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1990 NBA playoffs, the Celtics faced off against the 5th–seeded New York Knicks, a team that featured All-Star center Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and Maurice Cheeks. The Celtics looked ready to make a serious run, as the team took a 2–0 series lead over the Knicks. In Game 2, the Celtics defeated the Knicks at home, 157–128 at the Boston Garden; the team's 157 points were an NBA playoff record for the most points scored in a game. However, the Celtics lost the next two games to the Knicks on the road, which included a Game 4 loss at Madison Square Garden, 135–108 as the Knicks evened the series. The Celtics lost Game 5 to the Knicks at the Boston Garden, 121–114, thus losing in a hard-fought five-game series.

The Celtics finished 15th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 611,537 at the Boston Garden during the regular season. Following the season, Johnson and Paxson both retired, and head coach Jimmy Rodgers was fired after coaching the Celtics for two seasons.