1980–81 Boston Celtics season – Wikipedia

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NBA basketball team season (NBA champions)

NBA professional basketball team season

A ticket for a March 1981 game between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks.

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.

Offseason[edit]

NBA draft[edit]

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.

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1980–81 Boston Celtics roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From
G 7 Archibald, Nate 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1948-09-02 UTEP
F 33 Bird, Larry (C) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1956-12-07 Indiana State
F 30 Carr, M. L. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1951-01-09 Guilford
G 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
G 42 Ford, Chris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1949-01-11 Villanova
G 43 Henderson, Gerald 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1956-01-16 VCU
F 31 Maxwell, Cedric 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1955-11-21 Charlotte
F 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
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (L) On leave from the team
  • Injured Injured

Roster

Regular season[edit]

Season standings[edit]

Notes

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

Record vs. opponents[edit]

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

Game log[edit]

Regular season[edit]

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[edit]

1981 playoff game log

Conference Semifinals: 4–0 (home: 2–0; road: 2–0)

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

NBA Finals: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1)
1981 schedule

Player stats[edit]

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

Award winners[edit]

  • 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[edit]



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