1980–81 Boston Celtics season

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.

1980–81 Boston Celtics season
NBA champions
Conference champions
Division champions
Head coach	Bill Fitch
General manager	Red Auerbach
Owners	Harry Mangurian
Arena	Boston Garden Hartford Civic Center
Results
Record	62–20 (.756)
Place	Division: 1st (Atlantic) Conference: 1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	NBA champions (Defeated Rockets 4–2)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	WBZ-TV, WATR
Radio	WBZ Radio, WTIC
< 1979–80 1981–82 >

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

Offseason

NBA draft

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.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	1	Joe Barry Carroll	Center	United States	Purdue
1	13	Rickey Brown	Center	United States	Mississippi State

^[1]

Roster

1980–81 Boston Celtics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From G 7 Nate Archibald 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 150 lb (68 kg) 1948-09-02 UTEP F 33 Larry Bird 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1956-12-07 Indiana State F 30 M. L. Carr 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1951-01-09 Guilford G 40 Terry Duerod 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1956-07-29 Detroit Mercy C 45 Eric Fernsten 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1953-11-01 San Francisco G 42 Chris Ford 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1949-01-11 Villanova G 43 Gerald Henderson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1956-01-16 VCU F 31 Cedric Maxwell 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1955-11-21 Charlotte F 32 Kevin McHale 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1957-12-19 Minnesota C 00 Robert Parish 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1953-08-30 Centenary C 53 Rick Robey 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1956-01-30 Kentucky

Head coach Bill Fitch Assistant(s) K. C. Jones Jimmy Rodgers 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	62	20	.756	–	35–6	27–14	19–5
x-Philadelphia 76ers	62	20	.756	–	37–4	25–16	15–9
x-New York Knicks	50	32	.610	12.0	28–13	22–19	14–10
Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	23.0	26–15	13–28	8–16
New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	38.0	16–25	8–33	8–16

#	Eastern Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Boston Celtics	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Milwaukee Bucks	60	22	.732	2
3	x-Philadelphia 76ers	62	20	.756	–
4	x-New York Knicks	50	32	.610	12
5	x-Chicago Bulls	45	37	.549	17
6	x-Indiana Pacers	44	38	.537	18
7	Washington Bullets	39	43	.476	23
8	Atlanta Hawks	31	51	.378	31
9	Cleveland Cavaliers	28	54	.341	34
10	New Jersey Nets	24	58	.293	38
11	Detroit Pistons	21	61	.256	41

Notes

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

Record vs. opponents

1980-81 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BOS	CHI	CLE	DAL	DEN	DET	GSW	HOU	IND	KCK	LAL	MIL	NYN	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

Regular season

1980–81 game log: 62–20 (Home: 35–6; Road: 27–14)
October: 6–3 (Home: 2–1; Road: 4–2) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 October 10 Cleveland 130–103 Boston Garden 1–0 2 October 14 @ Atlanta 116–122 The Omni 1–1 3 October 16 @ Milwaukee 110–103 MECCA Arena 2–1 4 October 18 @ Indiana 99–103 Market Square Arena 2–2 5 October 22 @ New Jersey 108–104 Rutgers Athletic Center 3–2 6 October 23 New York 107–109 (OT) Hartford Civic Center 3–3 7 October 25 @ Washington 103–87 Capital Centre 4–3 8 October 29 @ Detroit 103–85 Pontiac Silverdome 5–3 9 October 31 Kansas City 115–110 Boston Garden 6–3
November: 9–4 (Home: 7–1; Road: 2–3) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 10 November 1 @ Philadelphia 113–117 (OT) The Spectrum 6–4 11 November 5 Atlanta 104–87 Boston Garden 7–4 12 November 7 Milwaukee 101–102 Boston Garden 7–5 13 November 9 Chicago 111–105 Boston Garden 8–5 14 November 12 Washington 93–86 Boston Garden 9–5 15 November 14 New Jersey 126–102 Boston Garden 10–5 16 November 18 @ Chicago 113–107 Chicago Stadium 11–5 17 November 19 @ Indiana 103–91 Market Square Arena 12–5 18 November 21 Golden State 108–106 Boston Garden 13–5 19 November 22 @ Cleveland 98–113 Richfield Coliseum 13–6 20 November 26 Portland 126–101 Boston Garden 14–6 21 November 28 New York 120–106 Boston Garden 15–6 22 November 30 @ Milwaukee 105–107 MECCA Arena 15–7
December: 14–1 (Home: 7–1; Road: 7–0) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 23 December 2 @ Detroit 94–85 Pontiac Silverdome 16–7 24 December 3 Atlanta 106–101 Boston Garden 17–7 25 December 5 Dallas 97–87 Boston Garden 18–7 26 December 7 Washington 103–113 Hartford Civic Center 18–8 27 December 9 Milwaukee 112–89 Boston Garden 19–8 28 December 10 @ Washington 101–99 Capital Centre 20–8 29 December 12 New Jersey 119–104 Boston Garden 21–8 30 December 13 @ Chicago 106–95 Chicago Stadium 22–8 31 December 17 Chicago 115–98 Boston Garden 23–8 32 December 19 Houston 133–119 Boston Garden 24–8 33 December 20 @ Cleveland 107–102 Richfield Coliseum 25–8 34 December 23 Denver 136–128 Boston Garden 26–8 35 December 25 @ New York 117–108 Madison Square Garden 27–8 36 December 27 @ Atlanta 112–107 The Omni 28–8 37 December 30 @ Phoenix 116–97 Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 29–8
January: 14–2 (Home: 10–0; Road: 4–2) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 38 January 1 @ San Diego 88–85 San Diego Sports Arena 30–8 39 January 2 @ Golden State 106–121 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena 30–9 40 January 4 @ Portland 120–111 Memorial Coliseum 31–9 41 January 7 Phoenix 108–90 Boston Garden 32–9 42 January 9 Chicago 117–111 (OT) Boston Garden 33–9 43 January 10 @ New Jersey 117–115 Rutgers Athletic Center 34–9 44 January 13 @ New York 93–89 Madison Square Garden 35–9 45 January 14 Cleveland 120–113 Boston Garden 36–9 46 January 16 San Antonio 94–85 Boston Garden 37–9 47 January 18 Los Angeles 98–96 Boston Garden 38–9 48 January 19 Detroit 92–90 Hartford Civic Center 39–9 49 January 21 Utah 117–87 Boston Garden 40–9 50 January 23 Indiana 104–103 Boston Garden 41–9 51 January 25 Seattle 115–106 Boston Garden 42–9 52 January 28 Philadelphia 104–101 Boston Garden 43–9 53 January 29 @ Chicago 85–108 Chicago Stadium 43–10
February: 8–5 (Home: 3–0; Road: 5–5) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 54 February 4 @ Philadelphia 104–107 The Spectrum 43–11 55 February 5 @ Milwaukee 103–113 MECCA Arena 43–12 56 February 6 Indiana 111–98 Boston Garden 44–12 57 February 8 San Diego 123–107 Boston Garden 45–12 58 February 10 @ Seattle 107–108 (OT) Kingdome 45–13 59 February 11 @ Los Angeles 105–91 The Forum 46–13 60 February 13 @ Utah 89–104 Salt Palace 46–14 61 February 15 @ Denver 120–118 McNichols Sports Arena 47–14 62 February 17 @ San Antonio 128–116 HemisFair Arena 48–14 63 February 18 @ Kansas City 113–114 Kemper Arena 48–15 64 February 21 @ Detroit 130–119 Pontiac Silverdome 49–15 65 February 25 Cleveland 124–103 Boston Garden 50–15 66 February 27 @ Atlanta 132–102 The Omni 51–15
March: 11–5 (Home: 6–3; Road: 5–2) Game Date Time Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 67 March 1 Philadelphia 114–107 Boston Garden 52–15 68 March 3 @ Dallas 117–105 Reunion Arena 53–15 69 March 4 @ Houston 108–101 The Summit 54–15 70 March 6 @ Indiana 104–110 Market Square Arena 54–16 71 March 8 New York 115–94 Boston Garden 55–16 72 March 11 Milwaukee 122–108 Boston Garden 56–16 73 March 13 Indiana 94–101 Boston Garden 56–17 74 March 15 New Jersey 133–125 Boston Garden 57–17 75 March 17 @ Washington 112–91 Capital Centre 58–17 76 March 18 Atlanta 97–108 Boston Garden 58–18 77 March 20 Washington 128–116 Boston Garden 59–18 78 March 22 @ Philadelphia 94–126 The Spectrum 59–19 79 March 24 @ New York 118–116 Madison Square Garden 60–19 80 March 25 @ New Jersey 111–105 Rutgers Athletic Center 61–19 81 March 27 Detroit 90–115 Boston Garden 61–20 82 March 29 Philadelphia 98–94 Boston Garden 62–20
1981 regular season schedule

Playoffs

1981 playoff game log
Conference Semifinals: 4–0 (home: 2–0; road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 5 Chicago W 121–109 Larry Bird (23) Larry Bird (12) Bird, Maxwell (5) Boston Garden 15,320 1–0 2 April 7 Chicago W 106–97 Archibald, Parish (27) Larry Bird (12) Larry Bird (9) Boston Garden 15,320 2–0 3 April 10 @ Chicago W 113–107 Larry Bird (24) Larry Bird (17) Larry Bird (10) Chicago Stadium 19,995 3–0 4 April 12 @ Chicago W 109–103 Larry Bird (35) Larry Bird (11) Tiny Archibald (6) Chicago Stadium 18,249 4–0
Conference Finals: 4–3 (home: 3–1; road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 21 Philadelphia L 104–105 Larry Bird (33) Robert Parish (13) Tiny Archibald (9) Boston Garden 15,320 0–1 2 April 22 Philadelphia W 118–99 Larry Bird (34) Larry Bird (16) Larry Bird (5) Boston Garden 15,320 1–1 3 April 24 @ Philadelphia L 100–110 Larry Bird (22) Larry Bird (13) Tiny Archibald (5) Spectrum 18,276 1–2 4 April 26 @ Philadelphia L 105–107 Cedric Maxwell (20) Larry Bird (17) Tiny Archibald (14) Spectrum 18,276 1–3 5 April 29 Philadelphia W 111–109 Larry Bird (32) Larry Bird (11) Tiny Archibald (7) Boston Garden 15,320 2–3 6 May 1 @ Philadelphia W 111–109 Larry Bird (25) Larry Bird (16) Tiny Archibald (6) Spectrum 18,276 3–3 7 May 3 Philadelphia W 91–90 Larry Bird (23) Larry Bird (11) Tiny Archibald (7) Boston Garden 15,320 4–3
NBA Finals: 4–2 (home: 2–1; road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 May 5 Houston W 98–95 Larry Bird (18) Larry Bird (21) Larry Bird (9) Boston Garden 15,320 1–0 2 May 7 Houston L 90–91 Larry Bird (19) Larry Bird (21) Archibald, Henderson (4) Boston Garden 15,320 1–1 3 May 9 @ Houston W 94–71 Cedric Maxwell (19) Larry Bird (13) Larry Bird (10) The Summit 16,121 2–1 4 May 10 @ Houston L 86–91 Cedric Maxwell (24) Cedric Maxwell (14) Larry Bird (7) The Summit 16,121 2–2 5 May 12 Houston W 109–80 Cedric Maxwell (28) Cedric Maxwell (15) Larry Bird (8) Boston Garden 15,320 3–2 6 May 14 @ Houston W 102–91 Larry Bird (27) Larry Bird (13) Tiny Archibald (12) The Summit 16,121 4–2
1981 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
Nate Archibald	80	176	618	75	18	1106	13.8
Larry Bird	82	895	451	161	63	1741	21.2
M. L. Carr	41	83	56	30	18	248	6.0
Eric Fernsten	45	62	10	6	7	96	2.1
Chris Ford	82	163	295	100	23	728	8.9
Wayne Kreklow	25	12	9	2	1	30	1.2
Cedric Maxwell	81	525	219	79	68	1234	15.2
Kevin McHale	82	359	55	27	151	818	10.0
Robert Parish	82	777	144	81	214	1552	18.9
Rick Robey	82	390	126	38	19	740	9.0

Award winners

• 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