The 1987âÂÂ88 Boston Celtics season was the 42nd season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. The Celtics had the 22nd overall pick in the 1987 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard Reggie Lewis out of Northeastern University.
Coming off from an NBA Finals defeat to their rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers in six games, the Celtics won their first six games of the regular season, then later on posted a seven-game winning streak in January, and held a 32âÂÂ13 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Jerry Sichting to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Jim Paxson. The Celtics posted an eight-game winning streak between March and April, but then lost four of their final six games of the season afterwards, winning the Atlantic Division title with a 57âÂÂ25 record, and earning the first seed in the Eastern Conference.
Larry Bird averaged 29.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game, contributed 98 three-point field goals, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, while Kevin McHale averaged 22.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, led the league with .604 in field-goal percentage, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, and Danny Ainge provided the team with 15.7 points, 6.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and also led them with 148 three-point field goals. In addition, Robert Parish provided with 14.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, while Dennis Johnson contributed 12.6 points and 7.8 assists per game. Off the bench, Paxson contributed 8.7 points per game in 28 games with the Celtics after the trade, while Fred Roberts provided with 6.1 points per game, and Mark Acres averaged 3.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois, Bird, McHale and Ainge were all selected for the 1988 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; it was Ainge's first and only All-Star appearance. In addition, Bird and Ainge both participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, in which Bird won for the third consecutive year. Bird also finished in second place in Most Valuable Player voting, behind Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls, while head coach K.C. Jones finished tied in sixth place in Coach of the Year voting.
In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1988 NBA playoffs, the Celtics faced off against the 8thâÂÂseeded New York Knicks, a team that featured All-Star center Patrick Ewing, Gerald Wilkins, and Rookie of the Year, Mark Jackson. The Celtics won the first two games over the Knicks at home at the Boston Garden, before losing Game 3 on the road, 109âÂÂ100 at Madison Square Garden. The Celtics won Game 4 over the Knicks on the road, 102âÂÂ94 to win the series in four games.
In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 4thâÂÂseeded Atlanta Hawks, who were led by All-Star forward Dominique Wilkins, All-Star guard Doc Rivers, and Kevin Willis. The Celtics won the first two games over the Hawks at the Boston Garden, and took a 2âÂÂ0 series lead. However, the Celtics lost the next three games, including a Game 5 home loss to the Hawks at the Boston Garden, 112âÂÂ104 as the Hawks took a 3âÂÂ2 series lead. However, the Celtics managed to win Game 6 on the road, 102âÂÂ100 at the Omni Coliseum to even the series, and then won Game 7 over the Hawks at the Boston Garden, 118âÂÂ116 to win in a hard-fought seven-game series. The Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the fifth consecutive year, becoming the first team to do so since the 1968âÂÂ69 Boston Celtics (which reached the previous thirteen).
In the Conference Finals, and for the second consecutive year, the Celtics faced off against the 2ndâÂÂseeded, and Central Division champion Detroit Pistons, who were led by the trio of All-Star guard Isiah Thomas, Adrian Dantley and Joe Dumars. The Celtics lost Game 1 to the Pistons at the Boston Garden, 104âÂÂ96, but managed to win Game 2 at home in overtime, 119âÂÂ115 to even the series. However, with the series tied at 2âÂÂ2, the Celtics lost the next two games, including a Game 6 loss to the Pistons on the road, 95âÂÂ90 at the Pontiac Silverdome, thus losing the series in six games; this was the first time since the 1982âÂÂ83 season that the Celtics failed to reach the NBA Finals. The Pistons would advance to the Finals, but would lose to the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in a full seven-game series in the 1988 NBA Finals.
The Celtics finished sixth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 611,231 at the Boston Garden during the regular season. Following the season, Jones resigned as head coach, and Roberts was left unprotected in the 1988 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Miami Heat expansion team, who then traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks.
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | November 6, 1987<br>8:00p.m. EST | Milwaukee | W 125âÂÂ108 | Bird (28) | Bird (15) | Bird,<br>Johnson (8) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 1âÂÂ0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | November 7, 1987<br>7:30p.m. EST | @ Washington | W 140âÂÂ139 (2 OT) | Bird (47) | Parish (13) | Johnson (17) | Capital Centre<br>19,643 | 2âÂÂ0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 || November 9, 1987 || @ New York | W 96âÂÂ87 | | | | Madison Square Garden | 3âÂÂ0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 || November 11, 1987 || Indiana | W 120âÂÂ106 | | | | Boston Garden | 4âÂÂ0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | November 13, 1987<br>7:30p.m. EST | Cleveland | W 128âÂÂ114 | Bird (34) | Parish (16) | Johnson (13) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 5âÂÂ0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 6 || November 15, 1987 || @ Indiana | W 103âÂÂ98 | | | | Market Square Arena | 6âÂÂ0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 7 | November 17, 1987<br>8:00p.m. EST | @ Cleveland | L 88âÂÂ109 | Johnson (16) | Acres (8) | Bird (4) | Richfield Coliseum<br>14,621 | 6âÂÂ1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 8 || November 18, 1987 || New York | W 111âÂÂ109 (2OT) | | | | Boston Garden | 7âÂÂ1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 9 || November 20, 1987 || @ Philadelphia | L 85âÂÂ116 | | | | The Spectrum | 7âÂÂ2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 10 || November 21, 1987 || @ New Jersey | W 107âÂÂ97 | | | | Brendan Byrne Arena | 8âÂÂ2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 11 | November 23, 1987<br>7:30p.m. EST | Chicago<br> | L 102âÂÂ107 | Johnson (23) | Lohaus,<br>Parish (9) | Johnson (7) | Hartford Civic Center<br>15,134 | 8âÂÂ3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 12 | November 25, 1987<br>7:30p.m. EST | Atlanta | W 117âÂÂ102 | Daye (26) | Parish (13) | Ainge (10) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 9âÂÂ3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 13 | November 27, 1987<br>7:30p.m. EST | Seattle | W 117âÂÂ112 | Daye (27) | Bird (10) | Bird (9) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 10âÂÂ3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 14 | November 28, 1987<br>9:00p.m. EST | @ Milwaukee | L 97âÂÂ112 | Bird (28) | Parish (13) | Johnson (9) | MECCA Arena<br>11,052 | 10âÂÂ4
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 15 | December 1, 1987<br>7:30p.m. EST | @ Atlanta | L 106âÂÂ120 | McHale (22) | Bird,<br>Lohaus (8) | Johnson (8) | The Omni<br>16,451 | 10âÂÂ5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 16 || December 2, 1987 || New Jersey | W 130âÂÂ99 | | | | Boston Garden | 11âÂÂ5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 17 | December 4, 1987<br>7:30p.m. EST | @ Detroit | L 105âÂÂ128 | Bird (27) | Parish (11) | Johnson (6) | Pontiac Silverdome<br>34,523 | 11âÂÂ6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 18 | December 9, 1987<br>7:30p.m. EST | Denver | L 119âÂÂ124 | Bird (40) | Parish (14) | Johnson (15) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 11âÂÂ7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 19 | <br>8:00p.m. EST | L.A. Lakers | L 114âÂÂ115 | Bird (35) | Bird,<br>Parish (9) | Bird (8) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 11âÂÂ8 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 20 | December 15, 1987<br>7:30p.m. EST | @ Washington | W 122âÂÂ102 | Bird (27) | McHale (8) | Johnson (8) | Capital Centre<br>15,890 | 12âÂÂ8 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 21 | December 16, 1987<br>7:30p.m. EST | Utah | W 121âÂÂ111 | Bird (38) | Parish (14) | Johnson (11) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 13âÂÂ8 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 22 || December 20, 1987 || Philadelphia | W 124âÂÂ87 | | | | Boston Garden | 14âÂÂ8 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 23 || December 22, 1987 || @ Philadelphia | W 118âÂÂ115 | | | | The Spectrum | 15âÂÂ8 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 24 || December 26, 1987 || @ L.A. Clippers | W 106âÂÂ97 | | | | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena | 16âÂÂ8 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 25 || December 27, 1987 || @ Sacramento | W 114âÂÂ102 | | | | ARCO Arena | 17âÂÂ8 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 26 | December 30, 1987<br>10:30p.m. EST | @ Seattle | L 105âÂÂ111 | Bird (36) | Bird (15) | Bird (8) | Seattle Center Coliseum<br>14,850 | 17âÂÂ9
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 27 || January 2, 1988 || @ Golden State | W 115âÂÂ110 | | | | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena | 18âÂÂ9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 28 | January 4, 1988<br>9:30p.m. EST | @ Utah | W 107âÂÂ99 | Bird (28) | Parish (10) | Johnson (12) | Salt Palace<br>12,212 | 19âÂÂ9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 29 || January 6, 1988 || New York | W 117âÂÂ108 | | | | Boston Garden | 20âÂÂ9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 30 | January 8, 1988<br>7:30p.m. EST | Washington | W 125âÂÂ109 | Bird (35) | Bird (11) | Johnson (10) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 21âÂÂ9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 31 || January 9, 1988 || @ New York | L 98âÂÂ106 | | | | Madison Square Garden | 21âÂÂ10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 32 | January 12, 1988<br>8:00p.m. EST | @ Chicago | W 104âÂÂ97 | Bird (38) | Parish (16) | Ainge,<br>Minniefield (9) | Chicago Stadium<br>18,676 | 22âÂÂ10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 33 | January 13, 1988<br>7:30p.m. EST | Detroit | W 143âÂÂ105 | McHale (31) | Bird,<br>McHale (7) | Bird (13) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 23âÂÂ10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 34 || January 15, 1988 || Sacramento | W 122âÂÂ86 | | | | Boston Garden | 24âÂÂ10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 35 || January 16, 1988 || @ New Jersey | W 103âÂÂ96 | | | | Brendan Byrne Arena | 25âÂÂ10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 36 || January 18, 1988 || Golden State | W 121âÂÂ101 | | | | Boston Garden | 26âÂÂ10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 37 || January 20, 1988 || Phoenix | W 131âÂÂ115 | | | | Boston Garden | 27âÂÂ10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 38 | January 22, 1988<br>8:00p.m. EST | Atlanta | W 124âÂÂ106 | Bird (25) | Parish (12) | Ainge (11) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 28âÂÂ10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#fcccc" | 39 | January 23, 1988<br>7:30p.m. EST | @ Cleveland | L 100âÂÂ119 | Bird (32) | McHale (17) | Johnson (5) | Richfield Coliseum<br>20,900 | 28âÂÂ11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 40 | January 26, 1988<br>7:30p.m. EST | @ Atlanta | W 102âÂÂ97 | McHale (21) | Parish (14) | Ainge (10) | The Omni<br>16,451 | 29âÂÂ11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 41 | January 27, 1988<br>7:30p.m. EST | Washington | W 106âÂÂ100 | Bird (49) | Parish (12) | Ainge (13) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 30âÂÂ11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 42 | January 29, 1988<br>8:00p.m. EST | @ Detroit | L 108âÂÂ125 | Bird (25) | Bird (11) | Bird (8) | Pontiac Silverdome<br>61,983 | 30âÂÂ12 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 43 || January 31, 1988 || Philadelphia | W 100âÂÂ85 | | | | Boston Garden | 31âÂÂ12
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 44 || February 3, 1988 || Indiana | W 118âÂÂ103 | | | | Boston Garden | 32âÂÂ12 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 45 | February 4, 1988<br>8:30p.m. EST | @ Milwaukee | L 101âÂÂ111 | McHale (25) | Bird (12) | Johnson (6) | MECCA Arena<br>11,052 | 32âÂÂ13 |- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 46 || February 9, 1988 || @ Houston | L 120âÂÂ129 | | | | The Summit | 32âÂÂ14 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 47 || February 10, 1988 || @ San Antonio | W 139âÂÂ120 | | | | HemisFair Arena | 33âÂÂ14 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 48 | February 12, 1988<br>8:30p.m. EST | @ Dallas | W 105âÂÂ104 | Bird (39) | McHale,<br>Parish (15) | Johnson (11) | Reunion Arena<br>17,007 | 34âÂÂ14 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 49 | <br>3:30p.m. EST | @ L.A. Lakers | L 106âÂÂ115 | Bird (25) | Bird (17) | Johnson (10) | The Forum<br>17,505 | 34âÂÂ15 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 50 || February 15, 1988 || @ Phoenix | W 107âÂÂ106 | | | | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 35âÂÂ15 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 51 | February 17, 1988<br>9:30p.m. EST | @ Denver | L 125âÂÂ138 | McHale (33) | McHale (11) | Minniefield (6) | McNichols Sports Arena<br>17,022 | 35âÂÂ16 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 52 || February 19, 1988 || @ Portland | W 124âÂÂ104 | | | | Memorial Coliseum | 36âÂÂ16 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 53 || February 22, 1988 || New York | W 95âÂÂ93 | | | | Hartford Civic Center | 37âÂÂ16 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 54 || February 24, 1988 || Portland | W 113âÂÂ112 | | | | Boston Garden | 38âÂÂ16 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 55 | February 26, 1988<br>7:30p.m. EST | Milwaukee | W 132âÂÂ96 | Bird (32) | McHale (8) | Bird,<br>Johnson (8) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 39âÂÂ16 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 56 | February 28, 1988<br>12Noon EST | @ Detroit | L 101âÂÂ106 | McHale (33) | McHale (11) | Bird (9) | Pontiac Silverdome<br>37,462 | 39âÂÂ17
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 57 | March 1, 1988<br>8:00p.m. EST | @ Milwaukee | L 116âÂÂ117 | Bird (31) | Bird,<br>McHale (7) | Ainge (10) | MECCA Arena<br>11,052 | 39âÂÂ18 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 58 || March 2, 1988 || New Jersey | L 107âÂÂ117 | | | | Boston Garden | 39âÂÂ19 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 59 || March 4, 1988 || L.A. Clippers | W 121âÂÂ90 | | | | Boston Garden | 40âÂÂ19 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 60 | March 6, 1988<br>1:00p.m. EST | Cleveland | W 127âÂÂ98 | Bird (31) | McHale (8) | Ainge,<br>Johnson (6) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 41âÂÂ19 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 61 || March 9, 1988 || San Antonio | W 117âÂÂ116 | | | | Boston Garden | 42âÂÂ19 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 62 || March 11, 1988 || Indiana | W 122âÂÂ112 | | | | Hartford Civic Center | 43âÂÂ19 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 63 | March 13, 1988<br>12Noon EST | Atlanta | W 117âÂÂ100 | Bird (28) | Acres (11) | Johnson (9) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 44âÂÂ19 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 64 || March 15, 1988 || @ Indiana | W 119âÂÂ113 | | | | Market Square Arena | 45âÂÂ19 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 65 | March 18, 1988<br>8:30p.m. EST | @ Chicago | L 103âÂÂ113 | McHale (33) | Bird,<br>McHale (10) | Ainge (9) | Chicago Stadium<br>18,676 | 45âÂÂ20 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 66 | March 20, 1988<br>1:00p.m. EST | Chicago | W 137âÂÂ107 | Bird (33) | McHale (10) | Johnson (10) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 46âÂÂ20 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 67 | March 23, 1988<br>7:30p.m. EST | Washington | W 104âÂÂ89 | Bird (37) | Bird (14) | Bird (8) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 47âÂÂ20 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 68 || March 25, 1988 || Philadelphia | L 93âÂÂ97 | | | | Boston Garden | 47âÂÂ21 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 69 || March 26, 1988 || @ New York | W 118âÂÂ106 | | | | Madison Square Garden | 48âÂÂ21 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 70 || March 28, 1988 || @ New Jersey | W 106âÂÂ105 | | | | Brendan Byrne Arena | 49âÂÂ21 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 71 || March 30, 1988 || Houston | W 117âÂÂ110 | | | | Boston Garden | 50âÂÂ21
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 72 | April 1, 1988<br>8:00p.m. EST | Detroit | W 121âÂÂ110 | Bird (32) | Bird,<br>McHale (11) | Johnson (10) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 51âÂÂ21 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 73 | April 3, 1988<br>1:00p.m. EDT | Dallas | W 110âÂÂ101 | Bird (32) | McHale (7) | McHale (10) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 52âÂÂ21 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 74 || April 8, 1988 || New Jersey | W 127âÂÂ90 | | | | Boston Garden | 53âÂÂ21 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 75 || April 10, 1988 || @ Philadelphia | W 117âÂÂ108 | | | | The Spectrum | 54âÂÂ21 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 76 | April 13, 1988<br>7:30p.m. EDT | Milwaukee | W 123âÂÂ104 | Bird (26) | Bird<br>McHale (10) | Bird (10) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 55âÂÂ21 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 77 | April 15, 1988<br>7:30p.m. EDT | @ Cleveland | L 109âÂÂ120 | Bird (30) | Parish (9) | Bird (8) | Richfield Coliseum<br>20,149 | 55âÂÂ22 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 78 | April 17, 1988<br>3:30p.m. EDT | @ Washington | L 92âÂÂ98 | Bird (23) | Bird (7) | Ainge (9) | Capital Centre<br>18,643 | 55âÂÂ23 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 79 | April 19, 1988<br>7:30p.m. EDT | Detroit | W 121âÂÂ110 | McHale (33) | Parish (12) | Bird (9) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 56âÂÂ23 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 80 | April 21, 1988<br>7:30p.m. EDT | Chicago | W 126âÂÂ119 | Bird (44) | Bird,<br>Parish (10) | Johson (15) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 57âÂÂ23 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 81 | April 22, 1988<br>7:30p.m. EDT | @ Atlanta | L 106âÂÂ133 | Ainge (25) | Parish (7) | Ainge,<br>Johnson,<br>,Parish,<br>Roberts (4) | The Omni<br>16,451 | 57âÂÂ24 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 82 | April 24, 1988<br>3:30p.m. EDT | @ Chicago | L 108âÂÂ115 | Ainge (20) | Acres (9) | Ainge (11) | Chicago Stadium<br>18,636 | 57âÂÂ25
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 || April 29 || New York | W 112âÂÂ92 | McHale, Bird (29) | Robert Parish (13) | Dennis Johnson (9) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 1âÂÂ0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 || May 1 || New York | W 128âÂÂ102 | Larry Bird (36) | Kevin McHale (12) | Dennis Johnson (9) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 2âÂÂ0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 || May 4 || @ New York | L 100âÂÂ109 | Kevin McHale (24) | Robert Parish (11) | Larry Bird (12) | Madison Square Garden<br>19,591 | 2âÂÂ1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 || May 6 || @ New York | W 102âÂÂ94 | Larry Bird (28) | Robert Parish (12) | Dennis Johnson (12) | Madison Square Garden<br>19,591 | 3âÂÂ1 |-
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | May 11, 1988<br>8:30p.m. EDT | Atlanta | W 110âÂÂ101 | Bird (38) | Parish (14) | Ainge (12) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 1âÂÂ0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | May 13, 1988<br>8:00p.m. EDT | Atlanta | W 108âÂÂ97 | McHale (32) | Parish (14) | Johnson (9) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 2âÂÂ0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | May 15, 1988<br>1:00p.m. EDT | @ Atlanta | L 92âÂÂ110 | Bird (22) | Parish (13) | Bird (8) | The Omni<br>16,451 | 2âÂÂ1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | May 16, 1988<br>8:00p.m. EDT | @ Atlanta | L 109âÂÂ118 | Bird (30) | McHale (12) | Johnson (10) | The Omni<br>16,451 | 2âÂÂ2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | May 18, 1988<br>8:00p.m. EDT | Atlanta | L 104âÂÂ112 | Parish (24) | Parish (13) | Johnson (10) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 2âÂÂ3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 6 | May 20, 1988<br>8:00p.m. EDT | @ Atlanta | W 102âÂÂ100 | McHale (26) | Bird (11) | Ainge (14) | The Omni<br>16,451 | 3âÂÂ3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 7 | May 22, 1988<br>1:00p.m. EDT | Atlanta | W 118âÂÂ116 | Bird (34) | McHale (13) | Ainge (10) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 4âÂÂ3 |-
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | May 25, 1988<br>8:00p.m. EDT | Detroit | L 96âÂÂ104 | McHale (31) | Parish (13) | Johnson (10) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 0âÂÂ1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | May 26, 1988<br>8:00p.m. EDT | Detroit | W 119âÂÂ115 (2OT) | Parish (26) | Bird (12) | Johnson (10) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 1âÂÂ1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | May 28, 1988<br>3:30p.m. EDT | @ Detroit | L 94âÂÂ98 | McHale (32) | Bird (11) | Bird (8) | Pontiac Silverdome<br>26,481 | 1âÂÂ2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | May 30, 1988<br>3:00p.m. EDT | @ Detroit | W 79âÂÂ78 | Bird (20) | Bird (10) | Bird,<br>Johnson (6) | Pontiac Silverdome<br>26,625 | 2âÂÂ2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | June 1, 1988<br>8:00p.m. EDT | Detroit | L 96âÂÂ102 (OT) | Bird (27) | Bird (17) | Johnson (8) | Boston Garden<br>14,890 | 2âÂÂ3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 6 | June 3, 1988<br>9:00p.m. EST | @ Detroit | L 90âÂÂ95 | McHale (33) | Bird (14) | Johnson (9) | Pontiac Silverdome<br>38,912 | 2âÂÂ4 |-
The Celtics would end up losing to the Detroit Pistons in the conference finals, as an aging Celtics team was beginning to falter against a younger and fresher Pistons team led by Isiah Thomas. This also marked that franchise's "Bad Boy" era, noted for the team's penchant for fighting and rough, physical play. This would be the first time in five years that the Celtics would not make it to the finals and would not return to another finals until 2008.