2001–02 Boston Celtics season
The 2001–02 NBA season was the 56th season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. This season saw the Celtics select future All-Star Joe Johnson from the University of Arkansas with the tenth pick in the 2001 NBA draft, but later on traded him along with Randy Brown at midseason to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk. The team also signed free agent Erick Strickland during the off-season. The Celtics struggled with a 5–6 start to the season, but then won 12 of their next 14 games, and held a 28–21 record at the All-Star break. They later on posted a 7-game winning streak in March, and won eight of their final nine games finishing second in the Atlantic Division with a 49–33 record, making their first playoff appearance since 1995.
| 2001–02 Boston Celtics season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Jim O'Brien |
| General manager | Chris Wallace |
| Owner(s) | Paul Gaston |
| Arena | Fleet Center |
| Results | |
| Record | 49–33 (.598) |
| Place | Division: 2nd (Atlantic) Conference: 3rd (Eastern) |
| Playoff finish | Eastern Conference finals (lost to Nets 2–4) |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
| Local media | |
| Television | Fox Sports Net New England |
| Radio | WWZN |
Paul Pierce averaged 26.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, while Antoine Walker averaged 22.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and Kenny Anderson provided the team with 9.6 points, 5.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game. In addition, Strickland contributed 7.7 points per game off the bench, and Tony Battie provided with 6.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Pierce and Walker were both selected for the 2002 NBA All-Star Game, which was Pierce's first All-Star appearance.
In the Eastern Conference First Round of the playoffs, the Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in five games, advancing to the second round for the first time since 1992. In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, they lost Game 1 to the 2nd-seeded Detroit Pistons, 96–84 on the road, but managed to defeat them four games to one, reaching the conference finals also for the first time since 1988. In the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics took a 2–1 series lead over the top-seeded New Jersey Nets. However, they would lose to the Nets in six games. The Nets would go on to reach the NBA Finals for the first time, but would lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in four straight games.
Following the season, Anderson was traded along with Vitaly Potapenko to the Seattle SuperSonics, while Rogers signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets, Strickland signed with the Indiana Pacers, and Mark Blount signed with the Denver Nuggets.