2006–07 Boston Celtics season

2006–07 Boston Celtics season
Head coach Doc Rivers
General manager Danny Ainge
Arena TD Banknorth Garden
Results
Record 24–58 (.293)
Place Division: 5th (Atlantic)
Conference: 15th (Eastern)
Playoff finish DNQ

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

Local media
Television FSN New England
Radio WRKO

The 2006–07 Boston Celtics season was the 61st season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Celtics finished 24–58, the second-worst in franchise history after the 15–67 record in 1996–97. It was also the second-worst record in the league in 2006–07, only marginally in front of the Memphis Grizzlies. The season was overshadowed by many injuries, in particular the injury to All-Star Paul Pierce, which caused him to miss seven weeks, and the deaths of Celtic legends Red Auerbach and Dennis Johnson.

Key dates

Summary

Just days before the start of the season, the Celtics were dealt an emotional blow when their patriarch Red Auerbach died at the age of 89. When the season started, the days of Auerbach seemed like a distant memory as the Celtics lost six of their first seven games en route to a 5–13 start. In December, the Celtics improved their play as they embarked on a 5-game winning streak. However, after losing All-Star Paul Pierce to a stress reaction in his left foot on December 20, the Celtics crumbled, winning just 3 of their next 42 games, including a franchise record 18-game losing streak that lasted from January 5 to February 14, and plunging into last place. In between the losing streak, the Celtics lost Tony Allen for the remainder of the season,[1] who tore both the ACL and MCL on January 10.[2]

Adding to the pain was the death of another Celtics legend, Dennis Johnson, who suffered a heart attack on February 22 at the age of 52 while coaching the Celtics NBDL affiliate, the Austin Toros. After Pierce had returned in early February after spending 7 weeks on the injured list, the Celtics played better and won 5 of 6 games in late February and early March. A few weeks later on St. Patrick's Day, the Celtics stunned the eventual NBA champions San Antonio Spurs 91-85 on the road, making it the first time the Celtics won against Tim Duncan, whom they missed out on during the 1997 Draft Lottery.

But nagging injuries would continue to hamper Pierce, who sat out all of April, as the Celtics finished with a horrible 24-58 record that earned them the worst record in the Eastern Conference and 2nd worst record in the league, only marginally in front of the Memphis Grizzlies. Afterwards, the Celtics turned their focus to the draft lottery, where they had good chances of landing a Top 2 pick, allowing them to select either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. However, even the draft lottery came out all wrong for the Celtics as they were assigned the 5th overall selection, which seemed to guarantee another disappointing season.

Draft picks

Main article: 2006 NBA Draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
1 7 Randy Foye (traded to Denver) SG  United States Villanova

Roster

Boston Celtics roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From
SG 42 United States Allen, Tony 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 213 lb (97 kg) Oklahoma State
PF 4 United States Gomes, Ryan 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Providence
SG 5 United States Green, Gerald 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Gulf Shores Academy (TX)
C 7 United States Jefferson, Al 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 256 lb (116 kg) Prentiss HS
C 41 Nigeria Olowokandi, Michael 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 270 lb (122 kg) Pacific
C 43 United States Perkins, Kendrick 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 280 lb (127 kg) CJOHS
SF 34 United States Pierce, Paul (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Kansas
PF 0 United States Powe, Leon 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) UC Berkeley
C 50 United States Ratliff, Theo 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Wyoming
SG 12 United States Ray, Allan 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Villanova
PG 9 United States Rondo, Rajon 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 171 lb (78 kg) Kentucky
PF 44 United States Scalabrine, Brian 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Southern California
PF 55 United States Szczerbiak, Wally 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 244 lb (111 kg) Miami (OH)
PG 30 United States Telfair, Sebastian 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Abraham Lincoln
PG 13 United States West, Delonte 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Saint Joseph's
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Roster • Transactions
Last transaction: 2007-04-14

Regular season

Standings

Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Toronto Raptors 47 35 .573 - 30–11 17–24 11–5
x-New Jersey Nets 41 41 .500 6 24–17 17–24 10–6
Philadelphia 76ers 35 47 .427 12 21–20 14–27 9–7
New York Knicks 33 49 .402 14 19–22 14–27 3–13
Boston Celtics 24 58 .293 23 12–29 12–29 7–9
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Detroit Pistons 53 29 .646 –
2 x-Cleveland Cavaliers 50 32 .610 3
3 y-Toronto Raptors 47 35 .573 6
4 y-Miami Heat 44 38 .537 9
5 x-Chicago Bulls 49 33 .598 4
6 x-New Jersey Nets 41 41 .500 12
7 x-Washington Wizards 41 41 .500 12
8 x-Orlando Magic 40 42 .488 13
9 Philadelphia 76ers 35 47 .427 18
10 Indiana Pacers 35 47 .427 18
11 New York Knicks 33 49 .402 20
12 Charlotte Bobcats 33 49 .402 20
13 Atlanta Hawks 30 52 .366 23
14 Milwaukee Bucks 28 54 .341 25
15 Boston Celtics 24 58 .293 29

Transactions

Trades

June 28, 2006
 To New Orleans Hornets
Theo Ratliff, and 2008 2nd round pick		 To Portland Trail Blazers
Dan Dickau, Raef LaFrentz, and the 7th pick in the 2006 NBA Draft (Randy Foye)
June 28, 2006
 To Boston Celtics
Brian Grant, and the 21st pick in the 2006 NBA Draft (Rajon Rondo)		 To Phoenix Suns
Future 1st round pick
June 28, 2006
 To Detroit Pistons
The 49th pick in the 2006 NBA Draft (Leon Powe)		 To Denver Nuggets
Future 2nd round pick
October 13, 2006
 To Oklahoma City Thunder
Luke Jackson, and cash considerations		 To Indiana Pacers
Dwayne Jones

Free agents

See also

References

  1. ↑ Celtics guard Allen out for season with knee injury
  2. ↑ Tony Allen Interview, May 14, 2007

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.