the last time the celtics went to the finals was 2002.
when is the last time the celtics went to the finals?
2002
the celtics finished the regular season as the atlantic division champion with a 50–32 record. as the no. 4 seed in the eastern conference, they eliminated the no. 5 seeded miami heat in five games during the first round in the playoffs. then in the conference semifinals, boston defeated the cleveland cavaliers in six games, the earliest that a top seed has been eliminated since the dallas mavericks' first round loss to the golden state warriors in 2007. in the eastern conference finals, the celtics went on to eliminate the orlando magic in six games. in reaching the finals the boston celtics became the first team in nba history to do so with a better regular season road record than home. also, the boston celtics became the second team in nba history to reach the nba finals after beating the team with the best record, cleveland cavaliers, and team with second-best record in the league, orlando magic, after the houston rockets did it in their championship season of 1995.
2010 nba finals
the celtics went 62–20 under coach bill fitch in 1980–81, despite losing center dave cowens to retirement late in training camp. once again the celtics matched up with the 76ers in the eastern conference finals. the celtics fell behind 3 games to 1 before coming back to win a classic 7th game, 91–90. the celtics went on to capture the 1981 nba championship over the houston rockets, just two years after bird had been drafted. maxwell was named nba finals mvp.
history of the boston celtics