[1] With Larry Bird returning after only playing just six games in the 1988–89 season due to heel injuries,[2][3][4][5] and with last year's first round draft pick Brian Shaw leaving the team to play overseas in Italy,[6][7][8] the Celtics struggled around .500 during the first month of the season, but would win 11 of their next 15 games, holding a 28–18 record at the All-Star break,[9] finishing second in the Atlantic Division with a solid 52–30 record.
[11] Bird led the way averaging 24.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game, while being named to the All-NBA Second Team, while sixth man Kevin McHale averaged 20.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game, while being named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and Robert Parish provided the team with 15.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
[16] In the Eastern Conference First Round of the playoffs, the Celtics looked ready to make a serious run as they jumped out to a 2–0 series lead over the 5th-seeded New York Knicks, with a 157–128 home win in Game 2, which was a playoff record of the most points scored in a game.
[29][30][31] Larry Bird, the Celtics star player, was coming back after surgery to both heels the previous season and later said he never felt the same.
During the playoffs against the Knicks that year, the Celtics quickly took the first 2 games of the series, but the New York Knicks would come back and rally to win 3 games in a row, sending the Celtics home.