2008–09 Boston Celtics season 2008–09 Boston Celtics season The 2008–09 Boston Celtics season was the 63rd season of the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They started the season as defending NBA champions, where they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals, winning their seventeenth NBA championship, as well as marking their ninth series victory over the Lakers in the NBA Finals. The Celtics started the season 27–2, which surpassed a mark set by the 1966–67 Philadelphia 76ers for the best two-loss start in NBA history. This run also included a 19-game winning streak, which improved a Celtics franchise
2010–11 Boston Celtics season Conference standings during the All-Star break. However, after center Kendrick Perkins, who was working his way back from a torn ACL in last year's Finals, was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder mid-season, the Celtics then started to play mediocre basketball after the trade, winning just 15 of their final 27 games. Still, they managed a 56–26 record and enter the playoffs as the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference. They swept the New York Knicks, in four games in the first round to advance to the Conference Semifinals where they faced the Miami Heat, the team the Celtics defeated