On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Head Coach Jimmy Rodgers was fired in that role after unexpectedly dropping a first-round matchup with the New York Knicks in the 1990 NBA Playoffs. Rodgers had joined the Celtics as an assistant coach under Bill Fitch in 1979 and stayed on with the organization after Fitch was let go as head coach in 1983, working under Celtics legend KC Jones, then replacing Jones as head coach upon his resignation in 1988.
Rodgers was dealt a rough hand in his first season with star forward Larry Bird out injured for much of the season. While the first-round exit and poor records are perhaps not up to par for the Celtics teams of old, the franchise inherited by Rodgers was heavily mortgaged in favor of an aging core that probably should have been broken up years earlier.
Rodgers finished with a 94-70 regular-season record, and went 2 and 6 in the postseason, good for .573 and .250 winning percentages, respectively.
It is the birthday of former Celtics guard Keyon Dooling, who was born today in 1980 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Dooling would play his college ball with Missouri and have stints with the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets, and Milwaukee Bucks before being dealt by the latter team to Boston in 2011.
Dooling would play just one season for the Celtics, averaging 4 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.
It is also the birthday of Kemba Walker, who was born today in the Bronx, New York in 1990.
The four-time All-Star would play for the University of Connecticut at the NCAA level and be drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 2011, for whom he played continuously until the summer of 2020 when he joined the Celtics in free agency.
Since joining Boston’s roster, Walker has made an All-Star team — his fourth — and made an Eastern Conference Finals (his first) while averaging 19.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game.
On this day in 2008, the Boston Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 89 – 73 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, taking a 2-0 lead over LeBron James and the Cavs in the series.
Paul Pierce led the team with 19 points and 6 rebounds, Ray Allen added 16 points, and Kevin Garnett had 13 points and 12 boards.
“It was good to see Ray get it going. I thought that lifted everybody up on our team,” said head coach Doc Rivers via ESPN. “I made a concerted effort. I told the coaches at halftime, ‘We’re going to him over and over again. We’ve got to get him going.'”
Forward Leon Powe also had 11 points and 7 rebounds off the bench.
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