The last time the Boston Celtics won an NBA Championship title was in 2008, at that time they won the NBA Finals 4-2 against the Los Angeles Lakers (Phil Jackson). But two years later the Lakers would take revenge and won in 2010 in seven games.
The weakness of the Boston Celtics during the 2022 NBA Finals was obvious, they suffered with poor ball possession that was taken advantage of by the Golden State Warriors. But in the end the Celtics were disappointing after a strong conference series against the Miami Heat.
Losing at home is one of the worst things that can happen to a franchise, humiliation at home damages the players reputation in front of their fans. But the Celtics could not do anything to stop Warriors’s offense power, which was not really the best of the season.
When was the first time the Celtics lost an NBA Championship at home?
In 1985 the Celtics (Larry Bird playing) lost against the Los Angeles Lakers in six games, the last game was on June 9 of that year and the Lakers won 111-100 at Boston to close the series 4-2. During that round the Celtics won just one of three games at home.
| Game | Date | Road team | Result | Home team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | May 27 | Los Angeles Lakers | 114–148 (0–1) | Boston Celtics |
| Game 2 | May 30 | Los Angeles Lakers | 109–102 (1–1) | Boston Celtics |
| Game 3 | June 2 | Boston Celtics | 111–136 (1–2) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 4 | June 5 | Boston Celtics | 107–105 (2–2) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 5 | June 7 | Boston Celtics | 111–120 (2–3) | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Game 6 | June 9 | Los Angeles Lakers | 111–100 (4–2) | Boston Celtics |
The loss against the Warriors is the second time they lost a final at home, but the difference from 1985 is that this time the Celtics’ offense was much weaker with multiple games where the team scored less than 100 points.
| Game | Date | Road team | Result | Home team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | June 2 | Boston Celtics | 120–108 (1–0) | Golden State Warriors |
| Game 2 | June 5 | Boston Celtics | 88–107 (1–1) | Golden State Warriors |
| Game 3 | June 8 | Golden State Warriors | 100–116 (1–2) | Boston Celtics |
| Game 4 | June 10 | Golden State Warriors | 107–97 (2–2) | Boston Celtics |
| Game 5 | June 13 | Boston Celtics | 94–104 (2–3) | Golden State Warriors |
| Game 6 | June 16 | Golden State Warriors | 103–90 (4–2) | Boston Celtics |