The Celtics lost to the Miami Heat after the resumption of the NBA season.
On this day (Sept. 27), the Boston Celtics were eliminated from the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals by the Miami Heat as part of the NBA Bubble.
The Heat went onto to lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, marking the only title for LeBron James in Los Angeles before he left this offseason to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers.
About the 2020 Celtics
It's hard to believe that this season was already more than a half-decade ago, but the Celtics finished the 2019-20 campaign at 48-24 and as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA season was paused in March and didn't pick up again until July 31 with the resumption of the season in the NBA Bubble at Disney World.
The Celtics played eight regular season games in the Bubble in front of no fans before starting the playoffs. Boston swept through the 76ers in Round 1 before beating the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference semis. They were beaten by the Heat in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals, culminating in the 125-113 elimination loss.
Boston Celtics guard Kemba Walker (8) controls the ball defended by Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) and guard Andre Iguodala (28) during second half in game six of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports--Jayson Tatum led the team in scoring, averaging 23.4 ppg and finishing 12th in the NBA MVP voting.
--Kemba Walker averaged 20.4 ppg and was named an All-Star, though he only played in 56 games because of injury.
--Jaylen Brown, who was just in his age 23 season, averaged 20.3 ppg as well.
--Brad Wannamaker played in 71 games, leading the league in free-throw percentage at 92.6 percent.
--Gordon Hayward (17.5) and Marcus Smart (12.9 ppg) were also big parts of this roster. Smart was named a member of the First-Team All-Defensive Team that season.
--Enes Kanter Freedom, Tacko Ball, Grant Williams and Daniel Theis were all parts of the roster that season.
The fortunate thing
While the Celtics were beaten in the Eastern Conference playoffs that year, they did advance to the NBA Finals in 2021-22 before losing against the Golden State Warriors. A few years later, they won the NBA title for the first time in more than 15 years by beating the Dallas Mavericks.
Up next
The Celtics will hold their media day at training camp on Monday before officially opening up camp on Tuesday.
From that point, they will get ready for the start of the NBA preseason, which is Oct. 8. The Celtics will open up the regular season on Oct. 20 at Detroit.
