The battered and fatigued Celtics - with not only McHale, but also Parish (two sprained ankles) and Ainge (leg injury) playing hurt - then lost to the healthy and refreshed Lakers (who were coming off the easiest path to the finals in modern NBA history) in six games in the 1987 NBA Finals. Off-season surgery on his injured right foot and ankle forced McHale to sit out the first month of the 1987–1988 season. He scored 22 points in 22 minutes of play in his return to the Celtics on December 1, 1987, versus Atlanta. Teammate Danny Ainge once called McHale "The Black Hole of the low post", joking that when the basketball was passed inside to McHale it disappeared because he rarely passed it back out to the perimeter. But in a win over the Dallas Mavericks on April 3, 1988, McHale played the role of passer, distributing a career high 10 assists. The Celtics won 57 games and made their fifth straight appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals. McHale shot 60% from the field and averaged a career playoff-high 25.4 points per game as Boston defeated the Knicks in four games and the Hawks in a seven-game semi-final series. Although the Celtics still claimed the best starting five in the NBA, their lack of depth was a key factor in losing to the Detroit Pistons in six games in the conference final. Head coach K. C. Jones retired at season's end, and the Celtics of the Bird-McHale-Parish era would never again advance past the conference semi-finals. Injuries limited Bird to six games in 1988–89 and the Celtics slipped to 42–40. New head coach Jimmy Rodgers coaxed the team into the playoffs as the Eastern Conference's eighth and final seed behind the play of McHale, Parish and second-year guard Reggie Lewis. The Celtics - without the injured Bird - faced the Pistons in the playoffs for the third straight year. Detroit held McHale to 19 points per game and less than 50 percent shooting from the field. The Pistons swept the Celtics en route to their first NBA championship. The 1989–90 season marked the last time McHale was healthy enough to play in all 82 regular season games for the Celtics, but the season was one of discontent for Boston. Second-year point guard Brian Shaw left the team to play in Europe after a salary dispute, and Bird, returning to the court following his various injuries, was criticized by teammates, including McHale, for taking too many shots and trying to dominate games on his own.