Let the games begin!
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics ....took to the hardwood last night......again.....For the 12th time.....Boston leads 9-2 in the championship series.
A quick look at this storied rivalry....From the Los Angeles Daily News:
HISTORY 101: LAKERS VS. CELTICS
By Vincent Bonsignore, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/02/2010 11:49:16 PM PDT
Updated: 06/02/2010 11:49:27 PM PDT
1959: BOSTON CELTICS 4, MINNEAPOLIS LAKERS 0
Memorable moments: Elgin Baylor, then a rookie from Seattle University, took a Lakers team that had gone 19-53 the year before and led them into the playoffs, then into the NBA Finals. But once there, Baylor was neutralized by the Celtics. Boston coach Red Auerbach had Jim Loscutoff start on him; Tommy Heinsohn followed and sixth-man Frank Ramsey cleaned up. After Game 4, the Celtics carried Auerbach and his victory cigar off the court, celebrating what was the first sweep in the history of the NBA Finals.
1962: CELTICS 4, LAKERS 3
Memorable moments: With the series tied, 2-2, Baylor scored 61points - then a playoff record - as the Lakers won in Boston and moved within one victory of slaying the Celtics. "We'll win it now," Lakers coach Fred Schaus said. Sorry, Fred. In Game 6, the Celtics' Sam Jones scored 35points as Boston won by 14 in Los Angeles. For Game 7, PFC Elgin Baylor, an Army reservist, was granted a second special pass from Seattle's Fort Lewis to play. He scored 41 points, Jerry West added 35 and the Celtics had big foul trouble. The Lakers' Frank Selvy took a jumper at the end of regulation that would have won it. The ball rimmed out. The Celtics prevailed by three points in overtime. Bill Russell had 30points and 40rebounds.
1963: CELTICS 4, LAKERS 2
Memorable moments: The Lakers lost Game 4 in Los Angeles to trail the series,
3-1, and the focus afterward was on one play. With 5 1/2 minutes left and the Lakers down by five, Baylor collided inside with Russell. He hit a short hook shot on the play, but referee Richie Powers called Baylor for an offensive foul. It sapped the steam from the Lakers. Baylor finished with 31 points and 19 rebounds. Heinsohn countered with 35 points. The Lakers fought off elimination in Game 5, with Baylor's 43 points, but Boston won Game 6 on the road. "Los Angeles isn't the basketball capital of the world yet," Auerbach gloated afterward.
1965: CELTICS 4, LAKERS 1
Memorable moments: With Baylor out for the series with a broken kneecap, Boston won the opener at home by 32 points - scoring 142 points, topping their own record by two. The Lakers won the third game but in Game4, Sam Jones had 37 points for the Celtics, who took a 13-point win and a 3-1 series lead. Back in the Garden for Game 5, West had 33 points. But Boston opened the fourth quarter with 10straight field goals and held L.A. scoreless for five minutes. The Celtics won by 33. Russell had 22points and 30rebounds.
1966: CELTICS 4, LAKERS 3
Memorable moments: West had 41 points and Baylor had 36 in the Lakers' Game 1 victory, but the Celtics won the next three games. The Lakers rebounded and won Game 5 when West broke a 115-all tie on a jumper with 35 seconds left. The Lakers then forced a seventh game with an eight-point victory at home, but in the decisive game in Boston the Celtics won their eighth consecutive title. Down by 16 points entering the fourth quarter, the Lakers outscored Boston, 33-19, in the final 12 minutes but it wasn't enough. West had 36 points, but Russell created his usual havoc with 25 points and 32 rebounds.
1968: CELTICS 4, LAKERS 2
Memorable moments: The Lakers evened the series with a Game 4 victory in Los Angeles. West scored 38 points, but he left with 44 seconds to go after spraining his ankle in a collision with John Havlicek. Don Nelson, who had been waived by the Lakers in 1965, scored 26 points to help Boston to a 120-117 OT win in Game5. Boston won Game 6 in L.A., in a rout. West, limping up and down court, scored 22 points. Havlicek had 40 points for the Celtics, who led by as many as 21points in the fourth quarter before settling for a 15-point victory.
1969: CELTICS 4, LAKERS 3 Memorable moments: The Lakers put themselves on the verge of a championship with a Game 5 victory in Los Angeles. They took advantage of Russell (seven points, 13 boards) being in foul trouble in the second half. West had 28 of his 39 points in the second half, but he pulled a hamstring late in the game, which would hurt the Lakers later on. Wilt Chamberlain had 31rebounds. The Lakers lost Game6 by nine points but, anticipating the end of the Celtics' hex in Game 7, Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had balloons tied to the Forum's rafters and arranged for the USC marching band to play "Happy Days Are Here Again." The band was never needed. In the third quarter, the Lakers missed 15 straight field goals as Boston took a 91-76 lead and cruised to victory. "What are they going to do with all those ... balloons now?" Auerbach said. "And all that champagne?"
1984: CELTICS 4, LAKERS 3
Memorable moments: After missing a great chance to win Game 2 in overtime and take a 2-0 series lead, the Lakers won Game3, 137-104, Boston's worst Finals defeat ever. Larry Bird called his teammates "sissies." The Celtics evened the series in Game 4 in overtime in a game best remembered for Cedric Maxwell making a choking gesture as Worthy shot free throws in OT and for Kevin McHale's clothesline tackle of Kurt Rambis. That play inspired the "McHale Rule," protecting players from flagrant fouls. Returning to Boston for Game 5 with the series tied, the Lakers felt the heat, literally. It was 97 degrees in the Garden at game time. Larry Bird scored 34 points in the Boston victory. The Celtics, leading Game 6 by 11 in the third quarter, started celebrating too early. Rookie Byron Scott came off the bench and scored 11 points in 17 minutes, including a 3-pointer with 6:37 left that broke a 93-93 tie and helped the Lakers to a 119-106 victory. Trailing by 13points going into the fourth quarter of Game 7, the Lakers pulled within three but lost, 111-102.
1985: LAKERS 4, CELTICS 2
Memorable moments: In what became known as the "Memorial Day Massacre," the Celtics took a 30-point halftime lead and whipped the Lakers at the Garden in Game1, 148-114. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had been held to 12 points and three rebounds in the opener, led the Lakers back in Game 2 with 30points, 17 rebounds, eight assists and three blocked shots. The teams split the first two games at the Forum to even the series, 2-2. The Lakers led Game 5 by 18 points early in the second half, saw their lead cut to four but held on to win. The Celtics' mystique officially ended two days later in Boston. The Lakers won their fourth NBA title, their first from Boston, with a 111-100 win at the Garden. "The victory is sweeter now because we've broken the stranglehold, the dynasty on us," Lakers coach Pat Riley said. "There comes a time when you have to plant your feet firmly, take a stand and kick some butt. That's what we did."
1987: LAKERS 4, CELTICS 2
Memorable moments: Everything went the Lakers' way during the first two games at the Forum. Johnson had 29 points, 13assists, eight rebounds and zero turnovers in Game 1 and Abdul-Jabbar had 23points in the Lakers' Game 2 rout. Larry Bird scored 30 points to give the Celtics some life in the series with a Game3 victory, and Boston led by as many as 16 points in Game 4 before the Lakers rallied. In the closing seconds, the Lakers trailed by one but Johnson made what he called a "junior, junior, junior skyhook" over the fingertips of Robert Parish and the Lakers won, 107-106, to take a 3-1 series lead. Boston stayed alive with a 15-point Game 5 victory but the Lakers closed out the series in Game 6 in L.A. Abdul-Jabbar had 32 points and Johnson wrapped up the Finals MVP award with 16points, 19 assists and eightrebounds.
2008: CELTICS 4, LAKERS 2
Memorable moments: For the first time in 21 years, the Lakers and Celtics were back in the Finals together, but nothing defined this matchup more than the deciding Game 6, in which the Celtics laid a 131-92 whipping on the Lakers to win their 17th NBA title. The Celtics, who added All-Stars Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to assist Paul Pierce during the offseason, led by as many as 43 points in the game, their toughness and experience overwhelming the Lakers, whose run to the Finals was spurred by the addition of Pau Gasol in a midseason trade with Memphis.
Pierce was named MVP of the series while Ray Allen tied a single-game record for 3-pointers made in the clincher with seven, in the process breaking the record for 3-pointers made in a NBA Finals series with 22. The 39-point differential in Game 6 was the largest in a clinching game in NBA Finals history and the second largest for any Finals game.
- Vincent Bonsignore
