Lakers-Celtics Rivalry

The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers have met twelve times in the NBA Finals between 1959 and 2010, making it the most frequent championship matchup in NBA history. The Celtics hold a 9-3 advantage in those head-to-head Finals series. Their most recent Finals meeting was in 2010, when the Lakers won in seven games.

The rivalry peaked during the 1980s, defined primarily by the confrontation between the Lakers' Magic Johnson and the Celtics' Larry Bird, who had first faced each other in the 1979 NCAA Championship game. The Lakers, led by coach Pat Riley and featuring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, met the Celtics, coached by K.C. Jones and featuring Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, three times in the Finals during the decade.

The Lakers defeated the Celtics in seven games in the 2010 NBA Finals, with Kobe Bryant earning Finals MVP honors and Ron Artest hitting a clutch three-pointer in the decisive Game 7. This was the Lakers' first Finals victory over the Celtics since the 1980s, and it evened the decade's head-to-head at 2-2 after Boston's 2008 victory over Los Angeles. It remains the most recent Finals meeting between the two franchises.

The rivalry began when the Lakers were still based in Minneapolis, with the first Finals meeting occurring in 1959 when the Celtics swept the Lakers. The rivalry intensified dramatically after the Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960, with the teams meeting six times in the Finals during the 1960s alone. Boston won all six of those 1960s matchups, with the rivalry defined by Bill Russell's dominance over Elgin Baylor and Jerry West.