NBA Basketball Odds: Betting on the Boston Celtics and L.A. Lakers

The Return of the Rivalry?
“There is no relationship that isn't a Celtics-Lakers relationship... This is how I have come to make every decision in my life: I suss out the Celtics and Lakers dynamic in any given scenario, and then I go with Larry. I'm a Celtic Person; for me, life is simple." - Chuck Klosterman

April 14, 2008

By Jason Brough
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

It was 1987 the last time the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers faced each other in the NBA finals. The guys in gold came away with a six-game victory that year, the same one that featured Ronald Reagan telling Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall and, equally important, The Simpsons first appearing on The Tracy Ullman Show.

Before 1987, the two teams met on nine separate occasions to decide the basketball champion of the world, including an amazing six times in the 1960s.

Since 1987, however, the once-heated (and that's an understatement) Lakers-Celtics rivalry has ground almost to a halt. Mind you, Los Angeles kept rolling until only recently, winning five titles between 1988 and 2002. It was the guys in green that fell off most dramatically. Between 1994 and 2001, Boston only made the playoffs once. The last three seasons have been playoff-free as well.

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