After 22 years, the NBA has gone green again. The Celtics concluded a crazy rebound of a season with an amazing 131-92 blowout over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 last night. The Celtics won their 17th NBA title and a first one for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, a  Big Three for a new generation. Garnett scored 26 points with 14 rebounds, Allen scored 26 and Pierce, the finals MVP who shook off a sprained right knee sustained in game one. Boston’s 39-point win surpassed the NBA record for the biggest margin of victory in a championship clincher; the Celtics beat the Lakers 129-96 in Game 5 of the 1965 NBA finals.

One of the most legendary rivalries in sports history will be revisited in the 2008 NBA Finals, as the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers go head to head in a best-of-seven series.
The first two games of the series will be played at TD Banknorth Garden, while Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary) will take place at the Staples Center. If the set goes to a sixth and seventh game, Boston would host those games.
This is the eleventh time these franchises will square off in the championship round. Boston has won eight of the 10 previous matchups in the finals. The Celtics defeated the Lakers in 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969 and 1984. However, LA has won the last two meetings as it beat Boston in six games in 1985 and 1987.
Some of the greatest players of all time have participated in this rivalry. Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Bob Cousy, Dennis Johnson, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, Kevin McHale,  and Bill Russell are some of the great Boston players who have been part of the championship battles between these teams, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson,, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West,  and James Worthy were there for the Los Angeles.
Boston is appearing in the NBA Finals for the 20th time and has won 16 titles.
The Celtics had the biggest turnaround in NBA history during the regular season, as they finished a league-best 66-16, a 42-win turnaround from a season ago. They had to fight in rounds one and two, needing seven games to eliminate Atlanta in the quarterfinals and Cleveland in the semifinals.

The Los Angeles Lakers are just one win away from the NBA Finals after sending the San Antonio Spurs to their first home loss of the playoffs. Kobe Bryant collected 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who never trailed once last night and kept it up for a 93-91 victory. Brent Barry missed a contested 3-pointer for the Spurs as time expired. The Lakers have a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals and can advance to the NBA Finals against Boston or Detroit with a home win against the defending champion in Game 5 tomorrow. Tim Duncan had 29 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Spurs, while Tony Parker and Barry took 23 points each. Manu Ginobili, after scoring 30 points in San Antonio’s Game 3 win, was held to 7 points on 2-of-8 shooting.The Lakers have a 7-0 record at the Staples Center during the postseason and hasn’t lost at home in two months.

The Celtics host the Pistons tonight in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. The teams are tied at two games apiece.  Boston is 9-1 at home and 1-7 on the road in this year’s playoffs. Boston has survived two big close calls in the first round and semifinals. They knocked out the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks in seven games in the quarterfinals and hung on to defeat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in an even closer seven-game series. There’s a lot of playoff history between these two teams. Boston defeated the Pistons in the 1968, 1985 and 2002 semis, and also knocked out Detroit in seven games in the 1987 East finals.