The Boston Celtics edged the Los Angeles Lakers 108-102 giving the Celtics a two games lead in the National Basketball Association Finals. The best-of-seven series now heads to Los Angeles, where the Lakers have won eight playoff games in a row, for games Tuesday and Thursday.

The Celtics will try to extend their all-time record of 16 NBA crowns while the Lakers, second on the all-time list with 14, look for their first title since winning three in a row from 2000 to 2002.

Boston defeated the Lakers in their first eight NBA Finals meetings before Los Angeles broke that roll in 1985 and repeated the feat in 1987, their most recent playoff matchup before this latest revival of the NBA’s most legendary rivalry.

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.