Celtics–Lakers rivalry
The Celtics–Lakers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics and the Lakers are the two most storied franchises in the NBA, and the rivalry has been called the greatest in the league. The teams have met a record 12 times in the NBA Finals, with their first such meeting being in 1959. They would both go on to dominate the league in the 1960s and 1980s, facing each other in the Finals six times in the 1960s, three times in the 1980s, and twice since the year 2000.
Los Angeles Lakers
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| First meeting | November 9, 1948 Celtics 77, Lakers 55 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | February 1, 2024 Lakers 114, Celtics 105 |
| Next meeting | TBA |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 374 |
| All-time series | 209–165 (BOS) |
| Regular season series | 166–134 (BOS) |
| Postseason results | 43–31 (BOS) |
| Longest win streak | BOS W18 |
| Current win streak | LAL W1 |
| Postseason history | |
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The Lakers and Celtics are tied for the highest number of championships in the NBA at 17 apiece, (12 as the L.A. Lakers and 5 as the Minneapolis Lakers). Together, they account for 34 of the 76 championships (or 45%) in NBA history. As of the 2023 offseason, the Celtics and Lakers have a .5918 and .5915 all-time winning records respectively. As of the end of the 2022–23 season, Boston is the only team with a winning overall record against the Lakers.
The rivalry has been less intense since the retirements of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the early 1990s. In 2008 the two teams met in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1987, with the Celtics winning the series 4–2. They met again in the 2010 NBA Finals, which the Lakers won in 7 games.