10 Greatest Celtics/Lakers Games Of All Time...

[WilliamPitt]

...according to Bob Ryan:

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/gallery/06_02_08_celtics_lakers_top_10/

Pretty cool stuff.

[SpiralHawk]

1. Misty-colored mem-mories...in the corners of my mind...

Soon to be replaced with current reality.

Bring it on.

Thanks, Will. That was fun...

[SpiralHawk]

2. Las Vegas opines on 2008 NBA championship

...Unlike the 2-2-1-1-1 format we all had in the 2008 NBA Playoffs, things get a little different in the championship series. For the title, teams will only have to travel twice using the 2-3-2 setup. That means, the first two games will be played in Boston before it shifts to Los Angeles for the next THREE. And with all the struggles the Celtics had away from Boston, this arrangement clearly favors the Lakers.

Can you imagine if the Lakers won all three games in Los Angeles after dropping the first two in Boston and just be a win away from the title? With closers like Phil Jackson and of course, Kobe Bryant, on this team, denying them will just be hard.

...Who will win Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals between Boston and L.A.? Bodog sportsbook has the odds.

Los Angeles Lakers +2.5

Boston Celtics -2.5

http://www.oddjack.com/2008/boston-celtics-v-los-angeles-lakers-in-2008-nba-finals-06-03.php

[Mabus]

3. I knew I loved my boyfriend (now husband) when

the first day our cable got turned on we both wanted to watch ESPNClassic which was showing some Cetic/Lakers games. Okay, we didn't really realize it at first. I was watching the games in our bedroom and he was off in another part of the house with another television. During a commercial break he came into the bedroom to see what I was watching (and to make sure I wouldn't interrupt him in the other room). His ex-wife didn't like him watching sports and I had had the same problem with previous boyfriends.

When he walked in the room, my first thought was, "omigod, the jig is up. He'll find out that I'm a rabid basketball fanatic and think I'm weird." Instead, he was relieved. We watched together, shared our memories of our favorite games/series and have been cheering on our favorite teams together ever since. I'm so lucky. We're compatible on almost every team and sport. He's one of the few guys I know that likes basketball, boxing, Ninja Warrior, sumo wrestling, track & field and college football. It's an odd combination but, hey, that's the way we are and we like it.

Thanks for the link. I'll show it to him when he's feeling well enough to appreciate it.

Let's go Celtics!

[companionnow]

4. Those days will never return

The greatest rivalry in sports.

[maxpower]

5. The Bulls run was more impressive in my opinion

The quality of play and players in the NBA was far and away more impressive than those of the 60's 70's and 80's. I don't want to stir the pot, but put MJ against the players from those era's and there is not debate. Mr. Pitt I am loathe to question you but let's give credit where credit is due.





Edit for spelling

[bluescribbler]

6. Sorry, no

When Bill Russell and his teammates were making their run, there were only ten teams in the league. That meant that, no matter how a team finished, they were guaranteed to get one of the ten best college players in the draft. Now there are thirty two teams. Do you believe that there are thirty two players of that quality in the draft each year? I don't. Expansion has so diluted NBA talent that teams like the Nicks, the Heat and the Clippers are jokes. They would be minor league in Europe.

Michael Jordan was a great player, and Scottie Pippen played hard every night, but overall, Russell and Chamberlain were surrounded by much better talent on their respective teams.

[SpiralHawk]

7. Ahh, the Bulls were not part of the Celtics-Lakers showdowns

So it seems your imaginary hypothetical is altogether irrelevant to this thread which is explicitly about the rivalry between the Celtics and the Lakers.

Otherwise, we might spend our time wondering whether Jim Thorpe could win a Gold Medal in China later this year.

[WilliamPitt]

8. I watched every season of their era of dominance

And I'd be hard-pressed to say the Celts were better.

Call it a tie...especially the 1986 Celtics. Just a machine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_NBA_Finals

But you have to see it:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=1986+celtics+finals&search_type=&aq=f

...'86 was the year Jordan came in to the Garden and dropped 63 points...in a losing effort.

I was at that game.

I was at game 1 of the '84 Finals against the Lakers...

...and I was at game 7 of those '84 Finals, which is my greatest memory of the Garden, of watching basketball, only topped by the day I met Muhammad Ali when I was 7 years old. Epic.

[bluescribbler]

10. I have three great memories of the Celts at the Gahden

1. January 17, 1963. My 12th birthday. Dad took me and a friend to my first ever Celtics game. Russell, Cooz, Heinsohn, et.al., beat the New York Nickerbockers, (as they were called then).

2. Winter, 1968. Don't remember the exact date, but it was Celtics vs. Lakers. Russell, et. al., vs. Chamberlain, et. al. Celtics won, 87-82.

3. Winter, 1986. Celtics vs. Pistons. Mrs. and I had obstructed view seats. We could only see half of the court, due to the balcony overhang. Kevin McHale dropped 56 points on the Pistons for a short lived Celtics record. Larry scored 60 on Atlanta less than two weeks later.

My pick for the all time greatest Celtics/Lakers game would have to be Game 7, 1969. The Celtics were clear underdogs that day, having snuck into the playoffs as the 4th seed. Russ was old, as was Sam Jones. The Lakers had been a juggernaut all season and it was only Sam's last second shot in Game 4 which made Game 7 possible. All the "experts" were predicting a Lakers victory.

I was at Radar School at Great Lakes Naval Training Center. The TV room at the barracks was packed with about 40 men. Two of us were rooting for the Celtics. One man was undecided. He became a fan after that game.

[wilt the stilt]

9. Gee almost all of Ryan's picks were Celtic victories

First off, the Lakers were better than the Celtics in the eighties. Just a fact. Those two teams were perhaps the two finest teams to ever play. They were better than the Bulls of the nineties. Jordan was and is the greatest to ever play. I have been watching since the sixties and even saw the famous Havlicek steal live. That being said I think that the Lakers are going to win and the 3 point line sucks

[bluescribbler]

11. Simple reason for that

More Celtics victories.

[SpiralHawk]

12. listen to mp3 Johnny Most's "Havlicek stole the ball. It's all over."

http://www.nba.com/encyclopedia/moments/60moments_top10_havlicekstoletheball.html

It is the most famous radio call in basketball history, hoops' equivalent to Russ Hodges' famed "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" from baseball's 1951 National League playoffs. There simply is nothing like the gravelly tones of the late Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most describing the closing seconds of Game 7 of the 1965 Eastern Conference Finals between the defending champion Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers.

First, to set the scene: The Celtics' lead had shriveled to 110-109, and Philadelphia regained possession with five seconds left after an inbounds pass attempt by Boston's Bill Russell hit one of the wires that ran down from the ceiling of Boston Garden and helped support the baskets in those days.

Hall of Fame guard Hal Greer prepared to toss the ball inbounds under his own basket. The logical target seemed to be massive Wilt Chamberlain in the low post, but Russell fronted Chamberlain and took away that option. K.C. Jones, guarding Greer, leaped along the baseline and frantically waved his arms to distract him as the five seconds ticked away.

To get a better view of the court, Greer jumped up and spotted high-scoring forward Chet Walker, seemingly open beyond the key. But Boston's John Havlicek had taken a position several feet off the direct line between Greer and Walker, making it look like Walker was open when he really wasn't. After counting off a couple of seconds in his head, Havlicek sneaked a peek over his shoulder at Greer just as he prepared to release the ball. He moved into the passing lane ... but let Most tell it:

"Greer is putting the ball into play. He gets it out deep," Most intones, before his voices rises into a frenzy. "Havlicek steals it. Over to Sam Jones. Havlicek stole the ball! It's all over! Johnny Havlicek stole the ball!"

[Iggo]

13. Ryan's a homer.

Let's go LAKERS!!!!!