There is no more passionate rivalry in NBA history than a Boston Celtics take on the Los Angeles Lakers. In addition, this season there was a peculiarity: This is the first time they collide after the sanctification of the Angelina franchise, which meant that Los Angeles overtook Boston in the championship standings.
The present of both teams found them in a moment of some doubts. The Celtics were looking for a much-needed victory after losing three of their last games, while the Lakers reached TD Garden after failing to beat the Sixers and Pistons. Above, both franchises do not dominate their conferences, being the third in each of them.
LeBron James and company, as usual, started the first quarter with clear intentions to take their service rival ahead and thus took a partial 28-24. The Lakers weren’t happy in the first half, to the point where they could get one maximum 10 points (41-31), although Boston managed to narrow the margin and go to the long rest at three units (52-49).
The Celtics received the message from Brad Stevens at the break and, despite the fact that they were not a team characterized by good quarters, they were the exception. The locals took the lead with a good Jayson Tatum (finished with 30) and they even managed to get a good gap right at the end of the first 36 minutes with 78-71.
In the last quarter came the worst: an injury. Marcus Smart had to leave the pitch in pain, being a major loss for Boston because he is the best defender. The Los Angeles Lakers regained the lead with a triple by LeBron James five minutes from the end in an 8-0 run and, although they suffered until the last ball of the night, they took a 96-95 victory over the Boston Celtics.