Familiar Foes: Naming the Best Celtics-Lakers Finals of All-Time

Barring an unforeseen collapse by either the Boston Celtics or the Los Angeles Lakers, we are on the precipice of witnessing the 12th Lakers-Celtics matchup in NBA history (And our second in three years). To put that in perspective, another Boston-LA Finals would break a tie with the Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees for the most common championship matchup in our four major sports. And baseball has been around forever. In fact, I'm pretty sure John Wilkes Booth played third base for the Yankees in one of those World Series'. Jokes aside, Celtics-Lakers is arguably the greatest rivalry in professional sports history and is definitively the greatest rivalry in NBA history. But then you look at the actual history and you have to begin to wonder how much of a true rivalry actually exists: Boston holds a 9-2 edge in NBA Finals matchups. Even though most of those victories were during the Russell area, anytime someone beats you nine times out of 11, that's not a rivalry. It's a beat-down. Nonetheless, it's absolutely staggering how many times these two franchises have faced off. It's also awe-inspiring when you take a look at the amount of Hall-of-Famers that stepped on the court for every Lakers-Celtics Finals. But, the greatest thing about the Celtics-Lakers rivalry is the hatred Celtics fans feel toward the Lakers, and vice versa. So, while we're on the verge of yet another Lakers-Celtics Finals, I figured it was time that we take a look back on the 11 and remember their greatness. And, because I'm a curmudgeon for hard work, rank them. Enjoy.Begin Slideshow

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