The 2008 NBA Finals were one of the best Finals to be ever played in the history of the NBA. The Finals were held between 5-19 June between the Eastern Conference winners, Boston Celtics, and the Western Finals winner, Los Angeles Lakers. Boston Celtics won the best of 7 match series with a 4-2 margin in the end. This was Boston’s 17th overall championship and first since the Larry Bird era in 1986. It was also the ninth time the Celtics had defeated the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
First Final between top seeds of both the Conferences since 2000
The top seeds from both conferences met in the Finals for the first time since 2000 in 2008, and no top-seeded club had participated in the NBA Finals since 2003. The Lakers made their record-setting 29th appearance in the Finals and their first since 2004. The Celtics made their second-best 20th appearance in the Finals and their first since 1987.
The Squad overhaul by the Celtics after a poor 2007 season
The “Big 3” of the team, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett, famously served as the captains of the Boston Celtics team that won the title in 2008. Boston had won 24 of their 82 games in the 2006–07 NBA regular season prior to acquiring Allen from the Seattle SuperSonics and Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a historic 7–to-1 player transaction. The All-Star trifecta’s formation in the summer of 2007 gave the revamped Celtics the public’s support as favorites to win the 2008 NBA Finals.
The Two most successful teams in the history of the NBA
The Lakers were in second place with 14 championships, and the Celtics held the record with 16, entering the series. 21 years after their previous Finals matchup in 1987, the two most successful teams in NBA history sought to reignite their long-standing rivalry. In 2002, the Lakers proceeded to the Finals, while the Celtics lost to the New Jersey Nets, who were heavily favored, 4-2, despite holding a 2-1 lead in the Conference Finals. The Celtics and Lakers met in the Finals ten times prior, with the Celtics triumphing in 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, and 1984; the Lakers triumphed in 1985 and 1987. This was the 11th time the teams had met in the final round.
The Finals
The Celtics had a home-court advantage over Los Angeles (57-25) thanks to their 66-16 record. The only other time in the 2000s decade that an Eastern Conference club possessed the home court advantage came in 1997 when the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz to win the title. Additionally, Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan were absent from this NBA Finals series for the first time since 1998 (1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007). (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006).
The Boston Celtics championship season documentary on NBA Entertainment was narrated by Rodd Houston. Kevin Harlan narrates the made-for-TV version of this documentary.
Retribution in 2010 by Lakers
In 2010, the Lakers and Celtics faced off once more, with the Lakers defeating the Celtics in seven games.
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