Celtics and Lakers Reborn Rivalry Has Only Just Begun

From the writer Greenbanner18 on Hardwood Houdini- a Boston Celtics blog. (Not copied and pasted)

For quite some time, the Celtics / Lakers rivalry was but a thing of the past. Although both Celtics fans never wanted the Lakers to win, and Lakers fans never wanted the Celtics to win, there wasn't any form of extreme despise for the opposition because quite frankly, the matchup was very one sided. For 22 years the Celtics didn't win a championship. Boston fans had to watch as Los Angeles won several during this time span. It is hard to bring to a boil a "rivalry" in which the teams do not play each other in a series, where tempers always flare. Of course, the only way for these two to play in a series is in the NBA Finals. 

All of this changed in the 07-08 season. The Celtics got the players they needed, and were stacked and in pursuit of Banner 17. The only real competition looked like it would come in the Eastern Conference, where the Celtics would have to find their way past the Pistons who were always good enough to make it into the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Lakers and the Celtics met twice, as usual, during the 2007-08 season. Both of these matchups were when the Lakers did not yet have Pau Gasol. The C's rolled over the Lakers with ease. Well, maybe the two sides had swapped places, and now it was LA's turn for a downfall, and Boston's turn for domination. Think again. The Lakers got Gasol late in that season, and that was exactly what they needed to push them atop the Western Conference.

The Celtics magical run was completed after beating the Lakers in 6 games in the 2008 NBA Finals. To add fuel to the fire, last year the two teams met on Christmas Day in a very hyped matchup. In this game the Celtics flopped and the Lakers beat them in every aspect of the game. About a month and a half later, they met up again at the TD Garden for what would be an attempt at redemption for the C's. In an overtime thriller, that included Kobe and Rondo getting into it, Kevin Garnett and Odom exchanging pleasantries, and two teams fighting until the very end, the Lakers walked out with a victory.

Now here we are today. Celtics fans have January 31st at 3:30 PM ET circled on their calender. In fact it has been circled, and circled, and circled, so many times, it is no longer a day, and instead a big ink mark. That represents the day when hopefully all of the Celtics are available to play, when the team can see where they stand against the defending champions.

Assuming both teams stay healthy for the remainder of the year, it looks all but inevitable that the Finals will be yet again, Celtics vs. Lakers. Mixing the terms "Finals" and "Celtics vs. Lakers" gives me goosebumps. For some reason, all I can visualize is a sea of green confetti flying around to the beat of "We Are The Champions".

Anyways, don't get sick of the matchup yet. The Celtics are prepared for years to come. It all began with the resigning of Rajon Rondo this year for 5 more years. Rondo will be the face of the franchise for years to come. His role is slowly changing over to where he is in control of the team. Mix this in with how both KG and Rasheed Wallace are here until the end of the 2012 season, Perkins until the end of the 2011 season, Pierce, as was said earlier this year, is likely to restructure his contract to keep the teams needs above his own, and Ray Allen probably either signing back on or leaving a lot of money to spend open, and you have yourself some good Boston Celtics basketball years to come.

For the Lakers, they have Pau Gasol locked up forever, Kobe ATLEAST until 2011 (but he isn't going anywhere), and Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, and Ron Artest until the end of 2012. Regardless to if they keep all of these players, that is some good trade bait. So the Lakers will be hanging around with a team that will be championship contenders for the foreseeable future as well.

With all of this being said, as amped up as the rivalry is now, it will only get better as the years go on. Both teams are in the spotlight now, and both teams have situated themselves in very good situations for the upcoming years. These are the types of games I like to see. Good, clean hardfouls, and two teams busting it for 48 minutes. Now this, is the NBA at its best.