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There is no rivalry in the NBA today or in the history of the league for that matter more heated or intense than between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics who only play each other only twice in the regular season.

Over the past decade or so this rivalry between the Lakers and the Celtics has basically been nonexistent as Los Angeles was arguably the most successful team in the league and Boston has been nothing more than a bottom feeder struggling to regain their dominance in the Eastern Conference.

Fortunately, both of these teams were able to rebuild their franchises around Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce and renew their infamous rivalry with another NBA Finals showdown in which the Boston Celtics dominated Phil Jackson’s Los Angeles Lakers.

Last season the Lakers were able to get back on top of the league with an impressive NBA Finals victory over the Orlando Magic and the fourth NBA title in the Kobe Bryant era in Los Angeles.

The Boston Celtics on the other hand were unable to defend their title after suffering from injury problems, mainly a season ending knee injury to Kevin Garnett.

This season both the Lakers and the Celtics are playing like title contenders once again coming into their first matchup of the season in Boston this past Sunday. The Celtics have struggled at times this year trying to get back to form as they have had some injury problems once again with KG and Paul Pierce, but when they are healthy and on their game they are as good as anyone, especially on the defensive side of the floor.

The Celtics had lost two games in a row before defending their home court against their hated rivals and were in need of a big win over the Lakers in order to get back on track. Kobe Bryant and company on the other hand struggled to start their eight game road trip with two losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors, but have been able to get back to their winning ways recently with three straight wins coming into this game.

This game was a big statement game for both teams and basically a must win situation in terms of momentum moving forward, but the Lakers weren’t leaving Boston without coming away with a much needed win.

The Celtics dominated the majority of the game on Sunday being led by point guard Rajon Rondo, but even with a big lead coming into the fourth quarter the Lakers had no intentions of giving up and started to step it up on the defensive end.

With only about eight seconds left in this game, Kobe Bryant was given the chance to put the nail in the coffin being down one point 88-89 with a jumper at the near the free line at the top of the key and that he did while being well guarded by Ray Allen. Even though Kobe hit the go ahead jumper with only about seven seconds remaining, the Celtics still had one more shot and they got a good look with Ray Allen attempting a three, but the score stayed the same at 90-89 and the Lakers went got the victory in dramatic fashion!