It started when the Celtics and Lakers faced each other in the 1959 NBA Finals: in just four games, the Lakers lost to the Celtics. From 1962 to 1969, the teams faced off six times in the finals, with the Celtics winning each game, asserting their dominance against the Lakers and establishing a rivalry
The Celtics and the Lakers faced each other on Feb. 22 at the Crypto.com Arena and the question people are wondering is: What did the Lakers do to lose against their biggest rival?
Boston Celtics are second in their conference, best in the east, and have star players including Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. The Celtics have a 37-19 record for this season, making a power dynamic that guarantees the win for them.
The Los Angeles Lakers, albeit overrated, are fifth in their division. While not holding first, they have their own set of players that make them special: Luka Dončić, LeBron James and Austin Reeves. The Lakers have their record as the best franchise during the Shaq and Kobe era, but did they recover?
While reports of James wanting to become a free agent and signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers are surfacing on the internet, James has been with the Lakers for eight seasons, and suppressed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record of 38,387 on Feb. 7, 2023 during his time at the Lakers.
Dončić has put in the same amount of energy as he did when he was on the Dallas Mavericks. Having suffered from more injuries in his later months during his full season and receiving a mild hamstring strain on Feb. 5 against the Philadelphia 76’ers, Dončić was later seen playing at the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 15 with his team, the World, but was not seen for the third game against the Stripes.
Brown had 32 points, eight rebounds, seven assists for this game alone, He is a great defensive player who can score, and became the primary leader while Taytum has been away, leading the team into a 37-19 record during the 2025-26 season.
The Celtics have great defense and a great all-star leader that has led the team to winning almost every single time, but do the Lakers have a chance to gain dominance against the Celtics? James isn’t leading in any category compared to Dončić who leads in assists, points and steals.
James has to start putting the energy to defeat his competition. The Lakers already do a lot on the court, they know how to move the ball to the best of their ability, but can they navigate to a win?
The Lakers didn’t achieve this goal, this game was a slap in the face for the Lakers franchise, this game and the Dec. 5 game with their biggest rival shows that Boston did not only have an advantage against Los Angeles, but a dominance.
This has meaning, not that Boston is better overall, but Boston has an easy road to the NBA Playoffs and Finals. This loss makes Los Angeles’ journey to the Finals a slim one and a wake up call for the Lakers.
