The 2010 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2009–10 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs, held from June 3 to 17, 2010. A best-of-seven playoff series, it was contested between the Western Conference champion and defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. It was their twelfth Finals meeting overall, and their most recent to date.
The Lakers earned home court advantage for finishing the regular season with a better record. After the Lakers won the opening game at home, the Celtics led 3–2 entering Game 6 before the Lakers won the next two games. Kobe Bryant was named the Most Valuable Player of the Finals for the second consecutive year.
This was the only Finals in the 2010s that didn't feature the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, or the Golden State Warriors.
Background
The Lakers had won the previous season's NBA Finals against the Orlando Magic for the franchise's 15th championship. The Celtics won their previous NBA Finals appearance against the Lakers in 2008. This was the 12th Finals played between the two rival teams. The Celtics won nine of their previous 11 Finals meetings against the Lakers, winning in , , , , , , , , and , while the Lakers won in and .
2010 NBA playoffs
Los Angeles Lakers (Western Conference champion) Boston Celtics (Eastern Conference champion)1st seed in the West, 3rd best league recordRegular season4th seed in the East, 9th best league recordDefeated the (8) Oklahoma City Thunder, 4–2First roundDefeated the (5) Miami Heat, 4–1Defeated the (5) Utah Jazz, 4–0Conference semifinalsDefeated the (1) Cleveland Cavaliers, 4–2Defeated the (3) Phoenix Suns, 4–2Conference finalsDefeated the (2) Orlando Magic, 4–2
Regular-season series The regular season series was split, with each team winning on the opponent's court by a point:
In their January 31, 2010 match-up at TD Garden, Kobe Bryant sank a jumpshot over Ray Allen with 7.3 seconds left to give the Lakers third consecutive victory over the Celtics. That streak would be snapped in their next meeting on February 18, 2010. Without Bryant, who was missing his fourth straight game, the Lakers lost at Staples Center when Derek Fisher missed a fadeaway 21-footer as time expired, giving Boston the 87–86 win. After Fisher's miss, Kevin Garnett drew the ire of Lakers fans for exuberantly throwing his wristband into the crowd. The evenly matched games in the regular season was a sign of things to come in the 2010 Finals, with five of the seven games being decided by nine points or less.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics finished the regular season as the Atlantic Division champion with a 50–32 record. As the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, they eliminated the No. 5 seeded Miami Heat in five games during the first round of the playoffs. Then in the conference semifinals, the Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games, the earliest that a top seed has been eliminated since the Dallas Mavericks' first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors in 2007. In the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics went on to eliminate the Orlando Magic in six games. In reaching the Finals, the Celtics became the first team in NBA history to do so with a better regular season road record than home. The Celtics became the second team in NBA history to reach the NBA Finals after beating the team with the best record, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the team with the second-best record in the league, Orlando Magic, after the Houston Rockets did it in their championship season of 1995.
Los Angeles Lakers
After the Lakers won the Finals in the preceding year, the team management made changes to the roster. Trevor Ariza departed to the Houston Rockets and was replaced by free agent Ron Artest. Assistant coach and former head coach Kurt Rambis moved to a head coaching position with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers finished the regular season as the Pacific Division champion, compiling a 57–25 record. On February 1, Bryant moved past Jerry West into 14th place on the NBA's career scoring list. He also moved past West to become the Lakers franchise scoring leader.
As the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, they eliminated the No. 8 seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in six games during the Western Conference first round playoffs, with the final game ending when Bryant missed a jumper and Pau Gasol grabbed the offensive rebound to shoot a layup and win the game. In the Western Conference semifinals, the Lakers won against the Utah Jazz in four games, leading the team to their third straight Western Conference final. In the Western Conference finals against the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers won both of their first two games at home, and lost the next two in Phoenix both by 9 points. In Game 5, Ron Artest made an off-balance layup to beat the buzzer off a Bryant missed shot for the Lakers to win. The Lakers beat the Suns on their home floor in Game 6 led by Bryant's 37 points. The Game 6 victory gave the Lakers their 31st NBA Finals appearance in franchise history. The team also earned their third straight consecutive appearance in the Finals, with the last team to achieve such a feat being the 2000–2002 Lakers.
Series summary Game Date Road team Result Home team Game 1 June 3 Boston Celtics 89–102 (0–1) Los Angeles Lakers Game 2 June 6 Boston Celtics 103–94 (1–1) Los Angeles Lakers Game 3 June 8 Los Angeles Lakers 91–84 (2–1) Boston Celtics Game 4 June 10 Los Angeles Lakers 89–96 (2–2) Boston Celtics Game 5 June 13 Los Angeles Lakers 86–92 (2–3) Boston Celtics Game 6 June 15 Boston Celtics 67–89 (3–3) Los Angeles Lakers Game 7 June 17 Boston Celtics 79–83 (3–4) Los Angeles Lakers
Game summaries
All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4). If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.
Game 1
Both teams started strong, playing a close game for most of the 1st quarter until a 7–2 Lakers run inspired by bench players Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown to end the quarter. The Celtics again started the 2nd quarter strong. However, the Lakers managed to extend the lead 50–41 at the end of the first half with another run led by Ron Artest and Gasol. More of the same came in the 3rd quarter, as the Lakers matched nearly all of the Celtics' attempts to get back in the game. To end the 3rd quarter, the Lakers went on a 15–4 run to give them a 20-point lead going into the 4th quarter. While the Celtics would try to get back into the game with Nate Robinson and 2008 Finals MVP Paul Pierce, they never got closer than 11 points. The game was capped off with a three-pointer by Bryant with 3.6 seconds left, securing his 10th 30-point game in his last 11. The Celtics were outplayed by the Lakers in nearly every statistical category, in rebounding (31–42) and in second-chance points (0–16). Much of the Celtics' performance came from Kevin Garnett, who finished with 16 points (on 16 shots) and 2 rebounds. Ray Allen, who was hampered by foul trouble, finished with 12 points and 5 personal fouls.
Game 2
The Celtics came out much more aggressively to begin Game 2. The Lakers fought back (Gasol had nine points in the quarter) and managed to reduce the Celtic's lead to seven points at the end of the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter, Ray Allen hit an impressive five three-pointers (only missing once) to add to the two that he hit in the first quarter. This explosive offensive output pushed the Celtics forward and allowed them to lead by as many as 14 points. Bryant and the Lakers put up a quick 7–0 run to end the first half to cut it to a 54–48 Celtics' lead. Foul trouble plagued players of both squads, with many players having three fouls going into the break. The Lakers would continue their attack and managed to take the lead 57–56 early in the 3rd. Both teams fought hard, leading to the 72–72 tie going into the 4th. The final quarter was dominated by the Celtics, though, as Rajon Rondo's 10 points in the quarter helped tie the series 1–1. Rondo finished with an impressive triple-double of 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and Allen hit eight of 11 three-pointers, breaking a Finals record previously set by the Houston Rockets’ Kenny Smith during Game 1 of the 1995 NBA Finals.
The last Finals series to be tied at 1–1 after two games was the 2004 NBA Finals which involved the Lakers and the Detroit Pistons.
Game 3
Prior to the starting lineups being announced, singer Monica performed the national anthem. Kevin Garnett scored the first six points of the game to give the Celtics a 6–0 lead and eventually helped the team to a seven-point lead (12–5) early in the first quarter. Following the first full timeout of the game, the Lakers scored 13 straight points thanks in part to free throws by Bryant and Gasol. After the score was tied at 16–16, the Lakers outscored the Celtics 10–1 for the remainder of the first quarter.
The Lakers' 32–8 run continued well into the second quarter when Bryant completed a free throw after being fouled by forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis en route to making a layup 43 seconds into the game. Further helping to widen the gap was Shannon Brown who made a 20-foot jumper from a Lamar Odom assist. Odom, Farmar, and Bynum also made shots to widen the score to 17 points above the Celtics. The Celtics would soon create their own comeback with an 11–4 run before the Lakers called for a full timeout. Bryant made jumper on a Gasol assist while Pierce shot another three-pointer on a Rondo assist. The final two minutes of the first half ended in a shootout between the Celtics and Lakers starters resulting in a 52–40 Lakers lead.
The first few minutes of the second half proved to be a slow start for both teams as the Celtics piled 2–8 shooting while the Lakers posted 2–11 shooting before the first full timeout. Gasol made a 20-foot jumper to give the Lakers their first points of the third quarter; Garnett responded by a 20-foot jumper. Shortly after making his third shot from beyond-the-arc, Pierce received his fourth foul sending him to the bench. Odom, who replaced a limping Bynum, also earned two fouls of his own in addition to bad passing. The Celtics soon took advantage of the Lakers problems when Davis, Tony Allen, and Rasheed Wallace managed to successfully hit several critical shots to end the quarter on a six-point deficit.
The Celtics continued their momentum into the fourth quarter eventually pulling to within one point after two minutes. After coming off the bench to replace a struggling Gasol in the fourth quarter, Derek Fisher made a 12-foot jumper in what would be another of his finest postseason performances in his career. He then made four consecutive shots to give the Lakers a 78–73 lead before earning a foul on Ray Allen. With 1:40 left in the game, Bryant made his lone shot of the quarter despite posting 25 points in the first three periods combined. Foul troubles for both Garnett and Pierce hurt the Celtics chances of closing the gap with the Lakers. Pierce made one final layup with five seconds left in the game, but the Lakers edged the Celtics with a 91–84 victory to take a 2–1 lead in the series. Bryant was the leading scorer of the game with 29 points; Garnett's 25 points bested all other Celtics players for Game 3. Derek Fisher scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. Compared to his record eight three-point field goals in Game 2, Ray Allen went a near-record 0–13 in field goals for this game.
Game 4