Boston Sports Then and Now

Courtesy of North Station Sports

Their are few professional sports team’s that can boast the mystique and winning ways of the Boston Celtics. Since the franchise’s first title in 1957, the Boston Celtics have won 32 percent of the NBA championships. Prior to their 22 season championship drought, the Celtics had compiled 16 championships in 32 seasons, 55 percent of the championships from 1957 to 1986. The Celtics currently have 22 retired jersey numbers retired,15 players and 5 coaches enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

#5-Cleveland Cavs

The Boston Celtics dominated the first half century of NBA history. It’s not a surprise that as team’s tried to get by the mighty Celtics year after year, some of the league’s greatest rivalries were born. Here are five of my favorite match-ups.

#5-Cleveland Cavaliers

Though this rivalry is in it’s infancy, it is worth mentioning as today’s top Eastern Conference rivalry. They have only met once in the NBA playoffs once since Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined the Celtics.

2008’s seven game series in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, went the distance and LeBron James and Paul Pierce match each other shot for shot in game seven. The Celtics would pull out a win as the game went down to the wire.

Though the team’s have not met again (yet) in the post-season, their regular season match-ups have been exciting and drama filled as the two team’s hatred for each other is reminiscent of the bitter Celtics/Pistons and Celtics/Lakers of past generations.

Though this rivalry does not possess the historical references of the match-up’s higher up on the list, the drama and tension that mounts when the two square off is rarely matched in today’s NBA.

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Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett will be wearing the same uniform next season.

It wasn’t that many years ago when the general consensus was that the eighth best team in the NBA’s Western Conference could defeat the best team in the Eastern Conference in an NBA Finals. That certainly is no longer the case.

The one-upmanship so far this off-season by the top teams in the East have made it clear that while the Los Angeles Lakers may be the champions, the Eastern Conference has a number of teams ready to make a run at the championship.

Certainly, the “big three” in the East remain the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. All three teams have made themselves better through the addition of “big name” players.

For Boston, adding Rasheed Wallace suddenly turns the “Three Amigos” into the “Fantastic Four.”

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