Red Auerbach versus Phil Jackson, Wilt versus Russell, Magic versus Bird, the NBA's best offense versus its best defense, the NBA MVP versus the Defensive Player of the Year.

The storylines are endless.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics met twice during the regular season with their last match-up taking place on December 30th of last year.

The Lakers were 19-11 at the time and riding a four game win streak but they were nothing like the team that heads into the NBA Finals with only three playoff losses.

The Lakers have played 52 regular season and 15 playoff games since their last meeting.

Boston has played 53 regular season and 20 playoff games since then.

That's 67 and 73 games a piece - nearly an entire NBA season (82 games) has passed.

Boston owns homecourt advantage after winning an NBA regular season best 66 games but was pushed to the limit by the 8th seeded Atlanta Hawks and 4th seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening rounds.

Los Angeles captured the Western Conference's #1 seed in what was arguably the most competitive conference in NBA history - in large part because they were able to acquire Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies in February. With Gasol in the lineup, the Lakers are 33-7 (21-4 during the regular season, 12-3 during the playoffs). [Read]

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Enjoy the NBA Finals!