Somewhere the spirit of the late Red Auerbach was smiling behind a fat stogie that was burning brightly.

In one of those odd quirks of fate, when his Celtics whipped up on the Lakers 110-91 Sunday, it not only raised the record of the runaway Celtics to 26-3, but prevented Lakers coach Phil Jackson from passing Auerbach’s 938 career wins – seventh all-time on the coaching list – while the two are tied with nine NBA championships apiece.

The irony couldn’t possibly have been lost considering this had the vibe of the first meaningful game between these two franchises since the Lakers won the 1987 Finals over the Celtics.

Unfortunately, this game was never close, similar to the way the Celtics won by 13 in Boston in November. It was the sixth consecutive win for the Celtics, making them 4-0 on their first Western Conference swing of the season, and the outcome spelled the end of the Lakers' four-game winning streak. The Celtics are leading second-place Toronto in the Atlantic Division by 11.5 games and Detroit by 2.5 games in the race for top seed in the East. Meanwhile, the Lakers slipped to 2.5 games behind the Phoenix Suns in the Pacific Division and the fifth-best record in the West.

Nonetheless, the Lakers marketed the game as if it were something extraordinary. Lakers legend Jerry West was introduced before the game as the team’s honorary captain, the Lakers wore throwback short shorts in the first half, and all that was missing was Bill Russell showing up as the Celtics’ counter to West in the Hall of Fame captain department.

No doubt the NBA has to be thrilled that the game had any significance at all, with the history of this rivalry. From the Finals memories that included the “Memorial Day Massacre” and the Bird-Magic sagas, no other matchup has compared to these two franchises – even though the Celtics won the first eight meetings in the Finals before the Lakers got the last two.

It was tradition and that’s what the NBA lost in the overt marketing schemes that have featured players instead of the teams. Although the Lakers have gotten off to a good start this season and have a bright future, they clearly don’t have the aura of now that the Celtics bring to the table.

And it’s only fitting that one of “Red’s Boys” from the 1980s genre, Danny Ainge, reconstructed this team into a powerhouse that looks eminently capable of winning it all. Led by superstar Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, who grew up in the shadow of the Lakers’ old “Fabulous Forum” in Inglewood, the Celtics took control of this game early and never relented. Coach Doc Rivers, who has pushed this team defensively, bottled up Lakers star Kobe Bryant with pressure defense, holding him to 6-of-25 shooting and 22 points.

The intensity was obvious from the outset, with Garnett sent to the locker room for stitches above the right eye in the second quarter, and that was reflective of the emotion considering seven technical fouls were called. Garnett continues his crusade toward a second MVP award with his versatile brilliance – 22 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals – and Pierce lit up the Staples Center with 33 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

Considering the difficult times the Celtics have struggled through since their last title in 1986, it is something the NBA can build on and perhaps change this player-driven league into more of a team orientation. It always comes down to the players, but fans are more apt to rally around teams and their arch-enemies, as we see in baseball and football. It works in college basketball too.

Somehow the NBA has let that get away in the face of Michael Jordan and his Dream Team brethren. Sunday set up the first opportunity to rekindle some of that. The odds are enormous against the Celtics and Lakers meeting in the 2008 Finals, and who knows if and when it will ever happen again. But this was just a reminder of what it used to be.

The Eastern Conference has been so weak in recent years, it’s been tough to find. The Heat and Knicks had it going on for a brief period. And the one great rivalry at the start of the century fell apart three years ago in a brawl when the Pacers and Pistons ignited an entire crowd in the Palace of Auburn Hills – and set back the Pacers franchise to this day. The Lakers and Kings had a good one going early in the decade, and the Spurs and Lakers danced around it, too. Now the Mavericks and Spurs have something going on.

But not like the history of the Celtics and Lakers.

For one brief evening the feeling was back. All the memories were there – Russell was blocking shots, Havlicek filled the lane, and Sam was banking them in from everywhere. Elgin’s head was twitching on reverse layups and West was draining line-drive jumpers. And in the second half, Bird matched Magic’s passes and drives, Chief ran the lane for dunks and Kareem swished skyhook after skyhook.

The names, the faces and the numbers have changed, but the history of the Lakers and Celtics runs much deeper than the individuals, even though Jackson and Auerbach fostered their own rivalry with sniping in the later years.

It was still there Sunday, even if that puff of smoke wafted through the rafters posthumously.