The last time the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics rivalry was truly fierce came between 2008 and 2010 when the teams met twice in the NBA Finals. Of course, this also made their regular-season matchups must-see as Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett always had their sides ready for war.
That was the case when the Lakers and Celtics took the court on Jan. 31, 2010 in what would turn out to be a Finals preview. As was often the case against the Celtics defense, Kobe struggled shooting. But per usual with Kobe, he came through when it mattered most.