Following the dissolution of the team's original "Big Three" through the retirements of Larry Bird and Kevin McHale and the departure of Robert Parish, the Celtics suffered through several tragedies such as the passing of Reggie Lewis in 1993; a franchise-worst 15-win 1996–97 season; the ill-fated hiring of head coach Rick Pitino; and the deaths of franchise patriarch Red Auerbach and former player Dennis Johnson, which culminated in a 24-win 2006–07 season, highlighted by a franchise-worst 18 straight losses.

Nevertheless, the 2007 off-season saw Celtics GM Danny Ainge acquire Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to join franchise star Paul Pierce.

This new formation became regarded as the most talented Boston Celtics team since the duo of Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce graced the floor of the "Garden" in the early 2000s.

The newly formed 'Big Three,' joined by second year point guard and future all star Rajon Rondo, led the Celtics to a dramatic 42-game turnaround, finishing with 66 wins.

In the playoffs, the Celtics were pushed to the brink by the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers, and despite not winning on the road, managed to prevail in a pair of Game 7s on their home court.

Soon after, the Lakers decided to rebuild by trading away Shaquille O'Neal to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant.

For the Lakers, Kobe was struggling with his shot, as he went 1/7 for the quarter, but was dishing out assists and playing defense very solid, as he looked to get others involved early.

In the beginning of the third quarter, Celtics forward Paul Pierce was injured after a collision with Lakers center Kendrick Perkins.

Not to ignore the fact that Kobe exploded in that third quarter, hitting and defending shots from anywhere inside the arc, before getting himself in foul trouble late in the third.

Kobe sitting out the first half of the quarter due to foul trouble allowed Boston to slowly increase the lead all the way up to 10.

Garnett's putback dunk over 2 Lakers defenders sealed the Celtics victory, completing his 24 points alongside 13 rebounds performance.

Despite what Pierce's reaction suggested was a highly debilitating injury, he returned to action minutes later to raucous cheering from the crowd.

One of the first plays of the game has shown us how much the Lakers needed the win here: Kobe ran down the floor after getting the rebound and passing it to Pau Gasol who was posting up Kevin Garnett.

For the Lakers, Kobe got himself into foul trouble and the technical, which he got for taunting Ray Allen after making a tough lefty layup over him, didn't help.

Vladimir Radmanović and Saša Vujačić started shooting the lights out of the Celtics defense which had fallen asleep in the fourth, and before you knew it, the lead was down to 12.

Phil Jackson then decided to go small and has left only Lamar Odom on the court of the big men, and has subbed in 4 of the best shooters that he had.

But all that effort was nothing for Paul Pierce, who seemed unfazed by the pressure, and who has scored 2 free throws with 20 seconds remaining, and then blocked Vujačić's three to potentially make it a one-point game.

Saša Vujačić scored 20 points in 28 minutes, Paul Pierce had a poor shooting game, making only two of his 14 field goal attempts.

Lamar Odom picked up the loose ball and passed downcourt to Bryant for a breakaway dunk, giving the Lakers a 99–95 lead.

Maintaining a lead of more than 25 points, the Celtics' Big Three performed phenomenally, while the whole team smothered the Lakers' offense with their tight defense.

Boston dominated in numerous statistical categories, including rebounds (48–29, with a 14–2 disparity in offensive boards), turnovers (7–19), steals (18–4), assists (33–16) and blocks (4–0).

[10] This lead was close to the Finals point-spread record set in Game 3 in 1998 where a Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls team beat the Utah Jazz by 42 points, 96–54.

However, their momentum halted when they faced the Lakers on Christmas Day in a fateful finals rematch, bringing an end to their franchise-high 19-game winning streak.

Shortly after the 2009 All-Star Game, Kevin Garnett suffered a devastating right knee injury which sidelined him for the remainder of the season.

Despite finishing the season with 62 wins, the absence of Garnett had a noticeable impact on the team's performance as they were eliminated in seven games by the Dwight Howard-led Orlando Magic in the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The 2008-09 Los Angeles Lakers became the first team since the 1988–89 Detroit Pistons to win the NBA Finals after losing it in the previous year.

Both teams would eventually meet again in 2010, where the Lakers exacted revenge by finding themselves pitted against the Boston Celtics for the first time in two years.

The Celtics would not return to make another appearance in the Finals again until 12 years later in 2022, where the Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum-led team eventually succumbed to the Stephen Curry-led Golden State Warriors in six games.