2010 NBA Finals

• 1. Introduction

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  The 2010 NBA Finals came down to a single game on the 17th of June, 2010, with Kobe Bryant shooting 6 for 24 from the field. That is 25 percent. One of the most celebrated players in the game, misfiring again and again, and yet the Los Angeles Lakers still won. How a team can survive that kind of performance from its best player in the biggest game of the year is the story at the heart of this series. It is also a story about two franchises that had met in the Finals eleven times before, with Boston holding a commanding edge. And it is the story of a game seven that swung on a three-pointer from a man who had spent the night struggling to make a shot, and a defensive rebound in the final seconds that sealed it all.

• 2. Ancient Rivals

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  Boston and Los Angeles had faced each other in the Finals eleven times before June 2010, and the Celtics had won nine of those meetings. That imbalance defined how each franchise understood the other. The Lakers arrived as defending champions, having won their 15th title the previous year against the Orlando Magic. The Celtics had beaten the Lakers in their most recent Finals meeting in 2008. For Boston, this was a chance to add to a record of dominance. For Los Angeles, it was a chance to reverse one.

  Phil Jackson, the Lakers head coach, had never coached a Finals Game 7 before this series. He had won ten championships, but the ultimate pressure test had not arrived for him as a coach. Jackson would later describe the series as the toughest by far. Bryant called the eventual win the sweetest of his career, precisely because of who was on the other side. The rivalry stretched back decades, and both teams knew the weight of what they were playing for.

• 3. Two Roads to June

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  Boston arrived at the Finals with a record of 50 wins and 32 losses in the regular season, finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference. That record understates what they accomplished on the road to June. The Celtics became the first team in NBA history to reach the Finals with a better road record than home record during the regular season. They eliminated Cleveland, the team with the best record in the league, and Orlando, the team with the second-best record, back to back. Only the Houston Rockets in 1995 had previously done something similar en route to a title.

  Los Angeles had a stronger regular-season record at 57 wins and 25 losses, finishing first in the Western Conference. On the 1st of February, Bryant passed Jerry West on the NBA's all-time scoring list, moving into 14th place and also becoming the Lakers' franchise scoring leader, surpassing West in both categories. The Lakers swept through Utah in the conference semifinals and beat Phoenix in six games to earn their 31st Finals appearance in franchise history, and their third consecutive trip to the Finals. The last Lakers team to reach three straight Finals had been the 2000 to 2002 squad.

• 4. Regular-Season Signals

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  Before the Finals began, the two teams had already given each other a preview. On the 31st of January, 2010, at TD Garden in Boston, Bryant sank a jumper over Ray Allen with 7.3 seconds remaining to give the Lakers a third consecutive victory over the Celtics. That streak ended quickly. On the 18th of February, without Bryant, who was missing his fourth straight game with an injury, the Lakers lost at Staples Center when Derek Fisher's fadeaway from 21 feet missed as time expired, giving Boston an 87-86 win. After Fisher's shot fell short, Kevin Garnett threw his wristband into the crowd in celebration, drawing the ire of the home crowd.

  Five of the seven Finals games would be decided by nine points or fewer, a reflection of how evenly matched those two regular-season meetings had already suggested the teams were.

• 5. Games One Through Five

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  Game 1 closed out with Bryant hitting a three-pointer with 3.6 seconds remaining, his 10th game of 30 or more points in his last 11 outings. The Lakers outrebounded Boston 42 to 31 and held a 16-0 edge in second-chance points. Game 2 swung to Boston in part because Ray Allen hit eight of 11 three-point attempts, breaking a Finals record previously set by Kenny Smith of the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of the 1995 Finals. Rajon Rondo added a triple-double of 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.

  Game 3 featured a stretch where the Lakers went on a 32-8 run that bridged the first and second quarters. Derek Fisher scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, helping Los Angeles win 91-84. After the Celtics evened the series in Game 4 behind 18 points from reserve Glen Davis and 12 from Nate Robinson, Game 5 was Pierce's showcase. He scored 27 points on 57 percent shooting, and a late inbounds play saw Garnett lob to Pierce, who while falling out of bounds, threw it to a streaking Rondo for a layup that locked up the win. The Celtics held a 3-2 series lead heading back to Los Angeles.

• 6. The Pivot in Game Six

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  Kendrick Perkins, Boston's starting center, suffered a serious knee injury in the first quarter of Game 6. It was later confirmed he had torn both his PCL and MCL, and he was ruled out for Game 7. His absence reshaped Boston's ability to defend and rebound. The Lakers, facing elimination, opened up a lead that peaked at 27 points. The Lakers' bench outscored Boston's bench 24 to 0 entering the fourth quarter. The final score returned the series to a 3-3 tie.

  Andrew Bynum, the Lakers' center, also left Game 6 early with swelling in his knee from a torn meniscus. He was not ruled out for Game 7, though Perkins was. The two teams heading into a deciding game were each playing through significant injury.

• 7. Game Seven

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  Fisher tied the game at 64 with a three-pointer from 26 feet in the fourth quarter of Game 7. Bryant, who had missed most of the night, then hit two free throws and a 17-foot shot to give the Lakers a 68-64 lead, their first lead since early in the second quarter. Gasol followed with two free throws to push the margin to six. With roughly a minute and a half left, Rasheed Wallace hit a three-pointer to cut the gap to three. Ron Artest then answered by sinking a three-pointer of his own to restore a six-point advantage. Phil Jackson would later call Artest the most valuable player of the game, citing those 20 points including that last-second three.

  Wallace fouled out after Bryant missed a three and Gasol grabbed the offensive rebound, then passed to Bryant. Bryant was fouled by Wallace and hit two free throws to make it 81-76. Allen responded with a three to cut it to three, and Rondo grabbed a rebound and hit a three to make it 81-79. But the Celtics were forced to foul Sasha Vujacic, who hit two free throws to extend the lead to four. Rondo's last three-point attempt with 11.7 seconds remaining missed, Gasol grabbed the rebound, and the ball ended in Bryant's hands as the buzzer sounded. The Lakers won 83-79.

  Bryant finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 of his points in the fourth quarter alone. Gasol pulled down 18 rebounds. The Lakers shot 37 free throws to Boston's 17, and collected 23 offensive rebounds. Artest had scored 20 points in the game, with the go-ahead three the exclamation point of the night.

• 8. What Came After

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  Phil Jackson's 11th championship as a coach extended his record for the most titles earned by any coach or general manager in a major North American professional sport. He had also won two as a player with the New York Knicks, bringing his total to 13. Luke Walton, a Lakers forward, and his father Bill Walton, a Hall of Famer, became the only father and son pair, as of 2011, to both have won multiple NBA championships.

  On the 21st of June, more than 65,000 people attended the Lakers' victory parade through Los Angeles. The route began at Staples Center, moved along Figueroa Street, and concluded near the University of Southern California's Galen Center. Ron Artest at one point led the crowd in chanting against Boston. The team visited President Barack Obama at the THEARC Boys and Girls Club in Washington DC in December 2010, presenting him with a banner naming them the 2009-10 World Champions.

  Game 7 drew 28.2 million viewers, the highest for any NBA Finals game since a 1997 broadcast that drew 35.9 million for the Chicago Bulls against the Utah Jazz. Across all seven games, the average audience was 18.1 million, the highest in years. In November 2010, a book titled "Journey to the Ring: Behind the Scenes with the 2010 NBA Champions Lakers," written by Jackson and featuring photographs by Andrew D. Bernstein, was published by Time Capsule Press. As of the 2023-24 season, the 2010 Finals remains the most recent meeting between the Lakers and Celtics in the NBA Finals.