Editing Boston Celtics (section)

==Rivalries==

===Los Angeles Lakers===
{{main|Celtics–Lakers rivalry}}
The rivalry between the Boston Celtics and [[Los Angeles Lakers]] involves the two most storied franchises in NBA history. It has been called the NBA's best rivalry.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1003/nba.best.rivalries/content.1.html|title=NBA;s Best Rivalries|access-date=June 3, 2011|magazine=Sports Illustrated|archive-date=February 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223113032/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1003/nba.best.rivalries/content.1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The two teams have met a record twelve times in the [[NBA Finals]], starting with their first Finals meeting in {{NBA Finals Year|1959}}. They would go on to dominate the league in the 1960s and the 1980s, facing each other six times in the 1960s, three times in the 1980s, in 2008, and in 2010.

The Celtics have won the first eight finals meetings, while the Lakers won three of last four.

The rivalry had been less intense since the retirements of [[Magic Johnson]] and Larry Bird in the early 1990s, but in 2008 it was renewed as the Celtics and Lakers met in the Finals for the first time since 1987, with the Celtics winning the series in six games. They faced off once again in the [[2010 NBA Finals]] which the Lakers won in seven games. The two teams are first and second for the highest number of championships, with the Celtics leading the Lakers, 18 titles to 17; together, their 35 championships account for almost half of the [[List of NBA champions|78 championships]] in NBA history.

===Atlanta Hawks===
The Celtics–[[Atlanta Hawks|Hawks]] rivalry is a [[List of sports rivalries|rivalry]] in the [[Eastern Conference (NBA)|Eastern Conference]] of the [[National Basketball Association]] that has lasted for over five decades, although the two teams have played each other since the 1949–50 season, when the then-[[Quad Cities|Tri-Cities]] Blackhawks joined the NBA as part of the [[National Basketball League (United States)|National Basketball League]] and the [[Basketball Association of America]] merger. However, the Blackhawks could not field a truly competitive team until they moved to [[St. Louis]] as the St. Louis Hawks after a four-year stopover at [[Milwaukee]]. The two teams have faced each other eleven times in the NBA Playoffs, four times in the [[NBA Finals]], with the Celtics winning ten of twelve series against the Hawks, including three out of four NBA Finals.<ref name="celticsrecap1950s">[http://www.nba.com/celtics/history/Recap_1950s.html Boston Celtics Franchise History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209150816/http://www.nba.com/celtics/history/Recap_1950s.html |date=February 9, 2012 }}, nba.com. Retrieved November 8, 2012.</ref> While the Hawks have only defeated the Celtics twice out of eleven series in the NBA Playoffs, they still often managed to make their series with the Celtics memorable. The rivalry intensified in 2016 with Hawks All-Star Center [[Al Horford]] spurning the team and joining the Celtics.

===Brooklyn Nets===
The Boston Celtics were once rivals of the [[Brooklyn Nets|New Jersey Nets]] during the early 2000s due to their respective locations and their burgeoning stars. The Nets were led by [[Jason Kidd]] and [[Kenyon Martin]], while the Celtics were experiencing newfound success behind Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker. The rivalry began to heat up in the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals, which was preceded by trash-talking from the Celtics<ref>{{cite news | url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-05-20/sports/18200319_1_antoine-walker-kenyon-martin-paul-pierce | location=New York | work=Daily News | title=Celtics Talk A Good Game&nbsp;– New York Daily News | first1=Ohm | last1=Youngmisuk | first2=Darren | last2=Everson | date=May 20, 2002 | access-date=September 26, 2014 | archive-date=March 8, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308073957/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-05-20/sports/18200319_1_antoine-walker-kenyon-martin-paul-pierce | url-status=dead }}</ref> who claimed Martin was a "fake" tough guy. Things progressed as the series started, and on-court tensions seemed to spill into the stands. Celtics' fans berated Kidd and his family with chants of "Wife Beater!"<ref>{{cite web |author=Steve WilsteinAP Sports Writer |url=http://amarillo.com/stories/053102/spo_jasonkidd.shtml |title=Celtics fans' taunts hurt Jason Kidd's wife &#124; Amarillo.com &#124; Amarillo Globe-News |publisher=Amarillo.com |date=May 31, 2002 |access-date=October 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019040927/http://amarillo.com/stories/053102/spo_jasonkidd.shtml |archive-date=October 19, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> in response to Kidd's 2001 domestic abuse charge. When asked about the fan barbs being traded, [[Kenyon Martin]] stated, "Our fans hate them, their fans hate us." [[Bill Walton]] said at the time that Nets-Celtics was the "beginning of the next great NBA rivalry" during the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002 with the Nets advancing to the NBA Finals, though New Jersey would go on to sweep Boston in the 2003 playoffs. In 2012, the year the Nets returned to New York in the borough of Brooklyn, there were indications that the rivalry might be rekindled when an altercation occurred on the court on November 28, resulting in the ejection of [[Rajon Rondo]], Gerald Wallace, and Kris Humphries. Rondo was suspended for two games in the aftermath, while Wallace and [[Kevin Garnett]] were fined.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/sports/basketball/celtics-rajon-rondo-suspended-2-games-for-melee.html?_r=0 | work=The New York Times | title=Suspension and 2 Fines After Brawl | first1=May | last1=Peter | date=November 30, 2012 | access-date=February 6, 2017 | archive-date=November 8, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108035905/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/sports/basketball/celtics-rajon-rondo-suspended-2-games-for-melee.html?_r=0 | url-status=live }}</ref> The story was revisited on December 25, when Wallace grabbed Garnett's shorts and the two had to be broken up by referees and players alike. However, the rivalry between the Nets and the Celtics appeared significantly cooled off by the June 2013 blockbuster trade that dealt Celtics stars Garnett and [[Paul Pierce]] to the Nets in exchange for Wallace, Humphries, and others. This move was billed as a merger of the two [[Atlantic Division (NBA)|Atlantic Division]] teams.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nets/bondy-prokhorov-mentality-reminiscent-boss-article-1.1403107 |title=Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov's win-at-all-costs mentality is reminiscent of late George Steinbrenner |newspaper=NY Daily News |date=July 18, 2013 |access-date=October 16, 2013 |location=New York |archive-date=October 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022143049/http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nets/bondy-prokhorov-mentality-reminiscent-boss-article-1.1403107 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Detroit Pistons===
{{main|Celtics–Pistons rivalry}}
The rivalry between the Celtics and the [[Detroit Pistons]] peaked in the 1980s, featuring players such as Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, [[Isiah Thomas]], [[Bill Laimbeer]], [[Dennis Rodman]], and [[Joe Dumars]]. These teams met in the [[NBA playoffs]] five times in 7 seasons from 1985 to 1991, with the Celtics winning in 1985 and 1987, and the Pistons coming out on top en route to back-to-back Finals appearances in {{NBA Finals Year|1988}} and their championship seasons of {{NBA Finals Year|1989}} and {{NBA Finals Year|1990}}. Led by [[Paul Pierce]], [[Kevin Garnett]] and [[Ray Allen]] in the 2008 [[NBA Conference Finals|Eastern Conference Finals]] the Celtics defeated the Pistons in 6 games to advance to the NBA Finals where they went on to beat the Lakers also in 6 games.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs2008/news/story?page=CelticsPistonsRivalry-080528|title=Celtics-Pistons Top 10 games|date=May 28, 2008|website=ESPN.com|access-date=October 18, 2017|archive-date=October 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018134052/http://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs2008/news/story?page=CelticsPistonsRivalry-080528|url-status=live}}</ref>

===New York Knicks===
{{main|Celtics–Knicks rivalry}}
The rivalry between the Celtics and the [[New York Knicks]] stems from the location of the teams, both of which are in the NBA's Atlantic division. It is one of many rivalries between Boston and New York teams, most notably the [[Yankees–Red Sox rivalry|New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox]] in [[Major League Baseball]]. Boston and New York are also the only two original NBA franchises that have remained in the same city for the duration of their existence. The teams have played 512 games against each other during the regular season, with the Celtics winning 276 times. The two teams have also faced each other 61 times during the playoffs, with the Celtics winning 34 times.<ref>{{cite news|last=Abrams|first=Jonathan|title=Knicks and Celtics Renew Playoff Rivalry|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/sports/basketball/13rivalry.html?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 13, 2011|access-date=June 17, 2017|archive-date=December 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208070633/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/sports/basketball/13rivalry.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Philadelphia 76ers===
{{main|76ers–Celtics rivalry}}
[[File:Wilt Chamberlain Bill Russell 2.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Wilt Chamberlain]] of the Philadelphia 76ers being defended by Celtics' center [[Bill Russell]] in 1966]]
The Celtics and the [[Philadelphia 76ers]] are the two teams who have the most meetings in the [[NBA playoffs]], playing each other in 22 series, of which the Celtics have won 15.<ref name="Most frequent playoff matchups">{{cite web|url=http://mcubed.net/nba/mfpm.shtml|work=McCubed.net|title=NBA: Most frequent playoff matchups|access-date=March 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921073719/http://mcubed.net/nba/mfpm.shtml|archive-date=September 21, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The 76ers are considered the Celtics' biggest rival in the Eastern Conference. The rivalry reached its peak when players Bill Russell and [[Wilt Chamberlain]] of the 76ers played each other from 1965 to 1968. Their play would result in the Celtics not winning every NBA Finals series in the 1960s when the 76ers won in 1967.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ryan|first=Bob|title=Celtics-76ers has been a playoff tradition|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/1985/05/12/celtics-ers-has-been-playoff-tradition/Up6aa8FI6WUKsLqkRl1GVL/story.html|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=May 12, 1985|access-date=June 17, 2017|archive-date=November 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108035020/https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/1985/05/12/celtics-ers-has-been-playoff-tradition/Up6aa8FI6WUKsLqkRl1GVL/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Washington Wizards===
One of the most recent and unexpected rivalries that has been created between the Celtics is with the [[Washington Wizards]]. Although both teams had engaged in a fight in [[1984 NBA playoffs|1984]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.celticslife.com/2017/04/the-last-time-celtics-played-washington.html|title=The last time the Celtics played Washington in the playoffs was 33 years ago (and it ended in a brawl)|date=April 30, 2017|access-date=August 2, 2018|archive-date=August 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802071628/http://www.celticslife.com/2017/04/the-last-time-celtics-played-washington.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the rivalry intensified during the 2015–16 season in a January regular season game after [[Jae Crowder]] was given a technical foul. Crowder then began to exchange words with then Wizards coach [[Randy Wittman]]. It began to escalate that off-season when the Celtics were trying to sign [[Al Horford]]. It was publicly reported that Jae Crowder emphasized that the Celtics beat the Wizards in all of their meetings that season and should sign with them rather than Washington. In their first meeting of the 2016–17 season, Wall hit [[Marcus Smart]] in the back-court when they were up by 20 late in the 4th quarter. Wall was hit with a Flagrant 2 foul and was promptly ejected. Smart immediately got back up and began to scuffle with Wall. Their words continued even after being separated with Wall telling Smart to meet him out back after the game. No incident was reported between the two following the game. In their next meeting, the Celtics won 117–108. However, after the game Wall and Crowder exchanged words in front of the Wizards bench. Crowder ended up trying to jab his finger at Wall's nose and Wall tried to fight back with a slap. Teammates and coaches from both sides had to step in and separate the two teams but the players continued to yell while entering their respective locker rooms. Police officers had to be on guard between the two locker rooms to ensure no further confrontation. [[Otto Porter]] is quoted as calling the Celtics as dirty. [[Isaiah Thomas (basketball)|Isaiah Thomas]] replied "If playing hard is dirty, then I guess we are a dirty team."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4725574/how-the-celtics-and-wizards-became-the-nbas-most-unexpected-rivalry|title=How Celtics-Wizards became the NBA's most unexpected rivalry|work=ESPN.com|access-date=April 2, 2018|archive-date=April 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402225914/http://www.espn.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4725574/how-the-celtics-and-wizards-became-the-nbas-most-unexpected-rivalry|url-status=live}}</ref>

In their next game in January, the Wizards wore all black to enter the game. The notion was that it is similar to the attire of a funeral. Their decision worked as they defeated the Celtics 123–108. The two teams would go on to meet in the Conference Semifinals in the 2017 Playoffs. In Game 1, [[Markieff Morris]] landed on Horford's ankle after shooting a jumpshot. Morris sprained his ankle and had to miss the rest of the game which was a 123–111 loss. Morris believed that Horford did this intentionally. In Game 2, Morris retaliated by grabbing Horford by the waist and pushed him into the seats.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wizards-insider/wp/2017/12/22/things-change-but-nba-hopes-wizards-celtics-rivalry-still-brings-christmas-magic/|title=Things change, but NBA hopes Wizards-Celtics rivalry still brings Christmas magic|last=Buckner|first=Candace|date=December 24, 2017|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=April 2, 2018|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=April 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402225807/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wizards-insider/wp/2017/12/22/things-change-but-nba-hopes-wizards-celtics-rivalry-still-brings-christmas-magic/|url-status=live}}</ref> In Game 3, [[Kelly Olynyk]] set a hard screen on [[Kelly Oubre Jr.|Kelly Oubre]]. Olynyk's shoulder hit Oubre in the chin causing him to drop to the floor. Oubre angrily rose and pushed Olynyk down onto the floor. Oubre was then assessed a flagrant 2 foul and was ejected while also being suspended for Game 4.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://andscape.com/features/kelly-oubre-jr-vs-kelly-olynyk/|title=Kelly Oubre Jr. vs. Kelly Olynyk: In the battle of the Kellys, Twitter stood by Oubre Jr.|last=Dodson|first=Aaron|date=May 5, 2017|work=[[Andscape]]|access-date=April 2, 2018|archive-date=August 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809204338/https://andscape.com/features/kelly-oubre-jr-vs-kelly-olynyk/|url-status=live}}</ref> No significant altercations erupted in the rest of the seven-game series in which the Celtics would go on to win. The rivalry has since dissipated as the Celtics have retooled their roster but their match-ups are still seen as significant as they played on Christmas in 2017.

===Miami Heat===
{{Main|Celtics–Heat rivalry}}
The Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat developed an intense rivalry during the 2010s. The two teams were highlighted by their star trios in Boston's Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce whereas Miami had LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. They first met in the [[2010 NBA playoffs|2010 NBA Playoffs]] where Boston won the series in 5 games. They would then meet the [[2011 NBA playoffs|following year]] where Miami would end up winning in 5 games. The teams would meet for the third straight year in the [[2012 NBA playoffs|2012 Eastern Conference Finals]]. Despite Boston holding a 3–2 lead, Miami would win the next 2 games to advance to the NBA Finals where they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder. In the [[2020 NBA Bubble]], the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics met in the [[2020 NBA playoffs|2020 Eastern Conference Finals]] where Miami won in 6 games and advanced to the NBA Finals where they were prevented Boston from meeting their longtime rival Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, Miami lost in 6 games to the Los Angeles Lakers. They would meet in the [[2022 NBA playoffs|2022 Eastern Conference Finals]] where Boston finally beat the Miami Heat in 7 games. It was their first win against Miami since 2010. In the following year, the two met in the [[2023 NBA playoffs|2023 Eastern Conference Finals]]. Despite Miami taking a commanding a 3–0 lead, Boston won the next three games to send the series to 7 games. However, Miami won to avoid earning the distinction of blowing a 3–0 lead while also preventing Boston from meeting the Lakers in the Finals. They then met in the [[2024 NBA playoffs|2024 first round]] where Boston beat Miami in 5 games.