an NBA record for most playoff games ever needed to win a championship, with 26, surpassing the previous record of 24 by the Lakers in . The Celtics' win was also seen as an addition to the recent success of Boston-area sports teams, following the wins by the New England Patriots in Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX (2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons) and the Red Sox's World Series wins in (death of the Curse of the Bambino) and . Later, the Bruins would win the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, the Red Sox would win two more World Series titles in 2013, and in 2018, and the Patriots would win three more Super Bowls XLIX, LI, and LIII (2014, 2016, and 2018 seasons). The Celtics won this series by winning Games 1, 2, 4, and 6; coincidentally, the last time the two teams met in , the Lakers won that series in identical fashion. It was also the same identical fashion when the Celtics won the NBA Finals in before this championship. Rosters Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers Player statistics Boston Celtics |- | align="left" | || 6 || 6 || 41.0 || .507 || .524 || .867 || 5.0 || 2.5 || 1.3 || 0.7 || 20.3 |- | align="left" | || 3 || 0 || 6.3 || .667 || .000 || .000 || 0.3 || 0.7 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 2.7 |- | align="left" | || 6 || 0 || 19.5 || .391 || .000 || .750 || 3.2 || 0.7 || 0.5 || 0.5 || 4.0 |- | align="left" | || 5 || 0 || 10.1 || .375 || .000 || 1.000 || 0.2 || 1.2 || 0.4 || 0.0 || 3.8 |- | align="left" | || 1 || 0 || 14.6 || .500 || .000 || .500 || 4.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 3.0 |- | align="left" | || 6 || 6 || 37.9 || .429 || .000 || .760 || 13.0 || 3.0 || 1.7 || 1.0 || 18.2 |- | align="left" | || 4 || 0 || 18.5 || .357 || .412 || .833 || 2.5 || 2.5 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 8.0 |- | align="left" | || 5 || 5 || 18.4 || .571 || .000 || .667 || 3.6 || 0.4 || 0.6 || 1.0 || 4.0 |-! style="background:#FDE910;" | align="left" | || 6 || 6 ||