The 2010 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2009–10 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs, held from June 3 to June 17, 2010. A best-of-seven playoff series, it was contested between the Western Conference champion and defending champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. It was their twelfth Finals meeting overall. The Los Angeles Lakers earned home court advantage for finishing the regular season with a better record. The heavily-favored Though the Lakers won the opening game on their home court, the Celtics led 3–2 entering Game 6 before Los Angeles rallied to win the next two games. Bryant was named Most Valuable Player of the Finals for the second consecutive year. Series summary The Lakers had won the previous season's NBA Finals against the Orlando Magic for the franchise's 15th championship. The Celtics won their previous NBA Finals appearance against the Lakers in 2008. This was the 12th Finals played between the two rival teams. The Celtics won nine of their previous 11 Finals meetings against the Lakers, winning in , , , , , , , , and , while the Lakers won in and . Background 2010 NBA Playoffs Regular-season series The regular season series was split, with each team winning on the opponent's court by only a point: Boston Celtics The Celtics finished the regular season as the Atlantic Division champion with a 50–32 record. As the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, they eliminated the No. 5 seeded Miami Heat in five games during the first round in the playoffs. Then in the conference semifinals, Boston defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games, the earliest that a top seed has been eliminated since the Dallas Mavericks' first round loss to the Golden State Warriors in 2007. In the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics went on to eliminate the Orlando Magic in six games. In reaching the Finals the Boston Celtics became the first team in NBA history to do so with a better regular season road record than home. Also, the Boston Celtics became the second team in NBA history to reach the NBA Finals after beating the team with the best record, Cleveland Cavaliers, and team with second-best record in the league, Orlando Magic, after the Houston Rockets did it in their championship season of 1995. Los Angeles Lakers After the Lakers