Dec. 25, 2008
30 years, 124 days
What better Christmas gift could the Lakers give their fans than snapping the hated Boston Celtics’ franchise-record win streak?
Boston entered the game with 19 consecutive victories, but the Lakers treated a sold-out Staples Center to a 92-83 win over the team that beat them in the previous NBA Finals.
“We’ve been waiting for that opportunity for a long time, and we won,” Sasha Vujacic told the media. “I don’t like them at all. A lot of people call us softies or whatever. It doesn’t matter at all.”
Of course, Kobe Bryant was at the heart of the victory, scoring a game-high 27 points on 13-of-23 shooting, while also providing nine rebounds and five assists.
Bryant tied the game at 81 on an 18-footer, and Pau Gasol did the rest by scoring L.A.’s next seven points to lead a 13-2 game-ending run.
Boston’s stars — Paul Pierce (20 points, 10 rebounds), Kevin Garnett (22 points, 11-of-14), Ray Allen (14 points) and Rajon Rondo (12 assists) — came to play, but Bryant and Gasol were determined for victory.
Bryant opened the game with 10 points in the first quarter, while Gasol finished with 20 to hand head coach Phil Jackson the 1,000th win of his career.
Kobe performances on this day in history: