Getty Jayson Tatum and Dennis Schroder in the Boston Celtics win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
No rivalry in the NBA has as much bad blood as the one between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. Fans from both sides circle the meetings between these two powerhouses when the NBA releases its schedule each year.
Yet, to begin the 2021-22 NBA season, the Boston fans had the first laugh, as the Celtics demolished the Lakers 108-130 behind a 37 point performance from Jayson Tatum. Coming into this game, both teams were fighting to get clear of .500 after tough starts to the season, yet even with the return of LeBron James, the Lakers were unable to close this one out.
One of the beautiful things about the internet is that it gives fans a forum to discuss the sports teams they love and loathe, meaning as the game was reaching its conclusion, Twitter was awash with hot takes, goading, gloating, and some good-natured ribbing.
Celtics Twitter Explodes After Celtics Beat Lakers
Celtics Twitter can be a fickle place, often changing its opinion based on the team’s most recent performance. They can be your biggest supporter one minute and call for you to be benched the next. An echo chamber that resembles 90% of sports fans everywhere, you can be sure to find arguments you agree with and those that you don’t, but when the Celtics are facing their bitter rivals, everyone bands together.
Before we get into the insanity that occurred after the game, let’s first tip our caps to whoever made this graphic on the Celtics broadcast.
They really put up this graphic after the Celtics beat the Lakers 😂
Schroder: 21 PTS, 6 AST, 57% FG
Westbrook: 12 PTS, 6 AST, 39% FG
Some fans were quick to remind people of the fact Boston is leading the all-time matchup against the Lakers before the game.
The Celtics and Lakers have played 368 total games against eachother.
Celtics: 205 wins
Lakers: 163 wins
While others were enjoying the Lakers’ collapse after they shot out to an eight-point lead in the first quarter only to fall behind as the game wore on.
AD looking at the Celtics defense
Hope all the Lakers fans that went to the garden have a miserable night.
You
Thought
You
Had
A
Team
🤣🤣🤣🤣
“And your precious Lebron played, and we were missing Brown and Rob Will **** outta here lakers,” Brimaried wrote on Twitter.
You can see more takes from Celtics and Laker fans by clicking here.
Former Players Get in on the Action
From Bill Russell to Paul Pierce, players from some of the NBA’s greatest eras got in on the Twitter action before and after the game, sharing their memories and celebrations/commiserations with fans online.
Lakers vs. Celtics tonight. Man, that brings back a lot of old memories from my Showtime Lakers vs. Larry’s Celtics…let’s get it!
From the Lakers’ standpoint, it would seem legendary wing James Worth was not impressed by the showing.
James Worthy just said it best on the @SpectrumSN post game – “the same mistakes are not being corrected”. It’s the same basic issues on repeat and that’s the most concerning part.
While we’re on the topic of legendary players, Paul Pierce and Bill Russell were both in attendance for the contest, which Jayson Tatum discussed with the media following the game.
“It’s a surreal moment, obviously, Bill Russell, you know the impact he had on the Celtics and the NBA. I didn’t get to see him play but having somebody like Paul, somebody I have a relationship with, I remember watching him play, and now he’s watching me play; that’s crazy to me.”
But while Tatum enjoyed the former greats watching his performance from the stands, Twitter was having as much fun in front of their television screens.
Holy cow. No Jaylen Brown. No Robert Williams. Double-digit deficit early. LeBron James back. Still a blowout #Celtics win with the 🐐 Bill Russell and another C’s legend Paul Pierce watching along at the Garden.
So good to see @paulpierce34 wearing the Celtics shirt. The Truth, Celtic for Life.
The Celtics defeating a Lakers team that’s clearly been constructed with a championship in mind will likely have given their team a confidence boost, especially considering the nature of their win. After falling behind in the first quarter, Boston rallied around each other and executed their game plan to perfection, putting several poor offensive performances behind them.
While Celtics Twitter has already changed its attention to Saturday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, no one can deny that they’re already counting down the days until these two teams face off again later in the season.