Boston 110, Philadelphia 91

A franchise-best 19th straight win. An NBA record 27-2 start. And a rare opportunity for Rhymes With Hondo to catch a Celtics game live.

[recap] [box score]

As most of you surely know, the Celtics lone trip West to play the Lakers comes Christmas Day. Since I'm back in DC, the only time I'll get a chance to catch the Cs live in LA will be on February 25, when they play the Clippers at the tail end of a six-game Western swing. So I took the opportunity of a few days between the end of school and the holidays to make a trip up to Boston to see friends and take in a game.

Of course, when I made the arrangements, I didn't know that it would be something of an historic evening. Being in the building to watch these records being set was a neat experience, though, even if the game -- the outcome being never really in doubt -- wasn't the height of excitement.

At any rate, I don't think I've been this excited for Christmas Day in like 20 years! This should be the game of the NBA season; the first Finals rematch, in a decades-old rivalry renewed last spring. Los Angeles isn't playing quite at its best: After a torrid start, they've lost three of their last ten, a completely respectable stretch in any normal year. This is not a normal year, however, as the Lakers 23-5 mark is actually third-best in the league, behind not only the Celtics, but the 24-4 Cavaliers. Defense, the main thing that LA critics harped on last year, again seems to be the problem, and the Lakers have lost the focus on that end of the floor that they had to start the year. It's hard to imagine, however, that focus and intensity on either end is going to be lacking Thursday night.

I think Rajon Rondo, who has been as important to this 19-game run as any other Celtic, will be the difference between winning and losing for the Cs. The Lakers effectively neutralized him for much of the Finals last year, sagging off of him and basically ignoring him when the Celtics were on offense. This year, teams do that at their own peril, as Rondo has taken a giant step forward, attacking the basket fearlessly and finishing often once he gets there. I don't necessarily think that the "Let Rondo beat us" strategy is necessarily a bad one -- it's hard to say, as a Boston opponent, that you'd rather have the ball in Paul Pierce's hands, or Ray Allen's, or Kevin Garnett's. But Rondo needs to take that as an invitation. He's done it a lot recently, but never in a game as big as this one, and less so on the road then at home.

Tip is at 5 p.m. Eastern on ABC. Merry Christmas.