For all intents and purposes, it was a preseason game with little significance.

The Celtics were fresh off their 17th NBA championship and were taking on the Rockets in New Hampshire. It was one of those nights when J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker were likely to play more minutes than Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Yet, Paul Pierce was pumped up.

Weeks before the 2009 regular season kicked off, this was a matchup he was looking forward to. But at some point before the game, Pierce was led to believe that he’d be scratched from the lineup.

He wanted to take the court. This wasn’t just any exhibition game for him. This was against one of his biggest rivals.

“I always want to play against Ron Artest,” Pierce said at the time. “I think we both bring out the best in each other. I think he’s the best perimeter defender in the league.”

Over the years Pierce and Artest have been involved in heated battles, both during the regular season and in the playoffs. Artest played in the Eastern Conference during his first seven years in the league and frequently faced the Celtics several times as a member of the Bulls and Pacers.

In 2003, the Celtics eliminated the Pacers from the first round of the playoffs in six games. Pierce scored 40 points (including going 21-for-21 at the free throw line) in Game 1 and followed it up with 32 points in the second half of Game 4. The next year, the Pacers returned the favor with a first-round sweep. Both Pierce and Artest averaged over 20 points in that series.

There were plenty of memorable moments between the two players, too, including Artest’s defensive strategy to pull down Pierce’s shorts. (He would later sing an apology to Pierce on television.)

On Sunday, Artest made his first trip to Boston as a member of the Lakers. This was far from a preseason matchup — the Celtics were on a two-game skid and had not defeated the Lakers since the 2008 NBA Finals. Add in the storied history between the two teams, and it was a must-watch event.

But Artest grew up a Bulls fan — the rivalry between the Celtics and Lakers never mattered much to him. Instead, the personal rivalry between him and Pierce was more relevant.

“Paul’s a hell of a player. I think Paul likes me because he’s real competitive,” he told WEEI.com before the game. “When I was at my prime defensively — which I’m getting back to thanks to the Lakers trainers — when I was at my prime defensively there wasn’t really anyone who could do anything. There were only a few players. But then when you get all these accolades and everybody speaks highly of you, I take you on TV and I show how bad of a player you actually are, you want to come back and do something.

“So there were games where I exposed Paul sometimes, and there were games where he showed what type of player he was. So for a guy like that to want to come at Ron Artest, that says a lot about his heart. So he’s got a lot of heart. He’s got a lot of heart.”

Artest may have praised Pierce for his tough play against him, but he made him pay for it on Sunday. With 27.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Celtics up by one, Artest drew an offensive foul on Pierce. The Lakers regained possession and Kobe Bryant knocked down the game-winner with less than eight seconds to go. It became another memorable moment in their ongoing duel.

“He played into him,” Phil Jackson said of Artest. “I thought right off the bat he didn’t back down, was physical with him. [Artest] did get the foul called on him [before the charge]. Pierce a lot of times will draw fouls. He stayed strong, physically strong in that sequence and consequently, when Paul came back the next time, he went hard and he got the charge.”

The box score reflected another tough matchup. Pierce picked up five fouls, Artest was whistled for four. Pierce was 4-for-11 from the field while Artest finished 4-of-12 (he also was just 1-of-6 on 3-point attempts). But even after drawing the critical offensive foul, Artest still critiqued his defensive performance. He left Pierce open too many times, he thought. Defensive lapses don’t sit well with either player.

There’s no doubt both Artest and Pierce will be watching game tape before they face off on Feb. 18 in Los Angeles. It will be another battle in their longstanding history.

“We had wars,” Artest said. “Me and Paul had wars. Four times a year, sometimes playoffs. A lot of wars.”

As long as the two players continue to pride themselves on tough defense and hustle, this war is far from over.