This is a sponsored post brought to you by TiqIQ

One of the NBA's greatest rivalries gets a restart this week when the Lakers travel to Boston for a Thursday night match-up with the Celtics. Both teams have had somewhat disappointing starts to the season, with both just a few games above the .500 mark and a win on Thursday could be the confidence boost both these teams need.

At an average price ticket of $163 per seat this is the fourth most expensive game in Boston this season and If you'd like to see it live then we've got a deal for you. Through our ticket partner TIqIQ, you can essentially pick your price via the TiqIQ "make an offer" feature from Score Big. For Thursday night's game, a "2 star" seat that usually goes for $100+ (after all the shipping and handling fees) can be scored for an offer of $74. But you need to make a fast break for this ticket deal, as it expires Wednesday at 7pm ET!

Make your offer today right here: http://tiqiq.us/7cn

Please use this thread to comment on and follow along with the Super Bowl.

Also, if you haven't already, check out the fantastic Patriots blog called Pat's Pulpit. Here's the intro to their blog on the team's improved defense.

Super Bowl XLVI: 5 Reasons The Patriots Defense is Different - Pats Pulpit

One of the constant themes that we've heard in the two weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLVI is that both teams are "better." From a Patriots perspective, it's not hard to see why. The team has won ten straight games and is peaking at the right time, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And while we keep hearing about these improvements, no one has really gone into detail about what they are on the defensive side of the ball. Today, I will tackle that question by providing five "reasons" that the Patriots defense is different than the defense that fell apart against the Giants in the final minutes nearly three months ago:

You'll have to follow the link above for the reasons.

Go Patriots! (sorry Giants fans)

See below for a ticket offer from our partners at TiqIQ. Act fast!

Offer ends @ Noon - Celtics take on Raptors from TD Garden tomorrow night. Get in cheap: Make an Offer of $40/ticket on two "4-star" tickets and save almost $40 off the price of each ticket + No Service or Shipping fees. Act fast and save!

Click here for the offer.

In case you haven't noticed, we've got some great site partners named TiqIQ that search for resale ticket deals and bring you the best deals. They would like to pass along this offer to you.

It's been a rocky start for the Celtics this season, but with three wins in their last four games it looks like they may have weathered that storm. Friday night will be a big test as the Pacers come to town to face KG and company at TD Garden. Indy has already beaten the Boston twice this season--both by double figures--so if they're are going to put that bad start behind them a win on Friday would be big for the Celtics and their fans. Through our ticket partner TIqIQ, you can essentially pick your price via the TiqIQ "make an offer" feature from Score Big. For Friday night's game, a "4 star" seat that usually goes for $140+ (after all the shipping and handling fees) can be scored for an offer of $60. But you need to make a fast break for this ticket deal, as it expires at 7pm on Thursday! Make your offer today right here: http://tiqiq.us/75P

Congrats to the Patriots, who could join the Bruins as Boston area reigning champs if they win one more game. And then the Celtics will go on an epic tear and win the Finals and then the Red Sox will fulfill all the promise they squandered last year with a World Series victory and all will be right in the world once more. Right? Well, hopefully 2 out of four at least. Check out Pats Pulpit for all your Patriots info.

Patriots Headed to Super Bowl XLVI - Pats Pulpit

With a 23-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship, the New England Patriots advance to their sixth Super Bowl in the Robert Kraft era. The Patriots' victory wasn't pretty, but in the end, the only thing that matters is the scoreboard. Tom Brady had an off day for the Patriots, he threw two interceptions and made some questionable throws. Defensively, the Patriots kept points off the board, forced a key turnover in the fourth quarter, and ultimately made two big plays to hold the Ravens to what would be a game tying field goal.

Side note: Bill Belichek was the defensive coordinator on Parcells' staff when Scott Norwood went wide right. Today he watched the Ravens kicker go wide left. There's a symmetry there.

As the team continues to struggle, the price of Celtics tickets is dropping. See graphics below.

If the team is going to turn things around and get things going in the right direction, the coming weeks would be a great time to do it.

If you were looking to score cheap tickets to the Celtics, you should check out our tickets page that searches several resale online brokers for the best deals.

Get your tickets here.