Atlanta-Boston: Hawks Fall Short Again, Rivalry With Celtics Still In Question

Garnett doesn’t think so. In his post-game comments on Wednesday night, he attempted to set the record straight.  “For the record, this is not a rivalry. You have to win some games for it to be a rivalry. But they are a very good team.”

Surely the Hawks appreciate Garnett’s endorsement. Point guard Rajon Rondo added, “If they played everybody the way they play us, they’d be a top five team in the league.”

Comments like those smack of a sibling rivalry, but a real bonafide rivalry?

Joe Johnson thinks so. Speaking about the two teams, he said, “It’s crazy…But I think it has become just that. I mean look at the game up there we lost earlier this season, a game we should have won.”

Most athletes will say they should have won every game. The competitive nature of sports dictates that. Otherwise, it’s just the little leagues all over again.

Johnson continued, “It’s so much trash talking, and I think that’s what makes it such a big rivalry. You look at all the altercations that came throughout that series. It’s a rivalry when you know that there’s going to be a fight for your life every time you face a team.”

Johnson added that it would be that way each time Atlanta played the Celtics.

Despite what the Celtics said after the game, they sure played like the game meant a little more. Sure they’re the enemies in every city they play. Everyone wants to take the defending champions down.

But they played with a higher sense of urgency Wednesday night.

Late in the second quarter, Rivers drew a technical foul when he challenged Garnett’s second foul of the game on an illegal screen call.

It seemed every time Garnett scored, he was pounding his chest, and while that is not all that uncommon, he seemed to pound a little harder and stare at the Atlanta crowd a little more fiercely.

And who couldn’t help but notice Pierce stiffly dragging his finger across his throat, which is the universal sign for “it’s over.” Who does that in a regular season game, barely a third of the way into the season?

Most agree with Garnett—to help a rivalry’s cause, the underdog needs to win a few times.

Regardless of the outcomes this season, this young Hawks team seems to relish playing the Celtics. The fifth-youngest team in the league gains a little more seasoning each time they meet and they looked primed for a playoff run.

You can bet in that calendar in the locker room, they also have the dates March 27 and April 3 circled and re-circled. Those are the next two meetings of these teams and with 10 games to play in the season, there may be a lot riding on those games.

And you can expect the Hawks to enter those two games with the best intentions of coming out with wins, and perhaps making this a real rivalry.

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