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

Before Wednesday night’s Atlanta Hawks-Boston Celtics game, Paul Pierce mentioned bringing the “A game” whenever they came to play the Hawks.

In last season’s playoffs, the up-start Hawks pushed the Celtics series to seven games, winning all three games at home.

It was enough to get Atlanta excited about its Hawks again and there began whispers of the r-word—“rivalry.”

Some of the rivalry talk harks back to the Hawks’ original glory days, featuring Dominique Wilkins and current Celtics head coach, Doc Rivers.

The most memorable of all Hawks-Celtics 80’s playoff showdowns came in 1988. Games six and seven featured thrillers that came down to the wire and showcased the team’s biggest stars—Wilkins and the Celtics’ Larry Bird.

Game seven was concluded with Wilkins on the line, down by three, with five seconds remaining. The strategy was to make the first free-throw, miss the second, come down with the rebound, shoot and score, tie, and force overtime.

It didn’t happen that way and the Hawks were sent packing.

After the thrilling Hawks-Celtics game earlier this season, which saw Paul Pierce hit a jump shot with .5 seconds remaining to give the Celtics the one-point win, the rivalry talk started up again.

Surely Dec. 17 was marked in red in the Hawks’ locker room since that game. It proved to be another memorable game, but unfortunately for the Hawks, concluded the same way.

The Celtics entered the game having won 15 straight. The Hawks, after spending a week on the road, had won two straight at home—one against the East’s other hottest team, the Cavaliers, and the other against one of the league’s worst teams, a title arguably held by Atlanta not too long ago, the Charlotte Bobcats

With two seconds remaining, Joe Johnson toed the free-throw line for an opportunity to tie the game at 86. The 82 percent free-throw shooter was expected to make both. He missed the second and Kevin Garnett came down with the rebound, in a conclusion oddly similar to that Game seven in 1988.

These Hawks know nothing of that rivalry. Joe Johnson was eight years old at the time. Josh Smith, Atlanta’s do-it-all man and Atlanta native, was just two years old.

However, Atlanta was unable to come away with wins against the Celtics.

And that raises the age-old question: If a team can’t beat its “rival,” is it really a “rivalry” and does anyone, other than the loser, really care?

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.