We often wonder what opposing teams, their beat reporters and bloggers are saying about the Celtics. Here’s a look at some enemy chatter from around the league.
All the NBA blogs on SB Nation are writing about and polling fans about rival teams. Needless to say, the Celtics are a very popular choice. Here’s a sampling…
45% of Knicks fans say the Celtics are their biggest rival:
Reasons: A bunch of recent games that came down to the last second, a recent history of small fights and hard fouls, the 2011 playoffs, Paul Pierce,Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and oh man I hate the Celtics so much.
Rivarly? The Knicks are the nail to the Celtics hammer.
How about the Hawks?
Games 6 and 7 of the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals still burns a hole in the Celtics current coach and then Hawks point guard Doc Rivers. The Celtics ended Mike Fratello’s Dominique Wilkins-led teams two seasons out of three, crushing the Hawks’ best chances to advance past the hard playoff ceiling that has been the second round.
In 2007, the upstart Hawks took on the Celtics and their Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce and took them to a surprising seven games, marking the Hawks’ return to relevancy even in losing.
To quote KG – “I’m not addressing nor entertaining nobodies.”
73% of Miami Heat fans voted for the Celtics:
This rivalry is “newer” but has become the biggest enemy of the Big 3 era and has the potential for even more epic battles to come, or at least until Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce hang it up. The Big 3’s first regular season game was against the Celtics, whose triple superstar formula is acknowledged to have inspired the Heat’s own championship blueprint, and the battles in both postseasons that have seen the Heat victorious but not without giving their all against a team that always plays their best against the Heat. Swiping Ray Allen away from the Celtics months after beating them in 7 games in the Eastern Conference Finals just adds more fuel to the fire and another fascinating storyline to a rivalry that is getting more and more interesting.
A valid choice. I absolutely hate the Heat.
But I think we all know the Celtics biggest rival:
No Laker fan needs to be told this to remember it. There is another team as successful as the Lakers, more successful in fact, in the only metric that truly matters. They are the Boston Celtics, and even though some will write off Boston’s dominance as a remnant of their distant past, there is no doubt they are the Lakers’ chief rival, because nobody else is even in the competition. Boston has 17 titles. The Lakers have 16. After that comes Chicago with six (all from a once in a lifetime player who isn’t coming back). It can honestly be said that no team is likely ever to surpass either LA or Boston in total championships, and so the two teams remain destined to fight each other into the sunset for the title of league’s most victorious franchise.
If you want a good laugh, read the comments in any of those blogs. The fans absolutely hate us. Lakers fans are still sour about their team quitting in 2008, while the Celtics fought valiantly to the finish in 2010.
The Celtics ranked 2nd in polls by Pistons fans and Magic fans. The 76ers blogger admits he’s too young to consider the Celtics as rivals.
Let us know what you think in the poll to the right or in the comment section.
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