With the 2013 NBA Playoffs set to begin, 16 teams will face off to compete for the NBA Championship. Perhaps the most anticipated matchup in the Playoffs’ opening round pits the New York Knicks against their Atlantic Division rivals, the Boston Celtics.
Battles between the Knicks and Celtics are as old as the NBA itself. Since 1946, Boston and New York have played 13 playoff series, 61 playoff games, and over 400 regular season games. Geographic proximity between their cities has made this rivalry particularly bitter and intense, especially considering the vastly divergent histories of the two franchises.
The Celtics stand as the NBA’s most revered dynasty. With a record 17 NBA Championships, Boston has regularly run rampant over New York, winning 21 Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division Championships. In their most recent Playoff meeting in 2011, the Celtics swept the Knicks in four games.
The Knicks on the other hand have long played second fiddle to the Celtics. Save for two Championships in the 1970s (including a stunning Game Seven victory in the 1973 Conference Finals against the Celtics in Boston Garden) and three Finals appearances in the ‘90s, the Knicks have rarely found success thanks to Boston’s dominance. Despite valiant efforts to topple the Celtics (their epic seven-game conference semifinal matchup in 1984 in particular), the Knicks have rarely lived up to the prestige of playing on basketball’s biggest stage, Madison Square Garden. Thanks to problem players, hapless coaches, and bungled front office decisions, the Knicks boast only one playoff victory since 2001.
This year however, the stars seem aligned for the Knicks. Led by high-scoring superstar Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks surged to their first division title since 1994. The Celtics, meanwhile, have suffered a string of injuries, losing superstar point guard Rajon Rondo to a torn ACL along with much of their supporting cast. The Celtics have struggled to find consistency throughout the season, limping to a .500 record after making major offseason personnel changes.
However, no one appears ready to count out the underdogs Celtics. The Celtics are known for coming on strong when all appears lost. They scraped and banged their way to the 2010 NBA Finals before succumbing to the Lakers after seven bitterly-fought games. In 2012, the Celtics came within minutes of the NBA Finals as they pushed the mighty Miami Heat to seven games.
Both teams have much to prove—the Celtics that they can still compete with the NBA’s finest, and the Knicks that they are a real threat in the East and are finally capable of bringing down the Celtics’ powerhouse. A Knicks victory would gain them massive respect, while another defeat would only fuel the notion that the Knicks are merely paper tigers built for the regular season and that Boston is still a force to be reckoned with. While no one knows what will happen in this best-of-seven slugfest, fans and players alike will have quite the time finding out.
Charles Surette is a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected]