With the recent discussion of the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks being a rivalry, I decided to do a little research to determine if this is a rivalry or not, at least in recent years.  We all know about the New York and Boston rivalry that stems from the Red Sox and Yankees, and more recently Jets and Patriots.  When talking about basketball though, that is a different story.

“It’s a rivalry?” Paul Pierce said. “You all are letting me in on all the new stuff. I didn’t know we had a rivalry going.”

“I don’t know what that is, the whole rivalry thing, because it really hasn’t been one,” Doc Rivers coach of the Celtics said. “We both were bad for a while, we’ve been good for a while. The two teams haven’t exactly matched for a long time.”

Both teams were pretty bad from 2001-2006, with the Knicks continuing to be bad until this season in which they have a 16-9 record. Having said this, bad teams don’t make for rivalries, as no one can remember any memorable games between the two, nor can anyone think of any high stake games such as playoff series. 

	Boston		New York
Season	Wins	Losses	Wins	Losses
2010-2011	19	4	16	9
2009-2010	50	32	29	53
2008-2009	62	20	32	50
2007-2008	66	16	23	59
2006-2007	24	58	33	49
2005-2006	33	49	23	59
2004-2005	45	37	33	49
2003-2004	36	46	39	43
2002-2003	44	38	37	45
2001-2002	49	33	30	52
2000-2001	36	46	48	34
	464	379	343	502
	55%		41%

This is what Wiki had to say on the NBA Rivalry, as you can see, they don’t really state that it is a rivalry except for the basic location facts should imply it would be one.

Season	Boston	PTS	New York	PTS
2010-2011	1	105	0	101
2009-2010	3	427	1	412
2008-2009	3	432	1	406
2007-2008	4	423	0	348
2006-2007	3	398	1	403
2005-2006	3	425	1	398
2004-2005	3	414	1	383
2003-2004	1	335	3	359
2002-2003	4	418	0	372
2001-2002	4	400	0	366
2000-2001	1	372	3	384
	30	4149	11	3932
		101.2		95.9

Clearly, Paul Pierce is right when he was confused as to why this was viewed as a Rivalry for the up coming game.  However, do not be surprised is this match up becomes a rivalry in the near future.