NEW YORK -- Exactly what was said between Paul Pierce and Quentin Richardson will remain between the two of them, because neither had the nerve to speak up about it afterward.
As for what was said by Eddie House, which the entire Knicks bench reacted to as though they had been summoned for a street fight, all we have is House's PG-rated version:
"Just keep it down," House said afterward, acknowledging that an adjective or two was being dropped. "It was a little more colorful than that, but that's the gist of it."
House infuriated the Knicks when he turned to their bench yelling and gesturing after knocking down a 3-pointer with 2:24 remaining to increase the Celtics' lead to 20 in Boston's 109-93 victory over New York on Monday afternoon.
As for what was said by Eddie House, which the entire Knicks bench reacted to as though they had been summoned for a street fight, all we have is House's PG-rated version:
"Just keep it down," House said afterward, acknowledging that an adjective or two was being dropped. "It was a little more colorful than that, but that's the gist of it."
House infuriated the Knicks when he turned to their bench yelling and gesturing after knocking down a 3-pointer with 2:24 remaining to increase the Celtics' lead to 20 in Boston's 109-93 victory over New York on Monday afternoon.
The Knicks immediately called a timeout, and a majority of them -- led by coach Isiah Thomas -- walked semi-menacingly toward center court as the timeout wound down, a moment that might have gotten out of hand if veteran referee Joey Crawford hadn't stepped over and said something to Thomas before the Celtics came away from their bench after their timeout.
"I have no comment on that," Thomas answered tersely afterward when asked about the exchange between House and the Knicks' bench, which ended up being the final confrontation in a day of snippiness.
"He's always got something to say," retorted House.
Bad blood and an intense rivalry has long existed between the Red Sox and Yankees in baseball, and the New York vs. New England dynamic is in for a two-week workout as the hype builds up toward the Super Bowl between the Giants and Patriots.
The Knicks and Celtics had a strong rivalry of their own back in the old days when they both managed to be relevant at the same time, though it has been dormant for a long, long while.
Perhaps it's back.
Prior to House's shout-out, Pierce and Richardson had been ejected after Richardson was overzealously physical in defending Pierce, drawing four personal fouls -- and causing the refs to call two double-technicals -- in the space of less than 2 ½ minutes midway through the third quarter.
Richardson called back to Pierce and challenged him to fight as he was being escorted off the court, and security guards and assistant coaches kept the peace by keeping Pierce from exiting the court until Richardson was safely out of the way. Several minutes later, security supervisors were scrambling to find enough burly bodies to station in the tunnel between the locker rooms just in case Pierce and Richardson decided to renew their difference of opinion beneath the stands.
"Q and Paul, they have a past of talking trash, and I guess the refs weren't really going to deal with it," Kevin Garnett said. "But there's not a night that we take the floor that teams aren't talking to us. We just have to keep our composure and understand what it is."
What it is, by the way, is a mixture of jealousy and toughness-testing from opponents -- the Knicks being just the latest -- looking to take a measure of just how good and just how composed these NBA-leading Celtics really are. Monday's victory was Boston's third in a row following a span of three losses in four games, meaning the Celtics can still get back to a 70-win pace if they win their next two -- Wednesday against Toronto and Friday against Minnesota, both at home -- before the mathematical midpoint of their season.
Monday's victory locked up a spot for Doc Rivers coaching the Eastern Conference All-Stars -- an accomplishment that was already such a given that owner Wyc Grousbeck revealed afterward that he chartered a plane a week ago to take Rivers and his coaching staff to New Orleans.
Despite the honor, Rivers was unhappy afterward due to the histrionics involving Pierce and Richardson, and later between House and the Knicks' bench.
"The scoreboard will talk. You don't need to run your mouth," Rivers said. "I wasn't happy with that, and I told the guys that this has happened a couple times, and we've gotten away with it."
But can they continue to get away with it? The answer will come as the Celtics are tested both physically and verbally over the second half of the season.
How they respond will be one of the true measures of their composure. And as of now, 70-win pace or not -- it's fair to say they're not always conducting themselves in a championship-level manner.
By Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com
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