The NBA has accomplished a spectacular job with Rivalry Week. Sam Presti vs. his mentors in Oklahoma Metropolis took a backseat to Chet Holmgren vs. Victor Wembanyama. That conflict felt like a future NBA Finals showdown. Devin Booker and Luka Doncic exchanged their normal vitriol and potshots at each other. Nevertheless, the nourishment of an already budding rivalry was probably the most related takeaway from this week in NBA motion. The Milwaukee Bucks used rivalry week as a chance to dial up the depth of their try and catch the Boston Celtics within the Japanese Convention.
It wouldn’t have been full with out the Bucks ejecting Adrian Griffin to make room for the coaching narcotic that is Glenn “Doc” Rivers. In a number of weeks, will probably be as if Griffin by no means existed on the Bucks sideline. The Bucks actually didn’t appear too bummed of their first sport since Griffin was fired.
Rivers is revered in Boston. Perhaps not as a lot as Invoice Belichick, however on par with Terry Francona. He’s liable for the Boston Celtics franchise’s most up-to-date championship, and in December, called his stint in Boston the best period of his life in sports, earlier than he was honored at TD Backyard. For the second time although, Rivers can be thrust into an obligation that places him in battle with the Celtics. Boston’s stranglehold over the division was amplified by the acquisition of former Buck Jrue Vacation by way of a 3rd social gathering.
If Vacation winding up in Boston’s backcourt was the opening salvo within the Boston-Milwaukee wars, then Rivers is the escalation. The final time Boston and Milwaukee confronted off in a seven-game collection, Boston clobbered Milwaukee in a seventh sport. This time, it’s private. The Lillard-Vacation matchup goes to be a storyline that defines any potential collection, however Rivers and Vacation make this extra difficult than in years previous.
On the time Lillard was acquired, Vacation was framed because the Demar DeRozan substitute in a commerce that was analogous to the Raptors 2019 acquisition of Kawhi Leonard. It was a danger to their chemistry, however the hope was {that a} shakeup of the roster would encourage Giannis Antetokounmpo to re-up for an extension and propel a contender that had regressed again to an NBA Finals. Lillard’s acquisition offered offensive firepower and a secondary scorer who may ease Antetokounmpo’s load, however the Lillard-Vacation additionally depressed a protection that usually ranked among the many league’s finest throughout Mike Budenholzer’s tenure.
Finally, their bottom-third protection performed a key position in Griffin’s firing. It might not have been the one motive, however it was a big catalyst. If Rivers had been unemployed a 12 months earlier, I wouldn’t have put it previous the Celtics to nominate him as Ime Udoka’s substitute as soon as he was suspended and finally dismissed earlier than the 2022-23 season for having an inappropriate relationship with an worker.
There’s just one factor that may repair each groups. A hypothetical Doc Rivers and Damian Lillard for Joe Mazzulla and Brad Stevens swap makes each franchises complete. Who says no? Vacation might be extra beloved in Milwaukee than in Boston to this point. Proper now, how’s fourth fiddle to Derrick White? Should you requested Bucks followers in the present day in the event that they’d make the Lillard commerce once more understanding what they know now, half would say sure. As for Lillard, he’d get to pair with a backcourt companion who can disguise his defensive, um, inadequacies. Rivers and the Celtics simply belong collectively like Invoice Russell and Beantown. Boston’s President of Basketball Operations would descend again to the sidelines to fulfill that teaching itch for a contender.
Perhaps that is one thing to revisit within the offseason if the Philadelphia 76ers lastly attain their apex and win the East. Celtics possession wouldn’t hesitate if they’ll’t recover from the championship hump once more. The Greeks had a phrase for forces uniting in opposition to a 3rd social gathering: Sunkretizein. Nobody besides Jayson Tatum is protected on Boston’s transient roster.
Coincidentally, one of many final situations of a coach being traded was the Celtics sending Rivers to the Clippers in alternate for a 2015 first-round choose, which Boston used on a guard out of Georgia State who by no means factored into their rotation.
Finally, that is far too difficult to make occur, however take into consideration the upsides for each groups. Rivers and Vacation collapsing the arc of one another’s careers into an ideal time loop is an thought so loopy, that it simply may work. The NBA can get bizarre, so by no means say by no means. Within the meantime, we are able to accept the difficult feelings that can stem from a Celtics and Bucks playoff collection.
Observe DJ Dunson on X: @cerebralsportex
