Whether it be Pedro Martinez tossing an overweight old man in Don Zimmer or Kevin Garnett starting a scuffle with former New York Knick, Bill Walker, the Boston and New York rival always is a heated one.  However, it always seems to be that the Boston representatives are quick to shoot the fair one when the New York opponent is clearly the underdog.  

Kevin Garnett, a noted trash talker and incredibly aggressive NBA great, also has a reputation for fighting. Yet, it always seems that he is fighting someone closer to the size of my 6-foot frame rather than someone who can look him in the eyes. If we go back to Christmas of 2011, we see him get physical with Knicks Shooting Guard, Bill Walker.

Garnett was more than ready to exchange blows with a man nearly half of a foot smaller than himself so when the assumption came about that Garnett is merely a school yard bully, one hell of a ball player none the less, there was not much anyone could say to oppose it.

On January 7th, 2013, we saw KG’s true colors. He may wear green, but he is, as they say in his native southern parts of the country, yellow. When Knicks forward, Carmelo Anthony, confronted Garnett, we all watched as Garnett walked away with his back toward Melo and his tail between his legs.

One of the leagues top prospects for the 2012-2013 MVP, Carmelo Anthony, has a lot more to lose than the ill-tempered Garnett, yet he was persistent in his attempt to put a pot of gold where the Celtics superstars mouth is. Whether it was KG walking away from the conflict which he allegedly started or Anthony waiting for him outside of practice, the “Fighting Irish” Celtic was no where to be found.

All of this leads to one big question: exactly two and a half weeks after the initial war of words, what will these two teams bring us?  It is not October baseball between the forever bitter rivals, the New York Yankees and the Boston Redsox, and it is not even the NBA Playoffs yet. However, this is a potential Playoff match up with the intensity of a Heavy Weight bout. The game between the Knicks and the Celtics this coming January 24th may as well be a pay-per-view event.

It will for sure have the competitive edge and most importantly, we will watch as the two prior mentioned superstars square up for 48 minutes on prime time TV. New York won the battle of words but lost the fight of the game on January 7th but this time on January 24th, I believe the almighty and newly charged orange and blue will win the fight along with the respect of the yellow Celtic in green.

Alex Kellish | Elite.