Rondo on Heat: "It's not a rivalry but I still don't like those guys"


The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat will meet again on Tuesday night in Miami. Boston and Miami have had it out for each other ever since the Heat began their own "big three" era. With the rivalry expected to cool down this season, the Celtics took the first meeting in thrilling fashion, shocking the Heat on a game winning three pointer by Jeff Green.

Now that Rajon Rondo has returned to the Celtics' lineup, some of that rivalry buzz is back surrounding the upcoming matchup. Not if you ask Rondo though:

I'm not big on creating "rivalry" games too easily - the Celtics true rivals will always be the Lakers. Games against the Heat mean a lot to the Celtics just as they do to every other team in the league. It's taking a shot against the defending champs and it's taking a shot against the best player in the world, good motivation to bring your best game.

If anything, having Rondo back should make this more of a reason to get up if you are the Heat. Rondo has gone off for some huge games against Miami, especially on the playoff stage. But for the Celtics, this is just a marquee game on the schedule, which also happens to be against some guys Rajon Rondo doesn't like (which apparently is the case every night).

Boston and Miami had a couple of nice playoff battles, but with the Celtics rebuilding and the Heat's future hinging on LeBron's decision 2.0, any rivalry aspect to this game seems to be gone.

Follow Julian on Twitter @julianedlow

Read more of Julian's articles here
Share