The newly minted Sixers GM, who was hired on May 14, is amassing assets as is his counterpart in Boston. The difference now is that one team, Boston, has recognizable talent on its roster, an 
intriguing young coach, and an equally intriguing roster on which the oldest player is 31. The Celtics have embarked on a very serious and legitimate rebuilding plan.
What this means for the 2013-14 season is a temporary cessation of the longest playoff rivalry in the history of the NBA. The Sixers-Celtics East semifinal in 2012 marked the 19th time the franchises have met in the playoffs, more than any other two teams. But only two of those 19 have come in the last 28 years – 2002 and 2012.
The epic battles came in the 1960s, when the franchises met six times, including five straight years. In those days, they also met as many as 10 times in the regular season and a few more in the exhibition season.
In the 1980s, they met four times in the postseason, including three straight years. They played six times during the regular season and arguably their most remembered matchup was a 1983 exhibition game which featured three fights, with Red Auerbach chasing Moses Malone and Bird ripping the sports jacket of Sixers coach Billy Cunningham.
Ah, those were the days.
Two words defined the rivalry: rage and hatred. But those twin feelings have all but disappeared in the last quarter century as one team or the other went into a funk. For the Celtics, it was the Rick Pitino era in the late 1990s and the beginning of Doc Rivers’ nine-year run.
The Sixers bottomed out after Larry Brown left in 2003. They had gone nine years and four 
playoff appearances without winning a series until they upset the Derrick Rose-less Bulls in the first round of 2012.
That Sixers team, with a roster that included Iguodala, Turner, Holiday, Spencer Hawes, Thaddeus Young and Williams, looked ready to join the East’s elite. But the men who helped assemble that cast, Rod Thorn and Ed Stefanski, are gone. The man who coached them, Doug Collins, is gone.
The Sixers won 34 games last season and, before their final game, Collins told his team, “get your hands together, look around this room and realize this is the NBA and this room will change.”
How right he was.
Change is also in the air in Boston. These teams may indeed be fighting for something next season, but it won’t be for another trip to the conference finals.
Peter May is the only writer who covered the final NBA games played by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. He has covered the league for three decades for The Hartford Courant and The Boston Globe and has written three books on the Boston Celtics. His work also appears in The New York Times. You can follow him on Twitter.
allow me to add, the real problem in brooklyn is that Deron has had two bad years and JJ is coming off a miserable season. If they regain form, then sure, brooklyn is a four seed….but without that happening, its more like a 7 or 8 seed.
You obviously don’t follow the details. JJ was playing on 1 leg during the Chicago series, due to Plantar Fasciitis – otherwise Nets would have lost to Heat. Deron was injured until rest and multiple treatments for his ankle injury, at the All Star break. He was maybe top PG in NBA after after that point.
KG and Pierce still have plenty of Gas if they aren’t overused. Fortunately, Nets are loaded at PF with Blatche, Evans and Teletovic, and at SF with Kirilenko (and Shengelia) to give KG and PP plenty of rest.
Nets clearly have the best starting 5 in the NBA, and if Terry proves that he was just injured last season, Nets reserves will be strong too.
Terry, Blatche, AK, Evans and Livingston will be fine as the 2nd unit.
Nets should best team in NBA on paper. If healthy they should win it all.
no deron was not, but ok, thats subjective. JJ was hurt, well so was half the league. The popular take is that the nets are contenders. But i disagree. KG has no gas left. And honestly pierce cant defend. He literally cannot move laterally. I think Im not the one missing details here. And why cant people disagree without constant snark. Jesus Im tired of how rude people on threads are. KG was terrible last post season. Pierce was up and down, but defensively almost a dead loss. Deron has not performed up to the player he was in utah. Only time will tell who is right about the coach killer. The best thing this team did was dump Humphries ….but Im not sure why people have such faith in a back court that was simply bad, a center with limited defense (though effective offensive game) and what else? I mean loaded you say? Evans? Livingston and Terry???? Seriously my friend……thats my point in a nutshell. Most overrated team right now and exactly like the lakers last off season.
not sure the point of this article. But….i will say boston is being underrated by a lot of people right now. Who is the power in the east? Miami, Indiana and Chicago. Period. Anyone who believes the Nets are magically a contender doesnt grasp reality. KG is out of gas….and pierce close to it. PP cant play any defense anymore, and is only effective on offense in limited doses. Knicks are toast. Potentially new york isnt even a playoff team, except the east is so weak. Boston has rondo, bass, sullinger, bradley AND olynyk, who i think is very promising and jeff green….I mean its a five or six seed. Who else is there? Toronto is better….Big Val should have a break out year. Atlanta is toast, detroit has the josh smith problem…might be better….bucks? no, sixers no, and so who is left?
Woahh you are deffinitely crazy if you think New York is “toast”. New York is underrated every year. Last year we were ranked as 4th in our division and 7th or 8th seed in the East and we came out on top thru every injury in the book. If were healthy this year we are a Top 3 team in the east, division champs and a 55+ win team