THE NBA MOST INTENSE PLAYOFF RIVALRIES

LAKERS VS CELTICS

The creme de la creme. East Coast vs. West Coast. Blue Collar vs. Laid Back Surfer Dude. Sprinkle in some of the greatest players of all time and you have a rivalry that makes Neilson ratings and general basketball fans excitement go way up!

This rivalry has it all, history, consistency and story-lines galore. It all started in 1959 when the Celtics beat up the Minneapolis Lakers. In the 60's they met six times in the Finals with the Celtics winning each time. Ok, not much of a rivalry yet, I know.

The teams took the 70's off, but renewed their rivalry with vigor in the 80's. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird changed everything. The kid with the winning smile and the stud with the porn-star mustache injected new life into the greatest rivalry in basketball. The teams met three times in that decade with the Lakers winning two of the three.

The 2008 Finals pitted the two most successful franchises in history yet again. Think about it, 50.s, 60's, 80's and today; there is no more enduring and compelling NBA rivalry than the Lakers vs. the Celtics.

BULLS VS KNICKS

This one started in the 80's but didn't get hot until the 90's. Where the Michael Jordan led Bulls had to get over the Pistons to move on to greatness, the Knicks needed to climb Mount Jordan. They were never quite able to make it.

In 1989 the Bull not only beat the Knicks be demoralized them in a six game upset. That win propelled the Bulls to greatness and the Knicks began to falter. In 1991 they met again with the Bulls sweeping the Knicks. That was the series were MJ managed his unreal posterizing of Patrick Ewing.

Its Ewing that actually makes this series stand out for me. All athletics think they are better than their opponent. They don't all say it, but why take the floor if you don't think you're better or can be better? Ewing not only thought he was a better center then Bill Cartwright, he was, but he was convinced his Knicks were better than the Bulls.

Sorry Pat, they weren't. The Knicks could never beat the Bulls!

Well, at least not with Jordan aboard. When MJ skipped out to play baseball the Knicks finally got past the Bulls. It was bittersweet of course, because it took seven games even without His Airness and they would eventually lose in the Finals to the ROckets.

The rivalry was renewed when MJ came to his senses and laced em up again in 1996. The Bulls with MJ were a lot different than the Bulls without him. Chicago beat New York 4-1.

LAKERS VS KINGS

Sure this one is relatively new, only really becoming a full-fledged rivalry in 2000, but it got intense quick. In 2000 the Kings scared the Lakers but the team from LA prevailed.

In 2001 the Lakers steamrolled the Kings, but in 2002 things were different. The Kings had the Lakers knocked down, but could never deliver the final knock-out punch.

Instead, the punch in 2002 was delivered by the Lakers Robert Horry.

Like the Sixers vs. Celtics series earlier however the Lakers vs. Kings battle was so intense it flowed into meaningless games. The same year that Robery Horry broke the hearts of Northern California basketball fans the two teams met in a pre-season game.

Rick Fox and Doug Christie got into a skirmish. In typical basketball fashion, the two were separated and ejected. Rick Fox however wasn't content to take the rest of the night off. He ran around to the Kings tunnel leading to their locker-room and confronted Christie. A fight broke out that resulted in suspensions for both.

Now, that's a rivalry!

PISTONS VS BULLS

Whats not to love about a Chicago vs. Detroit series? The Bad Boys, the Jordan Rules, the bad blood; this was a classic series between to teams that seemed to genuinely not like each other. The only reason its ranked this low is because we haven't seen the match up in a while.

Back in the day, the Pistons were the Bad Boys. The team of players that didn't believe in giving up an easy layup to their opponent. They were the dominant mountain that the Michael Jordan led Bulls had to climb to reach the top. In 1988 MJ torched the Pistons for 59 points in a Bull victory leaving coach Chuck Daly livid. It was the only game the Bulls would win in that series that year.

The two met up again in 1989 with the Pistons employing the "Jordan Rules" to slow down the Bull superstar. Whether the Rules ever existed or not is debatable, what isn't is that, once again, the Pistons defeated the Bulls this time in six games. The next year, it took the Pistons seven games, the Bulls were gaining.

The rest is history. The Bulls climbed the Piston mountain and went on to greatness.

The 2006-2007 match-up between these two iconic franchises seems like a distant memory, for the Pistons. Hurry back Detroit!