Oh? what a wonderful time of the year to be a basketball fan.  The NBA?s best go at it every night. Tight contest after tight contest, each team engaged in an arm wrestle trying to get the upper hand.  Each team?s fans trying to out do each other as the series moves back and forth.  Plots, sub-plots, and most importantly rivalries.

Out West Dallas owner Mark Cuban is plotting his own vendetta against the Sacramento Kings after his Mavericks were subjected to an ear lashing with the aid of cow bells of all things, Cuban urging Dallas fans to make as much noise as possible ? and to bring some artificial noisemakers as well ? as the series moved back to Texas.  That psychological battle is set to continue tonight, but out East last night there a new rivalry was brewing.

When the NBA?s young puppies and elder statesmen clash under the intensity of playoff basketball a players? emotional stature can be a fragile thing.  A situation which a player would simply shrug off and dismiss without an additional thought during the regular season could turn into a heated series of events, just like the situation has between Antoine Walker of the Boston Celtics and Cliff Robinson of the Detroit Pistons.

It was Robinson who was the hero in the opening game, scoring 30 points including six bombs from down town, finding holes in the Celtics defense that Boston coach Jim O?Brien didn?t believe were there.  The Pistons won big in that game, suggesting perhaps that this might be a short series.

Game 2 played last night was a different story.  The Celtics held the lead for most of the game, Robinson ?was held? to only 13 points, and it was Boston?s Antoine Walker to heated up early.

Walker would cool off, not scoring until hitting a three pointer early in the fourth quarter, but when the game was seemingly won it was time for his mouth to start heating up, something that Robinson did not appreciate.

"Everybody knows what kind of player he is; he's a front-runner," said Robinson. "A front-runner who only cares about individual accomplishments. He started off talking a lot at the beginning of the game when he hit a couple of shots. When things got tight throughout the game he had nothing to say. At the end of the game when it looked like he was going to win the game, he starts talking again.?
"That's front-running. The fact that he would even quote, 'Oh, I've been an All-Star two years.' . . . What the (expletive) does that have to do with anything? He's a front-runner. Like he said, he'll see me Friday; I'll see him Friday.?

Walker avoided talking about the two?s chat while on the court, simply stating that they should direct all their attention to Robinson.  Robinson, however, did not let reporters down with responses like "How many times has he taken that team to the playoffs??, implying that Walker has done nothing to justify running his mouth just yet.

The series is set to continue in Boston on Friday.  They both have talked the talk, now for the sake of their teams it is time for them to walk the walk.