There is a rivalry. The "one more three" game was the start and what made it into a rivalry in my opinion was coming back to TC and blowing us out by 30.
No, Jazz and Mavericks are always our rivals. We fans hate each other. Lakers are our rivals "sometimes". Especially right now since we stole Dwight from them. The Thunder are not our rival at all.
You may have missed some comments by KD, Kendrick "ugliest-man-in-the-NBA", and a certain Beverley-Westbrook incident last year. The Jazz are a long-term rival, but worthless this season. As of today's climate, I'd say it's: 1a. Thunder 1b. Lakers 3. Warriors 4. Mavericks "I was starting to hate those guys," Kevin Durant admitted at the post-game podium, paying tribute to the Rockets' stubborn resilience but also revealing a measure of the tension that has built up over the past two weeks and, really, these last six months. "I was starting to hate every one of them guys on their team. That's what happens in a series ... I'm sure they felt the same way about us."
Yeah I know about the Thunder, but I was referring long term rivalries. Thunder are not true rivals yet. Right now they are because we faced them in the playoffs. The warriors might be our new rivals depending how next year's games will be.
True. I'm just thinking in terms of what teams will likely come out amped up to play against the Rockets on game-days this season.
Golden State's only really a rival in the sense that both they and the Rockets are young, up-and-coming teams. There's just no historical weight to a win against them for me as a Rockets fan, even with the heated games last season. That said, Golden State's an interesting team for sure; they have a lot of question marks for the upcoming season. It just doesn't feel like their offseason moves actually improved the team. Iguodala's coming off of his worst year and about to pass the wrong side of 30, and Jack and Landry performed important roles on the team that weren't fully replaced by the new signings. Even if everyone on the Warriors is healthy for the whole season, the West is very top-heavy again this year, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them back at the 6th seed.
The Mavericks, Spurs and Jazz are our rivals. Okc is shaping up to be our rival. The Warriors might be a rival due to the massive beat down we gave them. So every time we play them, that game will be brought up. Now the Lakers without Kobe will not be a rivalry.
See the thing is, from speaking and communicating with Jazz fans, they pretty much don't see a rival at all. In their eyes, this Jazz-Rockets "rivalry" is one-sided. Granted, I grew up basically hating the Jazz (mainly for their flopping), but that "rivalry" is over. In fact, "rivalries" in professional sports, in my opinion, are way over-hyped. You can't go years without playing a team in the playoffs with a completely different roster and still be a legitimate "rival." College sports, with teams playing yearly, is where the true rivalries are. Any other "rivalry" at the pro level is purely in the heads of the fans.
What a drama queen, haha. Look, the biggest reason this is a 'rivalry' is because of the attitude of a certain GSW coach. It was fun watching him get mad.
