Is Boston-Atlanta the next great NBA rivalry?

It seems that whenever the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks are playing, epics are being created. In the 2008 NBA Playoffs, the eighth-seeded Hawks gave the Celtics all they could handle in the first round, taking the series to seven games. And against Atlanta at home, it took 34 points, 16 trips to the free-throw line, and a classic game-winning jumper by Paul Pierce with 0.5 seconds left in the game for Boston to barely beat a Hawks squad that is getting feistier by the day. Forget about Bird vs. Dominique for a second. It's all about the Celtics of KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce against the Atlanta Hawks of Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby and Josh Smith. Although it's way too early to come to conclusions, we may be seeing the beginning of the NBA's next great rivalry. Here's why.