But a win for New York tonight would speak volumes without Richardson saying a word as it would keep the Celtics from matching history.

Despite Richardson's dislike for his Atlantic Division rival, one thing even he acknowledges he can't knock is an NBA championship.

"They're the world champions, no matter what," Richardson said recently. "Whatever the situation is, they're the world champions. They fought hard. They deserved it. You can't take that from them ...

"I always enjoy playing against the best teams and some of the best players in the league. I always get pumped for that."

With a victory tonight, Boston (25-2) can match the best start in NBA history, set by the 1966-67 NBA champion Philadelphia 76ers and the 1969-70 NBA champion New York Knicks. The Celtics have also won 17 straight games and can tie the franchise record for consecutive wins, set by the 1981-82 squad.

The Celtics won the first meeting of the season against the Knicks, 110-101, Nov. 18. But today's Knicks (11-15) are different from the November Knicks, as forwards Al Harrington and Tim Thomas have replaced guard Jamal Crawford and forward Zach Randolph after trades.

After the Nov. 18 game, Richardson garnered notice by saying he would be "real curious to see what those [Celtics players] will be saying if we weren't in a Basketball league, and didn't have referees" and "some of those guys are happy to get a ring, but you ain't been in the league long enough to talk to people like that."

On Richardson's comments, Pierce said yesterday, "It's hard for me to put a finger on it. He isn't talking about me. He said a lot of these guys haven't played enough years to talk like that. I'm in my 11th year. I don't know how many years I need. But I don't get caught up into all that.

"I just think it's just them trying to find an edge to get under our skin, and that's about it."

Looking back on comments he made early last season about the Celtics not being intimidating, Richardson said, "I voiced my personal opinion. When I said it back then, if you go around the NBA and talk to how many players, no one is going to concede victory to them even though they're the champions. They weren't at that time. Who does that?

"... If you concede victory before you go out and play, you've lost already."

An NBA scout sitting near the Knicks at the Nov. 18 game said Richardson told Randolph after a timeout that he was getting in Pierce's head.

When asked about the bitter rivalry with Pierce, Richardson said, "It's a long story. It's not important. It's a sidebar to the game."

Pierce, however, said he has no problems with the Chicago native and said he remembers hosting him when he visited the University of Kansas. Pierce said the only reason they might have a rivalry is because they guard each other a lot in NBA games and offseason workouts in Los Angeles and Chicago.

"We play against each other so much in the summer and we're always talking trash," Pierce said. "You know how they do in Chicago, that's all they do is talk stuff. That's all summer ball is. I don't have any beef with Q."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers won't be surprised if the jawing continues tonight.

"For whatever reason, it's been there and I think [tonight] will be no different," Rivers said. "We just got to make sure we just do our job and play. Just talk to ourselves and leave the other stuff alone.

"But I'm sure there will be some [trash talking]. That's just how those games go."

Pierce doesn't know why there is so much drama when these teams meet.

"I guess we play them so much through the preseason and four times during the season," he said. "I don't know what it is."

But even with all the trash talking, Richardson doesn't expect it to ever be more than that.

"We don't play in the same days that [ex-Knicks center] Herb [Williams] and those guys play in where you push, punch, and maybe you even get a technical," Richardson said. "Now it's a different game. You don't have to worry about that as much. You can get suspended. It's a totally different story."

Streak? What streak? "We haven't even talked about it, not once," Pierce said. "We haven't talked about the streak. We haven't talked about any records. We just come to practice every day trying to get better. It's all about how we are playing from game to game. We understand once the playoffs start, all that stuff goes out the window anyways. It's not even talked about in here." ... Rivers has been working on improving bench play and spent extra time working with the reserves after yesterday's practice. "We have to get better as a group with second-team consistency," the coach said.