And then you can look at history and say the Suns have met the Spurs and Lakers pretty frequently in the playoffs and even their regular season games have a playoff vibe to them. Of course, the problem there is that historically, both the Lakers and the Spurs have more or less pwned the Suns so those rivalries would seem to be a bit one-sided (see Red Sox vs. Yankees, 1919-2003). Technically speaking, this would make the Lakers and Spurs more nemeses (from Merriam-Webster.com: a formidable and usually victorious opponent or rival) than rivals.
via Who Are The Phoenix Suns’Â Rivals? – Bright Side Of The Sun.
I think you’re probably a rival if the other team gets joy out of beating you. For example, the Blazers don’t have a great recent history against the Lakers, but they win enough to get LA to want to beat them. Conversely, the Warriors are clearly not in the Mavericks’ league, but that’s definitely a rivalry.
And I mean, they threw your MVP into the scorer’s table, broke his nose, and have murdered you with close shots. I think it qualifies as a rivalry. For instance, no one enjoys beating the Clippers, because you’re supposed to. They have no rivals. Not even the guys they share the building with.
