Brooklyn Nets’ Identity Will Be Toughness, Physical Play Against Miami Heat Sets Tone For 2013-14 NBA Season?

Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett will be wearing Brooklyn Nets jerseys in the upcoming 2013-14 NBA season, but their rivalry with the Miami Heat and LeBron James will be as fierce as it was during their time with the Boston Celtics.

The bad blood between the new-look Nets and the defending champions Heat is already brewing not only after the exchange of words between James and the two former Celtics, but also after the two teams engaged in a physical battle on Thursday.

Pierce said that he "sent a message to the league" stating that the Nets will be no pushover in the upcoming NBA season when he committed a hard foul to a driving James in the first quarter of their 86-62 win over the Heat. The veteran forward declared that all teams should expect those kinds of fouls as they try to carve out their identity -- toughness.

"We want to be a hard, grind-it-out team. We want nothing to be easy. That's what we're trying to show in the last couple of games, the way our defense has been playing," Pierce said in an ESPN New York interview. "That's the message we want to send. Some nights our shots are not gonna fall, but we can control that defensive end of the court."

Jason Terry, who was also included in the blockbuster trade that sent Pierce and Garnett to Brooklyn in the offseason, also said that physicality should be expected from them as they will not allow easy baskets especially on their home floor.

"We're trying to carve out our identity and it starts with your leaders," Terry said. "Paul Pierce is one of our leaders and before the game it was like, 'Look, if we're going to be tough, we must defend our home. Regardless of who we're playing against, we're going to be physical. We're not going to allow easy baskets. That was the tone that was set Thursday night."

Garnett also had a stern message to their long-time rival James, saying that the four-time MVP should mind his own business as a response to James' pronouncement that Garnett and Pierce owe Ray Allen an apology. Pierce and Garnett criticized Allen sharp-shooting guard left Boston as a free agent before the 2012-13 NBA season.