Celtics' Crowder ready to battle Wizards: If you don't step up, they'll punk you

The Eastern Conference semifinals are nigh, and the rivalry between the Washington Wizards and the Boston Celtics this season will play out in what will be one team's finale until next year.

Boston forward Jae Crowder admitted to loving the challenge the two teams bring to one another, according to ESPN's Chris Forsberg.

"If you don't stand up to it, those guys will punk you. So you've got to step up to the challenge a little bit and be ready to compete at a high level because those guys are going to bring it," Crowder said. "It's all basketball. They just play the game at a different level than a lot of teams, so you just have to respect it. I do as an opponent. I respect them as an opponent."

Not that the East's other series between the Cavaliers and the Raptors won't be as fun, but there's something particularly lurid about the kind of heat that exists between the Celtics and Wizards.

During a January game at TD Garden, Crowder was fined $25,000 for an incident that started with a poke to John Wall's nose, and led to police preventing further drama by standing between the opposing teams' locker rooms.

"I'm sure y'all are gonna be replaying that (video) a lot in the next 24 hours," Crowder said. "Emotions took over. A lot was going on that game. It cost me a lot of money. I regret it. But just the emotions of it - it was a very emotional game for us. There was some bickering going back and forth the whole game and it just led into that. But I moved on from it."