This was supposed to have been a battle of "finesse" teams, the sweet-shooting Bucks and the scrappy Magic.

Please.

In just four hotly-contested playoff games, the Bucks and the Magic have exploded into one of the nastiest rivalries in the league. All told, 13 technicals and six flagrant fouls were handed out. There were more floor burns than a Twister tournament on sandpaper.

In Game 3, when Scott Williams extended a hand to Bo Outlaw after knocking him down, Glenn Robinson yelled "Don't help him up!" After Tracy McGrady monster-dunked on Tim Thomas in Game 1, McGrady pushed him to the ground and screamed in his face. You'd never know those two vacation together in the summertime. And you'd be hard pressed to find two coaches who dislike each other more than George Karl and Doc Rivers. Okay, it's mostly Karl -- the Bucks coach admits feelings of "anger and jealousy" when thinking of Doc's quick rise to a head-coaching position.

The Magic and Bucks have reminded us that there's nothing quite like a good old-fashioned rivalry. Here's a sampling of the love:

Darrell Armstrong, Magic: "They're not our friends and we're not they're friends. If anybody wants to be hugging, they'd better go to a Motel 8."

McGrady: "Glenn Robinson is more like the Puppy Dog than the Big Dog. Give me a break. What can they do about it? Have you seen anybody stop me yet?"

Robinson (before Game 3): "We're going to sweep those clowns. All they do is talk trash but they simply can't beat us."

Big Dog after McGrady averaged 36.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds in the first three games: "He's not doing anything."

More T-Mac: "I'm glad that brawl (in Game 3) happened. It makes it more fun."

Karl on Doc holding Magic practices in Chicago instead of Milwaukee: "It's ridiculous; the league needs to step in and do something about that."

More Karl: "It bothers me that Doc, with all his style and spin, gets a job right out of the T.V. booth. The Magic are using disloyalty against the players that are winning now because they will dump them soon."

Doc on Karl: "George blames me for everything. He blames me for Isiah [Thomas] getting the Indiana job and former players for getting jobs. I'd tell him if he played 13 years in the league, he could have gotten the job quicker."

Doc again: "Ray Allen and Sam Cassell cry on every single call -- and it seems to work."

And by the way, after the final game, the teams did not meet at center court for a post-game prayer. What do you think this is, sucka, the Knicks/Heat?

Chris Palmer covers The NBA Life for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at christopher.palmer@espnmag.com.