Here's what we can indisputably take away from Heat 120, Celtics 107: These two teams still hate each other. That's it, that's all and it's really kind of a wonderful thing, no? 

Yup, there undoubtedly will be endless talk about the redefinition of cold shoulder administered by Kevin Garnett to Ray Allen on Tuesday night. That's going to be the local and national takeaway from the season-opener between the two best teams in the Eastern Conference (we all agree that's the case, right?) and we all know why and we'll get to it in a minute.

And, sure, this is the time of the year when the gossipy stuff is at least as relevant as the final score. Look, an NBA game played on Oct. 30 means nothing. These two teams will play three more times in the regular season and likely at least four more times in the postseason, and the Miami win on Tuesday will seem about 40 years old in June. Put it another way: Was anyone thinking about Miami's Dec. 27, 2011, win over the Celtics with 12 minutes left in Game 7 last season? 

Of course not. The Celtics are going to be better than what we saw on Tuesday night. But what we saw defensively was unrecognizable at best and hideous at worst. The Miami Heat scored 120 points in game in which LeBron James played just 29 minutes (and sat out the last nine). The Celtics have allowed 120 or more points five times over the last five years. The Heat scored 31 points in each of the first three quarters. The Heat shot 54.4 percent against the NBA's best defense last season. 

The Celtics are 0-1 because of their defense, plain and simple. When the Heat needed a basket they got a basket. James (10-of-16, 26 points) looked like the best basketball player in the world, Dwyane Wade looked healthy (a different guy from the one we saw last June), Mario Chalmers was able to get to the basket at will (mostly to kick out to James and Wade and Rashard Lewis, who was terrific), and Chris Bosh significantly outplayed Kevin Garnett.

Oh, and Allen. Well, he played it perfectly -- hugging Doc Rivers and making his way down the bench before Garnett gave him the Level 5 blowoff -- and then played just about perfectly. Allen might have three more efficient games this season, but I doubt it. He scored 19 points on seven shots -- 5-of-7 from the field, 2-of-3 on 3-pointers and 5-of-7 from the line -- in 31 minutes. Doesn't matter where you stand on Allen, traitor or victim, that was a superb effort that must've been been hugely satisfying.

As for Garnett vs. Allen, I'm absolutely fine with ignoring an opponent who bolted for the enemy. I have to be consistent on this one -- Garnett's act can wear a little thin at times, but in Act II of my life as a sports connoisseur nothing has bothered me as much as the pregame love fests between opponents. (Nothing, that is, until I watched the vomit-inducing LeBron commercials on Tuesday, which represented just a desperate attempt to be everything he isn't. Did anyone actually watch that buffet of propaganda and believe it? Except for Stuart Scott, I mean.) 

Kevin Garnett has the rest of his life to make nice with Ray Allen. It's OK for him to hate the guy for the next couple of years. I'm not sure it's rational, but it's good for business. And it strikes me as genuine -- Garnett seems legitimately offended that Allen is on the Heat. If I'm a Celtics fan that is exactly how I'd want every player to feel.

As for the other semi-controversy from Tuesday, it's hard to disagree with Wade's assessment that Rajon Rondo's last-minute clothesline was a punk move. Can we at least settle on semi-punk? Come on, if Wade does that to Rondo in the same spot people are going crazy around here. And there is some history of Wade going punk on Rondo, as we all know. Bottom line? Rondo doesn't like Wade, and there sure still seems to be some lingering maturity issues. Maybe that's not even accurate -- could be this is just who Rondo is (and by the way, he was the best player on the floor for the Celtics on Tuesday; the Heat still have no answers for him in the open court) and the Celtics clearly have decided to live with it.

But from a Big Picture perspective, the shelf life of relevance from Heat 120, Celtics 107 already has expired by the time you are reading this. All the good -- the late comeback (cutting a 19-point lead to four with James out with leg cramps), a 15-11 from Brandon Bass, 16 fourth-quarter points from Leandro Barbosa -- and all the bad -- a lousy debut from Jason Terry,  the same Jeff Green we saw flounder against the Heat in 2011, the many failures on defense -- might mean something if it continues for weeks, but 48 minutes isn't enough to come to any serious conclusions. 

All we know is this: The Heat still are the class of the East, the Celtics still are contenders and the two teams hate each other more than a little.

Round 2 of the best rivarly in the NBA will be in Boston on Jan. 27. Who gets booed more, Allen or Wade?