KG’s return in question
NBA. The league probably wasn’t happy. Suffice to say that neither was TNT, which had last night’s national broadcast of the highly anticipated game between the Celtics and Mavericks at the TD Banknorth Garden.
Heck, it’s a safe bet that Kevin Garnett wasn’t doing back flips over his inactive status for the potential NBA Finals preview, either.
The leader in the clubhouse for the league’s MVP award missed his third straight game with an abdominal strain last night, an injury that has lingered this season but didn’t surface until last Friday’s game against the Timberwolves.
The decision to leave Garnett out of the lineup was in the hands of Doc Rivers, and it couldn’t have been an easy one. Considering the Celtics were 6-5 in their last 11 games and 1-1 without Garnett this week, Rivers needed to make sure he didn’t react with a short-term thought process.
“There is no guarantees [Garnett will return] until he’s 100 percent,” Rivers told reporters after yesterday’s shoot-around. “If he’s ready for Cleveland, great. If he’s not, we’ll sit him. If he’s not ready for the next one, we’ll sit him. I’m not playing him until he’s 100 percent. That could be Cleveland. It could be after All-Star break. It could be after that. He’s not playing until he’s 100 percent.”
Rivers showed some moxy by sticking to his guns. His team has faded since starting the year 29-3, and energy has been a big reason why.
While Celtics goals of seasons past have been modest — perhaps reaching the playoffs or winning a series could be dubbed a success — this group is looking for some jewelry. An unhealthy Garnett would severely hamper Boston’s chances for a 17th championship.
Plus, the C’s don’t play again until they visit Cleveland on Tuesday, which will give Garnett 10 days of rest between games, providing he can indeed return.
Judging by Garnett’s win-at-all-costs mentality, that’s a strong possibility.
“I wasn’t going to do anything that was going to jeopardize my future and all that,” Garnett said. “My philosophy has always been if I can play, if I can run, if I can move, if I can blink, if I can wake up in the morning, I can play.”
