The good news for fans of the Boston Celtics is that Kevin Garnett is back playing and is no longer in pain. The bad news is except for the occasional moment here and there the “Big Ticket” has yet to start playing the way he has throughout his career. Garnett missed the last part of the season as well as the NBA Playoffs as he had injured his right knee. Garnett had off-season surgery that corrected the problem and took away the pain, however Garnett still has been a tad off all season long.
The Celtics are now 9-4 and could very well be 13-0 if they had KG playing in mid-season form. Two of their losses may have occurred anyway as they lost to an Atlanta team that is currently the hottest team in the NBA and lost Friday night to Orlando a team they have problems matching up with in the best of times. However they never should have lost to the Pacers and most likely would have beaten the Chicago Bulls if the Boston All-Star forward was in peak condition.
Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers told the “Boston Herald” after the loss to Orlando that his veteran is playing pretty much how the Celtics bench boss expected him to be playing at this point of the season. Rivers told reporters “One day he’s explosive, one day he’s not, one day he’s healthy, one day he’s not, and that’s just gonna take time. Coming into the year, obviously you would want him to be explosive if you could pick tonight. Tomorrow we don’t need you. But you could see that today. It takes time. Some days you have legs, some days you don’t. It’s your back. It doesn’t matter what the injury is, almost. That’s just how it works.”
Rivers is basically saying that he realizes his veteran’s game is a work in progress. It is one thing to be in shape but a totally different thing to be in NBA shape. However when you are dealing with a player that has the track record that the Boston star does as long as he is is healthy the timing will soon return. This man has been one of the top players in the NBA for more than a decade. If you watch him play every once in a while you are seeing what he is still capable of. It will not be too much longer before the “Big Ticket” is back full time for the Celtics.
