Watch and learn, Kevin Garnett

44Thrilla · Apr 21, 2010

Here’s a novel idea for Celtics [team stats] coach Doc Rivers to consider: Why not keep Kevin Garnett in street clothes Friday night, too?

Last night, Garnett served a one-game suspension for his elbowing exercise in self-absorption at the end of Game 1 of the playoff series with the Miami Heat and in his stead hustled Glen Davis, who acted not like a Big Baby - as Garnett had Saturday - but rather like a big man, which he is.

Not like “The Man,” which Davis isn’t, but like a man adept enough at pounding the boards and pounding the Heat that by halftime of the Celtics’ 106-77 Game 2 victory at the Garden he had scored 14 of his 23 points and pulled down six of his eight rebounds.

Defensively, he was enough of a presence that he helped the Celtics go up 49-33 at the half and then push that lead to an almost comedic 85-59 by the end of three quarters. It was a thrashing, which was more than what happened in Game 1 with KG either in the lineup or in the middle of the Heat’s bench area.

This is not to suggest Garnett is not a vital part of whatever the Celtics accomplish this spring, but it was a reminder that Rivers may have more options available than previously thought, at least in this playoff round.

“When I saw the lineup I thought, ‘This is the same lineup we had going into the playoffs last year and we pushed Orlando to seven games,’ ” captain Paul Pierce [stats] said. “We all know what (Davis) is capable of.”

If the Celtics survive this series and end up facing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the next round, it would appear Rivers has few options, but that’s a worry for another week (or, the way the NBA runs its playoffs, another month). This is, after all, the Heat we’re talking about and they are not the kind of heat one has to wear all that much sunscreen to repel.

That being the case, Rivers and general manager Danny Ainge might want to sit down with KG in the next day or two and revisit his position on his Game 1 dust-up. When last he spoke on the subject, Garnett was insisting he didn’t regret his actions, even though they led to a well-deserved one-game suspension.

If that is still KG’s position, Rivers should suggest he take a position next to him on the bench when Game 3 rolls around, because although what he did with 40 seconds left in a game that was well in hand did not cost the Celtics last night, it showed a level of selfishness that had nothing to do with ubuntu and everything to do with egotistical chest pounding.

As things turned out, Davis bailed out Garnett, so maybe the Celtics should just stick with him and let KG rest until he’s thinking clearer and playing harder.

“That was a case of one man impacting the game with his effort,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said of Davis. “I don’t think they ran one play for him. He does his work without the ball. He just continues to put heat on you inside the paint.”

Davis did what Garnett claimed he was doing at the end of Game 1. He showed the Heat this will be a hard series for them to win and one where they are going to get hit hard if they try - a point Davis made during the game, not after it was decided.

Where Garnett chose to throw a couple of sneak-attack elbows, Davis threw his body around. Every time he did some poor guy in a Heat uniform was on the floor looking like he’d just seen a ghost.

Maybe that’s what Kevin Garnett needs to see Friday night. Maybe he needs to see a ghost of his own, one wearing No. 11 out on the floor and playing his position, while he rests his ego and rethinks when to use those elbows and when to keep them to himself.
rborges@bostonherald.com
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http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/..._garnett_glen_davis_plays_thinking_mans_game/

CelticKing · Apr 21, 2010

Start Big Baby and bring KG from the bench.

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Watch and learn, Kevin Garnett

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Watch and learn, Kevin Garnett

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