GARNETT BEGINS CONDITIONING

It's been a week since Kevin Garnett left the Celtics game with Detroit with what turned out to be a strained calf muscle. At the time the team put a two-week window on his possible return, although it should be noted that the timeframe was only a rough estimate and is very flexible. Garnett has done his part, getting up shots after practice and working on conditioning with trainer Bryan Doo. "What was the time frame we gave you, two weeks?" Doc Rivers asked. "Is it next Wednesday? So hopefully back in two weeks."

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very nice ...tack up and work through it ticket

A Laker friend of mine was busting my chops last night about KG's injury. You know, the same old "he's old, he's gonna get injured because he's old, he's not the same KG because he's old". That stuff.

He shut up after I pointed out to him that KG only has 21 more NBA minutes on his body than Kobe. Considering that Kobe's averaging 33 minutes a game this season and the Lakers have 3 games between now and KG's anticipated return on Wednesday, it is almost a certainty that Kobe will have more miles on his body than KG when KG starts playing again. KG's averaging 32 mpg, so unless Boston plays more playoff games this season than LA (a distinct possibility) it is likely Kobe will retain this dubious honor for the rest of the year.

bob

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Injury updates, as of Saturday 1/8/11:

KG
Being optimistic, Rivers said Kevin Garnett could return to the next week, keeping with the two-week window that the team initially set after Garnett strained his right calf Dec. 29 in Detroit.

The way the scene unfolded, it seemed that Garnett's injury was more serious, but X-rays and MRI’s were negative. Garnett worked out Wednesday morning in Waltham.

“I think he’ll be back early next week,” Rivers said. “Monday or Wednesday. He could play then, too.”

Perk
Kendrick Perkins said today that he expects to return in three weeks from the knee injury that he sustained during the NBA Finals last season.

"It's looking like three weeks," Perkins said. "I start practicing next week, so that's a good thing. ... It feels like these three weeks are not going by fast enough, but I guess the six months or whatever went by pretty fast. Just trying to wait it out, see how it goes."

The original estimate on the injury was five to six months, and it appears that Perkins' return will line up with that. He has been playing three-on-three games at this point for the past two days. He said he hasn't had any setbacks or swelling, which he called "weird."

West
Right now, Delonte West’s basketball-related activities essentially amount to one-handed floaters. Even though he had his cast removed earlier this week, doctors have told him not to even touch a basketball with his right hand for at least another week.
“I can’t pick up weights or anything heavy,” he said. “Just movements and anything natural."

He works out four times a day he, soaking the wrist, going through different movements and stretches, and working out the scar tissue, but he doesn’t eye a return for few weeks.

“That’s all I can do is do the treatments that they gave me,” West said. “My conditioning’s there. My body’s there, it’s just you can’t force it. You can try as much as you want to work out the stiffness, but it’s only time. It’s just a waiting game for me. Each day it’s loosening up more and more,” he said. “But I’m still a few weeks away.”