KG MAY BE OUT LONGER THEN EXPECTED

BOSTON -- Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers indicated Saturday that forward Kevin Garnett could be out for 10 days or more with a hyperextended right knee.

Discussing injuries to his three starters -- Garnett, Paul Pierce (right knee infection) and Rajon Rondo (sore left hamstring) -- prior to Saturday night's game with the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden, Rivers said Pierce and Rondo were the closest to returning, with Garnett looking at a three-week recovery window after being kicked in his surgically repaired knee twice during a three-game trip this past week.


Pierce

Garnett
"KG's still 10 days, maybe, I don't know," said Rivers. "I have no idea, I honestly don't. There is some history with hyperextended knees that we kind of know that it takes at least two weeks, sometimes three. We know it won't be longer than that, but we don't know how quickly. There's a history there -- not with [Garnett] -- but with league history."

Rivers continued to stress that Garnett's injury should not be a long-term issue.

"It won't be that long," Rivers said after Friday's practice. "When I did this, I looked at the schedule and the days off, and I thought this was the time to do it."

As for Rondo and Pierce, Rivers was more optimistic they would return during the Celtics' upcoming three-game road trip.

"Rondo and Paul would be first in line," said Rivers. "I think Rondo will play in the Miami game [on Wednesday].

"I think Paul is fifty-fifty, he'll try to practice on Monday and we'll see how it feels. With infections, we don't know how to treat that, nobody [here] has ever had that. We'll find that out. We don't know what will happen once he practices. It could swell, it could feel great. We just have to wait and see."

Pierce spoke to the media Saturday for the first time since undergoing what he detailed as a pair of procedures to drain fluid from his right knee, including a previously undisclosed operation on Christmas Day.

"I'm getting better, feeling pretty good," said Pierce. "Right now it's day-to-day. I can't put a timetable on it, but the positive thing about it is it's been feeling better, showing improvement every day."

Following a victory over the Pacers on Dec. 22, Pierce returned home and started feeling pain in his knee. Within a 15-minute span, it became excruciating, forcing Pierce to phone team trainer Ed Lacerte, who went to Pierce's home to examine him.

Pierce went to the hospital Wednesday morning, but quickly realized he wouldn't be making the team's 10 a.m. flight to Orlando. Doctors performed the initial procedure, draining fluid from the knee.


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While the knee felt better Thursday, it flared up again Friday, forcing Pierce to return to the hospital on Christmas night for a second procedure. Doctors didn't find an infection in a first sample taken Wednesday, but noticed a high white blood cell count. They later found the infection, but tests after Friday's procedure indicated the white blood cell count had dropped, suggesting the infection was eliminated.

"Things like this I've got to be positive," said Pierce. "I wasn't sitting there moaning because it was Christmas Day. There are people far worse off than I am on Christmas Day. I'm happy I'm still alive and, with this situation, I've just got to make the most of it. Even in the hospital I wasn't complaining."

Pierce said he is itching to get back on the court, but following the Celtics' mantra on injuries this season, he's hoping to completely recover rather than suffer a relapse later in the season.

Pierce, wearing large bandages over his entire right leg, jumped rope for the first time Saturday and got up some jumpers at the Garden. He still can't bend his knee fully and suggested that was one of the final hurdles for his recovery.

Pierce was on the bench, dressed in a brown suit and seated next to the coaching staff, on Saturday night while his teammates took on the Raptors.

"I'm always there in spirit," said Pierce. "I'll be out there today, hopefully we get a win."

Chris Forsberg is a roving reporter for ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter.

Hey Rich great read thanks

Cow,

Great read but depressing. I hope it is not the used car sale we were given last year by management.

112288

112288 wrote:Cow,

Great read but depressing. I hope it is not the used car sale we were given last year by management.

112288

second that, with both Pierce and Garnett

Michael in Denver

All Celtic fans will and should be forever greatful to Garnett for bringing us back off 22 years on life support and the title in '07-'08. However his legs and knees have far too many miles on them to put our short or long term health as a viable franchise on them. The Celts should realize he'll be in and out of the line up from now on more than a stock boy in and out of a beer cooler on a 100 degree Summer day. It would be appropriate to give Kevin Garnett a day in his honor, hoist # 5 to the Garden's rafters, and make a new plan for life after Kevin Garnett. A bitter pill in deed, but the longer the C's wait to take this pill, the harder it will be to swallow!-MD.

He and Sheed with Perk can still be a fearsome 4-5 combo,he'll prolly play more games this year than Gasol.

MD

Little too early on the obit IMHO.
We still have a pulse.
And we are breathing.

beat

With Pierce's lingering knee infection, and Rondo's hamstring issues, the prospects for success against tougher teams are bleaker since we have no one to push the ball and penetrate with Rondo's ability, and we miss the insurance of Pierce's go ability in the clutch. Rondo particularly needs extended rest. Speed and quickness are his strongest assets and the cornerstones on which his game is built. Trying to force him back too soon will only lead to aggrivation of the hamstring and prolonging the condition. By the way, to GYSO in particular, if KG does retire before his contract expires, due to physical incapacitation, are the C's accountable for that hit against the salary cap?-Just curious!-MD.

Beat, I think there's some tongue-in-cheek chain-yanking stuff going on with this KG nonsense. Dour Dudderisms reincarnate. That's the only explanation.

Let's see if I can get this straight. The Celtics courted bad karma because they should have re-signed a bench player (albeit a solid contributor) they knew would be out until at least All-Star time; but we should all assume the absolute worst and throw in the towel on a hall-of-fame team leader who has made a very nice comeback this season, just because he got kicked in the knee and has missed a few games because they have the luxury and depth to take that precaution.

During the 2007-08 championship season, Kevin Garnett's time on the floor comprised 11.78% of the regular season minutes played by all Celtics combined ove rall all 82 games. So far this season (two years older and returning from injury), Kevin Garnett has contributed 11.56% of the regular season minutes played by all Celtics combined over all 32 games (including those he's missed entirely). Somehow, I'm not seeing a great difference there.

In the championship season, KG averaged 20.7 points with 10.1 rebounds over each 36 minutes of playing time, shooting 54% from the field and 80% from the line. This season, with a deeper squad to "share the stats," he's averaging 17.6 points with 8.9 rebounds over each 36 minutes of playing time, shooting an improved 55% from the field and 84% from the
line.

Hey, I've always thought they should have taken Bill Russell out and shot him after he sprained his ankle and they lost the championship in 1958. We all knew the previous season had been an anomaly; one and done. Russ was still a poor shooter; and he obviously had become damaged goods—an injury-prone dead weight on the Celtics' roster. Moreover, some guy named Wilt was coming along to dominate him for years to come. The stars were mis-aligned. Oh the horror! Oh the humanity!

Doesn't it seem we should—you know—actually see what happens before we all slit our throats? Hey, there's never any assurance of what will happen. I've just never understood the logic of assuming the worst in anything relating to the Celtics. Never have. Never will. Perhaps I'm unrealistic, but I can cite at least 17 reasons why that would be a dangerous conclusion.

Sam

MD

this is for you.



CLEAR

Things really aren't that bad.

beat

If my computer skills allowed I would have put a little Celtic's logo on his hat or his gown too!!

Beat

So Rick Barry was putn the make on your date?

MDCelticsFan wrote:With Pierce's lingering knee infection, and Rondo's hamstring issues, the prospects for success against tougher teams are bleaker since we have no one to push the ball and penetrate with Rondo's ability, and we miss the insurance of Pierce's go ability in the clutch. Rondo particularly needs extended rest. Speed and quickness are his strongest assets and the cornerstones on which his game is built. Trying to force him back too soon will only lead to aggrivation of the hamstring and prolonging the condition. By the way, to GYSO in particular, if KG does retire before his contract expires, due to physical incapacitation, are the C's accountable for that hit against the salary cap?-Just curious!-MD.

MD,

Darius Miles, Portland Trail Blazers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_Miles

gyso