"We had a 12:30 game," Celtics forward Kevin Garnett said. "Difficult, but we knew it wasn't going to be an easy game. We anticipated LeBron playing. He didn't. The world doesn't stop. The game definitely doesn't stop. You just try to go out there and get a win for the most part."
The Celtics' star trio of Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce were far from their usually offensively superb selves.
Allen scored a game-high 20 points, but was 1 for 7 from 3-point range. Pierce entered averaging a team-best 22 points but scored 7 on 2-of-7 shooting. Garnett entered averaging 20.1 points but missed 10 of 12 shots and finished with 9 points. The good news for the Celtics was that a strong third quarter helped them build a big enough lead that kept minutes down for Allen (35), Pierce (30), and Garnett (26).
"If you told me before the game that Paul would be under 10 [points] and KG would be under 10 and Ray didn't have a great shooting night and would we win? I'd probably say no," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "But we won and that's the good thing,"
Said Garnett: "I was telling Paul that on my [shooting] release, it felt good. It just wasn't going in."
The Celtics were playing their third game in four days and won each contest. The previous two, against New York Thursday and at Miami Friday, both had 8 p.m. starts. Rivers called the two late national television games followed by a matinee the toughest game-time stretch of the season.
"Three [games] in less than normal hours," Rivers said. "It was a very, very tough game for both teams."
Said Allen: "It was a unique situation. To be able to win three games in that situation is ideal for us. We got through it. I think every two- to three-game stretch that we have throughout the league, we're tested in some way. To win games is ultimately what we are shooting for."
