What if?
"It's only natural to think that," forward Paul Pierce said after a season-ending 101-82 Game 7 loss to Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals last night. "Of course, you would think that after a loss when you ponder about the season and the playoffs. That's something that people around the world are going to think about with the way we fought without him. But you can't cry over spilled milk and unfortunately we didn't have the big fella for this run. Hopefully, the main thing for him right now is to get healthy."
The vision of Garnett kissing the parquet floor after winning the 2008 NBA title and yelling, "Anything is possible!" forever will be in Celtics lore. But a repeat didn't seem possible without the future Hall of Famer on the roster because of a strained right knee. The 2008 NBA Defensive Player of the Year suffered the injury without being touched Feb. 19 at Utah.
The fiery and vocal Garnett valiantly returned for four games with a minutes restriction that kept him out of the second and fourth quarters. In what would be his final contest of the season, the second-year Celtic had 4 points and 8 rebounds in 16 minutes at Orlando Feb. 25.
Coach Doc Rivers said before the playoffs that Garnett would not play in the postseason. Team president Danny Ainge, who declined comment last night, eventually echoed that. Even so, there was wild media speculation and hope from Boston fans that Garnett would walk through that door, since he had yet to have surgery. But at the shootaround before the Celtics' Game 7 loss, Rivers said he wouldn't expect Garnett to play if his team advanced to the Eastern Conference finals. Rivers reiterated those words after the game and wasn't certain when Garnett would have his bone spur surgery that isn't expected to keep him sidelined long.
