The Celtics, once considered championship contenders, open the playoffs tonight against the Miami Heat downgraded by prognosticators to second-round fodder for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The reason: their defensive core, Kevin Garnett, isn’t right.
“They told me when I first got this injury it would take a year,’’ Garnett said. “I’ll be very candid with you. I didn’t believe them.’’
His strategy was to accelerate his recovery by outworking the injury, attacking his rehabilitation with the same passion he exhibited against a lifetime of basketball opponents. Never in his 15-year career has Garnett exerted so much effort and received so little in return, a cruel irony that resonated with him during the short walk from the locker room to the podium where, he knew, the same old question awaited: “Did you guys play hard enough tonight?’’
“I hate that,’’ said Garnett, spitting out the words. “I’m working off the charts and still people question our effort. It bothers me. It pushes me to find ways to go harder.
“But they tell me, ‘Sometimes you have to pull back,’ so I’m trying to learn that. It’s a battle for me.’’
He knows the doubters are multiplying. NBA observers point to the March 7 game against Washington, when young Andray Blatche dropped 23 points on KG, as evidence his dominant days are behind him.
“I watched and said, ‘Oh, man, he’s done,’ ’’ said Detroit assistant Darrell Walker. “The things Blatche did to him . . . dunking on him like that. If KG was right, it would never happen.
“I was there for the final days of Michael Jordan. This reminds me of that — exactly. Michael was one of the most competitive people ever. KG, too. But when you don’t have the same explosiveness anymore, it’s over.
“You can still get it done every once in a while, but every night? It just doesn’t happen. Even mentally tough guys like MJ and KG can’t get past it. It’s why players retire. It gets too hard.’’
