Garnett was in the starting lineup before trainer Ed Lacerte and Rivers discussed the situation.
“He had a great shootaround today,’’ Rivers said of Garnett before the game. “Eddie just wants to make sure after his treatment he still feels good.’’
Garnett sustained the injury in a 95-91 win over Chicago Sunday.
Rondo scores 35
Rajon Rondo surpassed his career high of 32 points with a late free throw, cutting the Celtics’ deficit to 93-84. Rondo then converted on a goaltending call with 1:57 remaining to give him 35 points, but that would be the last Boston field goal until Ray Allen’s layup just before the final buzzer.
Rondo was coming off a triple-double Sunday.
“The main thing is our record is 1-1 in these last two games,’’ Rondo said. “We were unable to get stops in the fourth quarter and we were not able to shut them off after that. We gave them confidence, you know, they came out, Ben [Gordon] hit two big threes, gave them a lift, [Greg] Monroe hit a jump shot, I think. And, after that, we couldn’t turn them off.’’
Rondo got the Celtics into an effective transition game in the opening half and was effective isolated on the low post. But the Celtics failed to get Allen and Paul Pierce involved in the offense.
“I wanted to take advantage of the smaller guy guarding me,’’ Rondo said. “So, I just tried to jump-hook them to death.
“It’s difficult, when you have it going yourself. My teammates kept telling me to stay aggressive. But, at the same time, I was just trying to get other guys involved, you know. They tell me to attack and stay aggressive.’’
Cover story
Pierce on the absence of Garnett: “You talk about not having Kevin and he does so much for us defensively, covers up so much. That’s no excuse. We’ve played without a number of guys this year and other guys are capable of stepping up, despite the circumstances. We’re not an excuse team. This is a game we feel like we should have won.
