Kevin Garnett isn’t ready to start the playoffs, and Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Thursday that there’s a strong possibility that he will miss the entire postseason.
When asked to clarify, Rivers said there was a chance Garnett could be out for the rest of the season.
Rivers said this morning “He’s not going to be ready. After watching him practice, there’s no way. The way I saw him move today, I don’t know if he’ll be ready.”
The Celtics begin the best-of-seven first round series against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.
Garnett injured his right knee Feb. 19 and missed the next 13 games before returning for four, but never playing as many as 18 minutes. With the Celtics assured of a high playoff berth, Rivers then held Garnett out with an eye toward bringing him back for the last three games of the regular season; that became the last two, then the last one, but he never made it back.
Rivers said Thursday he watched Garnett run at the team’s practice facility and said he had to shut him down after 20 minutes.
“If he can’t get through biking and working out without swelling and his leg locking, I don’t know how you can play in the playoffs. “This was an honest run today, you couldn’t make your way through it. The guy’s a warrior, you see him try to mask his way through it. But after 20 minutes of running, I don’t see it. After today, there’s no way he can play.”
Boston was 18-7 without Garnett this year and finished the season 62-20 but, without Garnett, what had seemed like an easy road to the Eastern Conference finals to meet the Lebron and the Cavs has gotten more difficult.
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