Amped up
Kevin Garnett often appears like he’s fueled by something alien. Garnett extended the metaphor after tonight’s game.
“My gas was high [tonight]” Garnett said after the game. “You play the best in the league (Yao Ming), you can’t go in with low gas. You have to have a lot of high octane. I fed off this building. These fans here, it’s like a spark plug. I just plugged in and that was it. I didn’t even think about nothing I was doing.”
Garnett had his Bunsen burner cranked to high at the end of the fourth quarter. After checking in at the 8:56 mark, Garnett was forced to guard Rockets center Yao Ming when Kendrick Perkins fouled out with 8:12 remaining.
Giving up size and strength, Garnett limited Yao to two garbage points in the final 8:12. Meanwhile, KG scored 11 points during that time, putting the Celtics on his back literally and metaphorically. When Houston called a timeout at the 1:13 mark, Garnett gave Paul Pierce a piggyback to the bench.
“He was really aggressive,” said Pierce. “Once he had Yao Ming on him we knew it was a matchup that we could go to regardless.”
Garnett said he knew before the game that he could be called on to guard Yao.
“I anticipated me being at the five,” said Garnett. “I knew at one point Doc was going to go with that lineup so I just prepared myself.”
The Celtics meanwhile, came out flat in the third and fourth quarters. An 11-point halftime lead vanished without the Big Three in the game, and the Rockets took a 79-78 lead on a Rafer Alston three-point play. Doc Rivers said the Celtics were tired from their road trip.
“I wouldn’t call it low gas,” said Garnett. “With them making a run, it took some of the gas away from us.”
Garnett found his gas, and the Celtics found their 15th home win (and 27th overall) of the season. In his first two months as a Celtics player, the Big Ticket has led his team to the NBA’s best record.
“It’s been cool,” said Garnett. “It’s been a lot of hard work. It’s been fun. It’s fun coming into practice every day.”
As he was speaking, Pierce’s stomach growled audibly from the seat next to him.
“Is that your stomach?” KG asked.
Pierce nodded.
“His gas is high. You need to turn your gas down.
“See this is what I’m talking about. This is fun every day. It stays interesting.”
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