Plan B

Home court vs. the Magic (or whomever advanced) in the 2nd round would be nice

I assume that if the Pistons win in the scenario described, we would have home court advantage against them in the second round, yes?

why we’re stilling putting a timetable on Garnett’s recovery/return.

He was supposed to come back after a month of rest. That didn’t work out. Now, everyone’s speculating that ‘alright, we won’t have him for the regular season and he may or may not show up for the first round, etc.’ Or ’it’s only a minor injury, should heal within x amount of time before the playoffs’ Whatever.

I’d figure after all of these setbacks that people would concede the fact that Garnett will not be ‘100%’ for the playoffs. You don’t instantly recover after two weeks — it takes time for you to get your game back, your confidence back, etc. People should know now to stop trying to be Robert Langdon and decipher the reports Ainge and Doc are coming out with. Just look at their faces and reactions. Look at the players’ faces when asked about the situation. It obviously doesn’t look good. Garnett’s phsyical absence will not only be a blow to the team production wise, but mentally as well. The team made the Garnett-less stretch figuring that he could come back soon and that all they needed to do was push through. That’s not the case anymore. If the team is going into the playoffs knowing Garnett physically isn’t able to give it his all and be at his best, then I’m not sure anyone else will be at their best either.

miami is 39-35 (4-6 over their last 10, with 5 more road games), philly is 38-35 (6-4 over their last 10, with 5 more road games). so, it’s just as conceivable that the 6th seed will be miami.

there’s also room for movement between #7 and #8 with detroit, chicago, and charlotte (hanging on with a tough schedule). these things may not be settled until close to the end.

so, it may be a blessing if orlando has to deal with the pistons, but is it a blessing if the celtics have to face wade in the first round?

we may see this:

cavs / bobcats or bulls
magic / pistons
celts / heat
hawks / 76ers

i love how the magic would get the pistons. not so excited about the other matchups.

Will we repeat if KG is not 100%.

The answer: No way.

Whether we get out of the first round is completely irrelevelant, given the above.

The Cleveland Cavaliers.

Oh, they might lose to Orlando without KG, but not if the Celtics play well.

this is one tough team. and so is kg. no one is saying what potential damage can be done when or if he plays. that’s the big question. if it’s pain, pain indicates somethings broken. how big-how small?

As I wrote in my original post,. this floating body in his knee will not go away with rest, only with arthroscopic surgery. Had he had that when he first went down, he would be ok now, assuming nothing else is going on (which is not necessarily the case). (Note though that this diagnosis fits perfectly with the known facts — how he went down suddenly with no visible trauma or malrotation, plus the long recovery time, the ongoing problems, etc.)

So he will be less than 100% all the way. At any moment — and there is no way to know when — his knee could lock up or go into extreme pain mode, totally disabling him.

There’s another side to this. This is an opportunity for the Cs to do something that no one will ever forget. Win it all anyway. If they do that without (or only a partial) KG, but with heart, and determination, and their incomparable team D — it will be the stuff of legend, something we’ll be hearing and talking about for decades to come.

I’m not shocked, as I called it at the moment it was announced he’d be out for 2 weeks; go check that initial post and you’ll find my scepticism in the comments there. The rule is to never take what Ainge says about this kind stuff seriously. I don’t think it’s exactly loose cartilage either; if so, we’d been facing a gross misdiagnosis. Anyway, the muscle strain announcement was used as an expedient to cover something else – probably some tear that was already there before the Utah game.

I’m still optimistic though, cortisone shots were a heckuva invention.

I don’t see that big of a difference between Philly and Detroit. Without KG it will be very though for us to stop the 76ers offence, with all the running and penetration. And why are you assuming we’ll finish 3rd? I hope we keep fighting for the 2nd seed, that’s important.

I don’t care if the window is closing. This is still better than being in the lottery year after year after year!!

he had some little problem on that knee for quite a while and everyone in the league plays hurt anyway.. assuming we have the 3rd seed locked up the remaining games are meaningless and kg may as well have some rest for the real thing

speaking of rustiness.. his offence may be rusty but we really need him on the defensive end which in theory takes mostly effort and it shouldnt be too bad for him when he comes back