Tip your cap to the Lakers, I guess; they accepted the gift given to them by Kevin Garnett, who missed three of four last-minute free throws and scored 13 points for the night. Garnett is on the verge of making sports history. He’ll be the first professional athlete to damage his legacy by winning a championship.
It’s as if Garnett has pledged to let Paul Pierce drag him to a title over his dead body.
From Monday's column (after game 2):
If there was any doubt left about whom the leader of the Celtics is, game two gave us the smoking-gun evidence that it is clearly Pierce’s team. Watching 7-foot Kevin Garnett float around the perimeter and fire up 18-footers brought back memories of Ralph Sampson in his prime.
Would someone please inform KG that Dirk Nowitzki doesn’t have an NBA title for a very good reason? The Celtics could potentially sweep the Lakers if Garnett takes his lanky rear end down on the block and complements Pierce’s and Ray Allen’s perimeter shooting with some consistent low-post scoring.
Unskilled Boston reserve Leon Powe scored 21 points in 14 minutes on six-of-seven shooting. Garnett tallied 17 points in 39 minutes on seven-of-19 shooting. Garnett should be embarrassed.
This series isn’t over. The Celtics won the first two games almost exclusively because of Pierce’s courage and tenacity. His toughness is compensating for Garnett’s unwillingness to play the role of NBA big man.
This thing is starting to remind me of the way Jordan carried Scottie Pippen for all those years. No one knew Pippen was a candy-*** until Jordan left and Pippen refused to play when his number wasn’t called.
Well, we’ve seen Garnett melt in the Minnesota cold for years. We already knew something was missing. Watching him play opposite Pierce is only further illustrating the intangible deficiency that kept The Big Ticket resigned to off-Broadway productions.
If Garnett continues to avoid the paint, the Lakers are going to get back in this series in LA. Garnett is the one man who can sabotage Pierce’s bid for genuine superstardom.
Needless to say, I think Jason is overstepping the truth by several feet. Has Garnett had the best series? No. But that doesn't discount all the fantastic things he's done to get us to this point. And outside of game 5, he's still been consistent on defense and rebounding. To paint a picture of him being an anchor around Paul Pierce's neck seems a bit much if you ask me. Then again, I'm a huge Garnett apologist, so maybe I'm biased.