KG Injures Abdomen in Win

1/26/2008

KG Injures Abdomen in Win

Kevin Garnett said last night he has been bothered by an abdominal strain, but typical of the Celtics forward, he never bothered to share the information with his coach.

But when Garnett went to the locker room with 6:19 left in last night's 87-86 win over Minnesota after doubling over in pain on the floor, his trouble became everyone else's panic.

The fact that he returned four minutes later to produce a particularly athletic diving steal that ended the game is a testament to how much Garnett insists on playing.

Literally.

``I wasn't going to put him back in,'' said Celts coach Doc Rivers. ``I'm getting a thumbs up from Dr. (Brian) McKeon and a thumbs down from (trainer) Eddie Lacerte, and it's just crazy. And Kevin was just psycho.

``It was a tough call to make,'' he said. ``I didn't want to put him back in, and he was begging, `Please do it, please.' I was going to err on the side of caution.''

Garnett's closing play considered, that would have been a mistake.

``Very few players are athletic enough to have done that,'' said Rivers. ``I mean, he went from (the lane) to the top, to helping deep on Al (Jefferson), to back out, to getting his hands on the ball. Then he beat a guard to the ball, and then he beat him to the floor, which is rare. When you think about it, the guard is 6-0, he should have got to the floor first. And Kevin got there first.''

All of this was possible despite a strained abdominal muscle.

``It felt like I got sniped from the rafters or something,'' Garnett said of the initial pain. ``I had a sharp pain come from my stomach, and I wanted the doctors to look at it. They said I was fine, so I came back out.

``I wasn't going to do anything that would jeopardize my future and all that, but my philosophy has always been that if I can play, if I can run, if I can move, if I can blink, if I can wake up in the morning, I'm going to play.''