Celtics fans will be waiting with great anticipation tonight, waiting to see if KG’s name will be penciled in for a return to the starting lineup. Marc Spears spoke with Danny Ainge about KG’s potential return Here are a couple key quotes:
“He’s looking good,” Ainge said. “He’s made a great deal of strides, especially in the last 10 days or so. It took him a little while to get going. But in the last week to 10 days, he’s been looking a lot better.
“Just by the way he’s moving, he looks fresh and healthy. We’re still playing it by ear. We’re still waiting to see what’s going to happen. I’m confident that he will be back [soon].”
Danny clearly isn’t tipping his hand here on KG’s exact return but I can’t see the Big Ticket making the trip to San Antonio unless there was an extremely high chance of him playing. When you combine that fact with all of this positive talk about how good he looks, I think the smart money is on Garnett returning tonight.
He clearly is planning on giving it a go tonight or in Memphis, and obviously the team needs him more tonight. I look for him to go 25-30 minutes this evening, which should give Mikki Moore enough minutes to foul out again tonight. Celtics Hub’s Zach Lowe has the full breakdown of the game so be sure to check that out.
The Herald has a interesting look at the games of Tony Parker and Rajon Rondo. Tony actually seemed a little miffed by the comparison of their shooting:
Though one of the best point guards to come into the NBA in the last decade, Parker was not known for his jump shot – at least not in his formative years.
And Parker certainly knows about this same weakness in Rondo’s game – an outside shot so inconsistent that opponents still dare the Celtics point guard to shoot.
“Oh no,” said Parker, shaking his head. “I think I was a better shooter than him when I started.”
Rondo showed Parker minimal love as well. I love this kind of competitiveness. No need to show a rival any love, especially when you are playing them that night.
Finally a fun anecdote from Doc on the subject of him being levied a 25K fine for his deserving criticism about Bill Kennedy
“Amazing,” Rivers wrote via text message. “What can I say? It reminds me of the song, ‘How can something feel so right yet feel so wrong.”
Nice Elvis reference Doc.
