US – Saturday, November 7
In the Paint
Jeff Howe's Celtics blog
Jeff Howe is an award-winning sportswriter who is in his second season as the lead writer on the Celtics beat for the Boston Metro.  
 
World Series 2009
One for the thumb
Derek Jeter has been out of place since his last World Series title. The captain’s been on Jessica Biel’s arm, starred in countless Gillette commercials and had a front-row seat to Alex Rodriguez’s PED news conference.
 
World Series 2009
Fans prepped for Yankees’ Canyon parade
Like many New Yorkers, Nancy Zupo, 45, of Astoria, wouldn’t miss Friday’s ticker tape parade for anything.  She’s taking her boys out of school. Her college-age nephews are coming in from out-of-town to celebrate.
 
World Series 2009
Fans hit stores after Series win
Yankees fans made their way into Modell’s in Astoria on Thursday to purchase merchandise in celebration of the Bronx Bombers’ championship.  The doors opened at 5 a.m. By 9:30 things were going full throttle, with Yankees caps sold out and store personnel, including the manager, ringing at all registers.
 
New York Sports
Series title was easy, now comes the hard part
The smile plastered on Alex Rodriguez’s face may stay permanent until next April, but for some aging Yankees, it’s time to turn their game faces back on.
 
New York Sports
Failure to communicate
The Giants haven’t been on the same page defensively for three weeks. That goes for on and off the field.
 
New York Sports
Four downs with the Jets
The dirt on Sanchez
T
Stay grounded
T
Getting defensive
T
Average at best
 
Updated 11:26, February the 1st, 2008
Send
 

KG’s return in question

NBA. The league probably wasn’t happy. Suffice to say that neither was TNT, which had last night’s national broadcast of the highly anticipated game between the Celtics and Mavericks at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Heck, it’s a safe bet that Kevin Garnett wasn’t doing back flips over his inactive status for the potential NBA Finals preview, either.

The leader in the clubhouse for the league’s MVP award missed his third straight game with an abdominal strain last night, an injury that has lingered this season but didn’t surface until last Friday’s game against the Timberwolves.

The decision to leave Garnett out of the lineup was in the hands of Doc Rivers, and it couldn’t have been an easy one. Considering the Celtics were 6-5 in their last 11 games and 1-1 without Garnett this week, Rivers needed to make sure he didn’t react with a short-term thought process.

“There is no guarantees [Garnett will return] until he’s 100 percent,” Rivers told reporters after yesterday’s shoot-around. “If he’s ready for Cleveland, great. If he’s not, we’ll sit him. If he’s not ready for the next one, we’ll sit him. I’m not playing him until he’s 100 percent. That could be Cleveland. It could be after All-Star break. It could be after that. He’s not playing until he’s 100 percent.”

Rivers showed some moxy by sticking to his guns. His team has faded since starting the year 29-3, and energy has been a big reason why.

While Celtics goals of seasons past have been modest — perhaps reaching the playoffs or winning a series could be dubbed a success — this group is looking for some jewelry. An unhealthy Garnett would severely hamper Boston’s chances for a 17th championship.

Plus, the C’s don’t play again until they visit Cleveland on Tuesday, which will give Garnett 10 days of rest between games, providing he can indeed return.

Judging by Garnett’s win-at-all-costs mentality, that’s a strong possibility.

“I wasn’t going to do anything that was going to jeopardize my future and all that,” Garnett said. “My philosophy has always been 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 can play.”    

 
 
Share
 


 
Metro Life Panel
Read more