Celtics vs. Knicks: Kevin Garnett’s understated defensive contributions proved crucial
Rajon Rondo rightfully received the lion’s share of media coverage following Sunday’s win — he performed so well in so many ways, he could have been an Apple product. Paul Pierce likewise earned his fair share of attention after pouring in 34 points, which tied a season high.
But Kevin Garnett — whose 18 points and 10 rebounds, albeit on just 8-22 shooting, provided his fifth double-double in six games since returning from a hip injury — was understated in his contributions. Garnett didn’t hit a contested three-pointer to send the game into overtime, and he didn’t accomplish a feat matched only by Wilt Chamberlain and Magic Johnson. Yet he did impact the Celtics win in typical Garnettian fashion, with an abundance of help defense.
As Red’s Army’s @MrTrpleDouble10 explains here, Garnett snuffed out a number of Knicks attempts in the final minutes, turning open shots into bad ones and buckets into misses.
The video of Garnett’s defensive contributions in the overtime period follows below, or head over to Red’s Army to read a play-by-play rundown.
Related posts:
Celtics Blog | Tommy King | March 5, 2012
Had Rondo let Carmelo drive past him the way Pierce did, fans would have been ripping Rondo’s head off.
Kg is a very active and aware defensive Big. I love him at center. When we had Perkins we had two of those guys inside, which allowed our perimeter guys to be more aggressive. Those were the days.
Hopefully Danny will trade Rondo soon, because as all the media are trumpeting to the skies, last night’s game proves that he is inconsistent and should be rode out of town on arail.
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I’m assuming that last paragraph is sarcasm? And idk about KG being a 5 for the long haul. That’s a lot of naming for a 36 (?) year old body. Wilcox needs to start at the 5, therefore bringing Bass out with the 2nd team. That would give them some offensive consistency.
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Glad you pointed out PP’s lack of defense as I mentioned in the game post. He needs to really pick it up on that end as he is constantly getting beat or leaves his man wide open. As for the rest of your comments …these are the days and nice sarcasm. Go Cs…
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The Rocets blew us out 93-77 last time we played them. Redemption time? I think so. They have to good big men though (Scola and Dalembert) so it’ll be interesting to see how Garnett, Bass, and Wilcox respond. That’s assuming the NBA League Pass is still offering a free trial. Has anyone else been watching full-length games on YouTube? It’s pretty awesome.
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