We’ve all heard billions of times about Kevin Garnett’s obscene plus-minus numbers. And the Boston Celtics’ trend of deteriorating with KG on the court is continuing this season.

After last night’s loss, Rajon Rondo explained what happens whenever Garnett moves to the bench. (Hint: Hide yo’ kids, hide yo’ wife, close your eyes and take a shot of Jameson.) (Boston Herald)

“Chaos. Nobody’s doing anything right,” Rondo said of the result. “We do a better job when Kevin is on the floor. The plus-minus with him — they showed it during the playoffs last year — isn’t carrying over when he goes out. Things change. Teams have gone on runs for some reason the last couple of games when he goes out.

“Kevin does a great job of talking, and it’s a case of follow the leader,” he said. “Some guys just don’t talk. For us to win we need guys who come out of their comfort zone and do something they’re not comfortable with. . . . We have to take on the challenge as a team to start those runs when he goes out. It’s everything. But we’re not panicking. We have the right guys and the right mindset. It’s just a matter of doing it.”

The flip side of the story, as I tweeted in the wee hours of the morning after writing a long column about high school football (which helped remind me why I love sports), is this:

At 36 years old, Kevin Garnett is still really, really goddamn good at basketball. And the Celtics certainly need him to be. They also need to figure out how to quell the chaos when he sits, but at least Garnett can still deliver in 2012 postseason form.