Kevin Garnett: The fuel behind the Boston Celtics charge in the playoffs so far – NBA Feature
In a league full of young and surging players performing in the playoffs this year, there is one veteran who is holding his own despite his age – he is Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics.
Garnett has been the forefront of the C`s road to the Conference Semi finals and it seems that he just getting warmed up.
Garnett`s average of 23.7 points average in the first three games of the series against the Philadelphia 76ers is mere proof of the fact of how productive of a post season he`s been having. What is more impressive
that he has been shooting the ball 63% from the field and has looked unstoppable at times, even when the Phillies have been so exceptional on the D.
Such has been Garnett’s performances during the playoffs so far that it has earned him the highest regard not only from his team mates, but from his opponents as well.
Thaddeus Young of the Sixers has described Garnett`s performance as something on an another plane and conceded that his team are unable to stop the juggernaut at the moment.
Teammates like Paul Pierce have also praised the 2004-05 MVP`s performances as being the most consistent. He also went on to contemplate that the Celtics will continue to look towards Garnett to get their offence
going and with the way the big man is performing, there might be no stopping the Greens on their road to the NBA finals.
In the one loss that the C’s have suffered so far in this series, Doc Rivers, the head coach, made an error of giving Garnett less minutes and the result was a one point defeat. Garnett still managed his way
to double-double figures of 15 points and 12 rebounds in nearly 28 minutes. He was however not at all impressed with the way his team played and used his leadership ability to good effect;
“After the game I just came in and said we weren't going to beat anybody," Garnett said, "that includes JV teams and high school teams, if we weren't going to play together. We worked so hard to get to where
we are at, and we got there together. Ubuntu. I've been preaching that since I've been here, and I had to remind the guys, the younger guys and the new guys, of how we succeed here."
The rest of the Celtics roster got the message loud and clear and turned things around in a positive manner in game-3. Such was the response from the C`s that they managed their way to 107 points while shooting
52 percent from the field. The 107 mark touched by the Boston team was their third highest total during the course of this season.
Garnett responded back with huge numbers of 27 points and 13 rebounds in the win and rubbed off his excellence on others also. Paul Pierce racked up 24 points and 12 rebounds and Rajon Rondo contributed 23 points
and 14 rebounds on the night leading Boston to a 2-1 lead.
The C’s however still owed the win to Garnett`s spectacular play. They started the game by running the first two possessions into his hands and KG made sure that the Celtics went off and running.
He looked unstoppable the entire night and the fact that he is as good a perimeter shooter as he is a post scorer makes him all the more dangerous.
Boston currently holds a 2-1 lead over the Sixers in their Semi Final series and with the other Eastern power house Miami Heat struggling against the Indiana Pacers, the road to the NBA Finals does look a lot
clearer for the Celtics.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not represent Bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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