Kevin Garnett suffers injury setback
Phenomenal sharp-shooter and spearhead of the Boston Celtics’ Big Three, Kevin Garnett left Wednesday night’s game against the Detroit Pistons after injuring his right leg, while attempting a dunk late in the first quarter.
With over two and a half minutes left until the first buzzer and Boston trailing by 14-23, Ray Allen found Garnett unmarked left of the lane and passed the ball to the 6ft 11in forward. Garnett lunged hurriedly towards the post in an attempt to remain uncontested, but
in the process he bent his right leg awkwardly.
He hung on to the rim for a while - visibly in a lot of pain - as his team-mates returned to their positions. Garnett limped his way to the middle of the court, and was wincing in pain - desperate to get some attention. he intentionally committed his first
personal foul of the night which eventually stopped the play.
Garnett fell to the floor, bowing on one knee, as Coach Doc River replaced the superstar with Jermaine O'Neal. Garnett limped onto the bench, as Celtics trainer Ed Lacerte examined his knee. Garnett has a history of knee ailments, and Wednesday night’s blow
was on the same right knee that has troubled him for the last two seasons. The iconic forward, who is 22nd among the all time scorers in the league, underwent arthroscopy and removal of posterior bone spurs on his troubled
knee in May 2008.
That injury came as a big blow to the Celtics, as Garnett was on the sidelines in the post-season play-offs, which they ultimately surrendered to the Orlando Magic in the semi-finals. The Celtics were unable to cope with his absence once again on Wednesday
night, as they lost 104-92 to the Pistons.
Garnett struggled with the injury last season as well and had to languish on the bench for 10 games, midway through that season. The latest setback comes at as a major blow for the player who had started to rediscover his magical form. He has averaged 15.4
points at a 54.1 percent shooting from the field, 9.8 rebounds and 1.79 steals per game.
The injury occurred near Garnett's surgically repaired right knee. However after detailed examination and X-rays, the team downplayed the gravity of the damage saying it was a "lower right-leg injury". According to sources within the team Garnett will undergo
MRI scans on Thursday to further clarify the prognosis, and check for ligament damage.
Tags: