Where Would We Be Without KG?

When the Minnesota Timberwolves came to the Garden last night, the team with the worst record in the NBA was meeting the team with the best. None of this seemed to matter as the Celtics were extremely lucky to come away with a 87-86 win.

The T-Wolves have count 'em six former C's: Al Jefferson, Antoine Walker, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff (who by this point is a mummy). True Boston fans (and not the ones who are Johnny Come Lately bandwagon fillers) will remember them all, especially the young guys and 'Toine.

The Celts made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002 led by 'Toine, Pierce and a team that shot about 45 threes a game. Not surprisingly, they came crashing to a halt against the Nets. The young guys who were here last year (Bassy) or the last two (the rest) were part of a rebuilding project that never really went anywhere. That is until they were packaged along with two No. 1 picks for Garnett last summer. Jefferson is an absolute beast and at 22-years old is destined to be a star but as we've seen all year, and fittingly last night, KG is a winner that makes plays few others can.

Things weren't looking good as Boston (34-7) was down one with under a minute. They got a stop and the rebound but Pierce travelled. The T-Wolves (7-35) though shot themselves in the foot as they failed to get the ball inbounds in time. Ray Allen drove to the basket on the next possession but his layup rimmed out. Kendrick Perkins was there for the putback slam. Minnesota had one last chance but they couldn't get anything off. KG ended up out on Telfair near midcourt. No surprise who ended up with the ball as time ran out. Garnett pounded his chest and held up the Boston part of his jersey. A memorable moment in what could have been a disastrous game.

In terms of one-on-one matchups, there were a couple of surprises in terms of final results. Perkins (game-high 21 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks) actually outplayed Jefferson (15 points, 5 boards, 2 steals, 2 assists, 2 blocks). Telfair played great (18 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals) while Rajon Rondo (4 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block) was invisible.

Pierce had 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Ray Allen shot 4 of 18 for 12 points and four rebounds. KG left in the fourth with an abdominal strain but finished the game with 10 points and 16 rebounds. Tony Allen (6 rebounds) and Leon Powe each added seven points off the bench.

Gomes had 13 points while Rashad McCants had 12 points and seven boards. Green had nine points, three boards and two assists. Corey Brewer had eight points and 'Toine had only three.

The C's got to the basket much more and were rewarded by making 25 of 30 from the line. Minnesota was just 12 of 16. Boston dominated the glass (47-35) while the T-Wolves got more steals (13-7).

The rematch in Minnesota in a few weeks should be even more emotional for Garnett since he had spent his whole career there. The Celts hit the road to face Orlando tomorrow afternoon. The teams split the first two games (with the home team winning both) so it should be a tight contest.