Is this Kevin Garnett's last stand in Boston? He's on an expiring contract, and it's evident that closing time is coming for the 38-year old who is on his 20th NBA season.
If the Brooklyn Nets don't make the playoffs this season, there will be little reason for Kevin Garnett to stay and for Brooklyn to keep him. His age has been evident the past two seasons, although he has performed slightly better this season than last. He might take a huge pay cut from his current $12 million contract and move on to be a veteran backup for a contender, but it doesn't sound much like the former MVP, DPOY, and NBA champion to suddenly become a journeyman on a one year contract.
So for Boston Celtics fans this might be the final goodbye to the cornerstone player on the 2008 championship team, just a week after the last player from that team, Rajon Rondo, was traded to the Dallas Mavericks.
In this game, Boston will still be working on the rotation after the Rondo trade. Power forward Jared Sullinger might have played his way out of the starting lineup after three weeks of less than stellar performances, while small forward Jeff Green has looked like he is in a funk the last two games, and the newcomers from Dallas seem to play better when put on the floor together. Jameer Nelson, Jae Crowder, and Brandan Wright were all instrumental in the Celtics' almost successful comeback in the fourth quarter against Orlando Magic.
After that game, Jared Sullinger was out of the locker room and sitting in the bus, way before the Celtics opened the doors for the press. He was probably dissatisfied with both his own performance and his limited playing time. He was kept out the entire second half and only played nine minutes in the game.
The question is whether this is a result of the roster shake up, or something else is going on. Sullinger had much better numbers while Kelly Olynyk was a starter with him. Now Sullinger's play may be affected by sharing the floor with Tyler Zeller who is much more a classical post player than Olynyk, who has flourished as both a playmaker and a finisher with the second unit and was nominated for Player of the Week in the Eastern Conference last week.
Another problem for Coach Brad Stevens is who should be the starting point guard. Jameer Nelson had an excellent fourth quarter against his old team, but he was also a big part of the problem, when Orlando created a huge scoring gap, that the Celtics couldn't close.
Meanwhile, rookie Marcus Smart doesn't seem ready to be a starter just yet, at least while he is working himself back into shape after his ankle injury that kept him out for almost four weeks.
The third option is Evan Turner, who is less of a natural point guard than either Nelson or Smart, but who is a better defensive option than Nelson and a better offensive option than Smart. Nelson also carries the disadvantage that he is clearly not a part of the Celtics future, and probably will be traded or bought out at some point this season.
Brooklyn point guard Deron Williams has been out for two games with a slight calf strain, but was able to practice Wednesday, so he might be ready to play against the Celtics, possibly off the bench.
While the Celtics might be disappointed in how the season has progressed so far, the Brooklyn Nets should be even more frustrated. They are only a game and a half ahead of Boston in the standings, and unlike the Celtics they are not in a state of rebuilding or retooling, even though they have made their top players available in trade.
Brooklyn has made it a habit to lose against over .500 teams and beat the lower tier teams, which puts them right where no one wants to be, the middle of the pack. They have won two games in a row against the Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets, and are favored to win this one too.
