KG absent from 2009 NBA Playoffs?

Devestating news for the Celtics as their inspirational leader and power forward Kevin Garnett may not be suiting up to try to help them win their second straight championship this postseason. Garnett, who injured his right knee back on February 19th only played four games since sustaining the injury. Doc Rivers was hoping to rest his All-Star forward with the Celtics up in the standings, and was also hoping for KG to return to action in the final few games of the regular season. That unfortunately never happened.

According to ESPN.com:

Rivers said Thursday he watched Garnett run at the team's practice facility and said he had to shut him down after 20 minutes because his leg was locking up. Rivers knew he made the right call when Garnett didn't put up a fight.

"He's done everything he could do to get back on the floor," the coach said. "You could tell he was trying to mask that there was pain."

Read full article at ESPN.com

To say this jeapordizes the Celtics' chances at back-to-back trophys is an understatement. KG is an emotional leader who inspires big contributions from the rest of his teammates. That's not to say Ray Allen and Paul Pierce can't effectively put on a shooting and scoring clinic, but the defensive prowess and rebounding skills of KG in the lane is a big plus. The team has been 18-7 without KG this season, which isn't too shabby, but that's not 7 game series against Orlando or Cleveland. Chicago opens against the Bulls whom they should be able to handle despite Garnett's absence. After that it will get tougher, especially with a team like Orlando and Dwight Howard. Unless the Celts can get a big contribution from an unlikely hero like Leon Powe or Glen "Big Baby" Davis, it seems as if there may be a 2 team race in the Eastern Conference. Some even say this gives Cleveland a cakewalk to their second NBA Finals in 3 years.