Always the tease, Celtics coach Doc Rivers toyed with us all last week when he said Kevin Garnett could return as early as Monday night. We now know that that's not happening, and once again it'll be Glen Davis starting for the C's at power forward.
The day began with rumors circulating that KG had missed the team's Waltham shootaround Monday morning. Rivers later clarified that wasn't true — Garnett was there, but he was in the back, not participating in the action. Then, KG wasn't present on the TD Garden floor to warm up, and at his pregame news conference Rivers confirmed that he wouldn't play.
Rivers is optimistic that Garnett could return either Tuesday, when the C's practice in Waltham, or Wednesday, when they take on the Sacramento Kings at the TD Garden. The exact timetable is still unknown.
That leaves Davis to match up with the Rockets' Luis Scola on Monday night. It's an interesting pairing — both are undersized power forwards who survive off of their energy. Both can shoot with quite a bit of range, and both get plenty of rebounds despite lacking height and wingspan.
Here's the lineup card for the first meeting this season of C's-Rockets:
Celtics
Rajon Rondo, PG
Ray Allen, SG
Paul Pierce, SF
Glen Davis, PF
Shaquille O'Neal, C
Rockets
Kyle Lowry, PG
Aaron Brooks, SG
Shane Battier, SF
Luis Scola, PF
Jordan Hill, C
