Details on Kevin Garnett's injury remain fuzzy, as evidenced by differing accounts from coach Doc Rivers and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.
Details on Kevin Garnett's injury remain fuzzy, as evidenced by differing accounts from coach Doc Rivers and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.
Rivers spoke to the media first on Monday, saying that Garnett injured his foot against the Dallas Mavericks. Rivers' description of the injury contradicted the team's earlier announcement that Garnett suffered a sprained ankle. Rivers guessed that Garnett could miss four to five games, but didn't believe the issue would threaten the rest of Garnett's season.
Addressing the press after Rivers, Ainge said Garnett injured his ankle -- not his foot -- against the New Orleans Hornets, rather than the Mavericks. Ainge seemed to believe that Garnett played against Dallas (scoring 16 points with 12 rebounds and five assists in 29 minutes) after injuring himself in the prior game against New Orleans.
Ainge indicated that Garnett's initial MRI results weren't alarming, but said the Celtics expect to err on the side of caution, giving Garnett time to rest and reduce his left ankle inflammation. The president of basketball operations guessed Garnett will sit two weeks, which would cause him to miss eight games and return with just five contests left in the regular season.
"I think it happened in New Orleans game, it was just sore -- just inflammation," Ainge said, according to ESPN Boston. "A lot of things can cause inflammation; I think everyone has a little bit of inflammation this time of year. KG, we need to get him fresh anyway."
Ainge's comments by themselves were reassuring, suggesting that Garnett could play Tuesday, but the team would rather be safe. He and Rivers couldn't agree on many of the injury's details, but they both said it shouldn't be a real long-term concern.
And in case you need a terrifying reminder of an injury that probably has no similarities to this one, here's the initial diagnosis of Garnett's February 2009 injury that kept him out the rest of the season.