From Steve Aschburner/SI.com:
Wolves rookie Kevin Love, born into a basketball family, has a real grasp of and respect for the game’s roots. He mentioned Garnett the other day as the one NBA player he most would like to have on his team (Love must not have gotten the memo from the corporate office). “Everybody knows [he was here]. You can still kind of feel it,” the rookie from UCLA said. “People talk about, KG did this and KG did that. I think it will always be like that. He was a great player, a sure-shot Hall of Famer, one of the top 15 or 20 players of all time.”
Wolves rookie Kevin Love, born into a basketball family, has a real grasp of and respect for the game’s roots. He mentioned Garnett the other day as the one NBA player he most would like to have on his team (Love must not have gotten the memo from the corporate office). “Everybody knows [he was here]. You can still kind of feel it,” the rookie from UCLA said. “People talk about, KG did this and KG did that. I think it will always be like that. He was a great player, a sure-shot Hall of Famer, one of the top 15 or 20 players of all time.”
Garnett also is a player known for some bully tactics, famously challenging and barking at younger opponents. Love would seem to be a perfect foil, in a Joel Przybilla sort of way. “I definitely think he’s going to test me and knock me on my ass a couple of times,” the Wolves forward said…
FL Celts Fan/CelticsBlog posts a look at tonight’s game.
So what line does Al Jefferson have ready for K.G. this year?
Last season, the two yapped at each other at the foul line in a game at Boston. Later, he found out that the conversation got heated after Jefferson reminded the accomplished veteran that they shared something in common: Neither of them had an NBA championship ring.
In retrospect, oops…
Coming off a Thursday night home win over Detroit, the Boston Celtics won’t hold a shootaround at Target Center this morning and the team said Garnett won’t speak before before the 7 p.m. game against the Wolves.
The Wolves said some tickets still remain for tonight’s game against Kevin Garnett and the NBA-champion Boston Celtics. As of Thursday afternoon, the number was 2,000.
Wittman said guard Rashad McCants (back spasms) would be a game-time decision.
The obvious story line for tonight’s game is Garnett’s appearance back in Minnesota. Garnett is an emotional player and the Wolves can use the home crowd to their advantage to get the former MVP off his game early in the contest. At the power forward position, Garnett averages 16 points and nine rebounds a game and will either face Al Jefferson or Jason Collins. The 13-year veteran, Garnett, will look to put his stamp on the game with rebounding and defense, most likely on Jefferson. After leading the Wolves to the 2004 Western Conference finals and earning the league MVP in a Minnesota uniform, this is must-see action tonight at the Target Center, with the return of No. 21…oops…No. 5.
Rivers is wary of Minnesota, though no Celtics starter played more than Paul Pierce’s 28 minutes last night.
“They’re going to be a tough game for a lot of reasons,” Rivers said…
“They broke their [eight-game losing] streak, so now they’re going to play free again. I don’t know if it’s six games or seven games, [the Timberwolves] had leads going into the fourth quarter against very good teams. And then the Kevin Garnett factor – who knows where that’s going to go? I wish I could tell you. I can’t.”
Marc J Spears/Boston Globe on Garnett’s return:
“Garnett jerseys sell more than what the Timberwolves have,” said Mike Bruce, manager of NBA City Restaurant. “The Al Jefferson and Kevin Love [jersey sales] are doing very well. But Garnett is still the big sell. I don’t think we have any of his old Timberwolves jerseys for sale. We sold out of those.
“We actually had to reorder [Garnett Celtics jerseys] for this season. The only thing that we are sold out of now is the Garnett T-shirts.”
When told his Celtics jersey was still a hot seller in Minneapolis, Garnett chuckled before saying, “I can’t even comment on that. I guess it’s a compliment.”
Jefferson is the only player who flourished in Minnesota since the deal and currently leads the team in points (22.6), rebounds (10.3) and field-goal percentage (52.2).
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