While Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Glen Davis were busy dismantling the Miami Heat in Game 2, Garnett was, of all places, in team president Danny Ainge’s living room. While the C's worked to contain Dwyane Wade, KG just had to tolerate the constant blabbering from the man sitting next to him.
Then again, KG probably wasn't too quiet himself.
"He probably hit his head on the ceiling a couple of times, screaming at the TV," Pierce said after the game. "I could just see him in front of the TV — 'Sink, sink, get that, Baby!' That’s how he is on the sidelines watching. But probably in the second half, toward the end of the third quarter, he relaxed a little bit."
After the Celtics thoroughly destroyed the Heat in Game 2, going on a 21-0 run in the second quarter and an 18-0 burst in the third, Garnett could exhale. It might have been hard for him to watch his team in the playoffs without getting out there, but it got a lot easier as the game went on.
"It was difficult, but it was good," Garnett said Wednesday. "It was good basketball. I thought they played at both ends for 48 minutes. I thought Glen played with great energy. I thought he took what they gave him, he was aggressive. It was good basketball last night."
Knowing KG, the competitor that he is, there's no doubt he's dying to get back out there. His teammates could see it in him the next morning.
"I think so," Kendrick Perkins said. "You can tell. You know, the funny thing about KG is, you'd watch him watching film today, and he wasn't on there, and it was bothering him that he wasn't playing last night. So I think he's going to be ready for Game 3."
Game 2 was an important win for the Celtics, but winning Game 3 would be even bigger. It would hammer one more nail into Miami's coffin, leaving just one to go, and it would prove to the basketball world that this Celtics team knows how to win on the road.
Watching on TV was no fun for KG. But that's in the past, and it's time to focus on the future.
"I think the mindset now is just thinking about Game 3," Garnett said. "Thinking about how hostile it's going to be down in Miami. We've all played on the road in playoff basketball, so we know it's going to be difficult. That's the mindset of everyone."
These are the Celtics, and on the road, they're all villains. Especially after what happened in Game 1, there will be no love for KG, Pierce or anyone else in a green uniform. Especially this time of year, that's to be expected.
"I don't expect any of us to get any cheers down there," Garnett said. "I'm no different from that."
