Kevin Garnett turns 36 on Saturday, the latest evidence that he's no longer the dominating force in the prime of his career that ensured he'll have a post-retirement home in Springfield.
If you watched Garnett in Game 1 of the Celtics' series with the 76ers, though, you'd swear that Garnett was on the verge of turning 26, not 36. He turned in 29 points on 12-of-20 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds and added three blocks for good measure in a Celtics win.
The C's would end up losing Game 2, and while Garnett didn't have a poor game, he was a far cry from his Game 1 self. The series now heads to Philly with the two teams squared at a game apiece, and life will be much easier for Doc Rivers and his team if they get the Game 1 Garnett — or something reasonably close to it — for the rest of the series and playoffs.
That, however, is easier said than done.