Garnett Practices Tuesday, May Return Friday Against Portland

Could the description of Paul Pierce's injury be any more vague? Witness, from Comcast Sports Net:

Paul Pierce will miss the Celtics' upcoming four-game road trip, and may be sidelined for as many as two weeks, because of a knee problem that required a medical procedure on Wednesday.

A "knee problem" that required a "medical procedure." Thanks for clearing that up, guys!

To be fair, Celtics president Wyc Grousbeck did elaborate a little bit:

"He had the knee rinsed and irrigated, and it will require some antibiotics. It's nothing major at all, but it will take some time to come back from. He'll be out for a week, maybe two, and will definitely miss the four games on the road."

Huh. Well... we all need our knees irrigated every now and then, right?

It's worth questioning, because as Celtics Blog points out today, the Celtics have a history, here:

Once bitten, twice shy.  The Celtics flat out lied to us last year about the extent of Kevin Garnett's knee.  I understand why they did it.  I do think the team hoped to have him back at some point and believed they would.  But at some point along the way they let us believe that he was coming back when they knew he wasn't.  Right or wrong, that makes you wonder.

Now all indications are that Garnett was just pulled from last night's game for "strategic rest."  All indications are that the issue is a thigh bruise and not directly related to his knee.  Everything sounds on the up and up.  I'm 99.9% sure that is all there is to the story.

However, there's that thin cloud of doubt that creeps in and will always creep in from now on.  And the Celtics know it.  There's a reason why Danny Ainge addressed the CSN crew last night instead of just Doc.  They know they need to be very careful in how they handle situations like this from now on because they know we didn't appreciate them going "Belichickian" on us last year.

Indeed, last year Kevin Garnett went on the injured list and never really came back. Initially, the team said he just needed rest, but then, three months later, he was still hobbling around and barking at opponents from the bench. Now, Garnett's "resting" again, which prompted the above inquisition. But perhaps more important to the fate of the Celtics this year... Could Paul Pierce be headed for a similar fate?

Both Garnett and Pierce are felled by the same thing that makes them great--they've each been a great player for over a decade. But for all the value of their experience, there's also the basic reality that they've each played thousands and thousands of minutes, and there's only so long a body can endure that kind of punishment. Garnett's knee gave out last year; and while Pierce may well just be taking some routine precautions, could you blame Celtics fans for being worried? Garnett may be the one mugging for the cameras, but Paul Pierce is the heart of that team.

Last night, Celtics Hub noted the following sequence:

Pierce enters the game at the 5:50 mark, and after the C’s botch one possession, Pierce does the following on the next three Celtic trips:

-Trademark 19-footer from the right elbow;

-Makes two free throws after attacking the rim and drawing a foul on Hibbert;

-Makes a three-pointer after Sheed tracks down a Hibbert miss and kicks the ball out to Pierce on the left wing

Classic. Pierce was 0-of-9 over the first three quarters before erupting in the 4th. And the thing about Pierce is that he was still productive on offense—or at least not unproductive—over those first three quarters because of his determination to get to the line.

Like I said, we’ve seen this movie before. For 12 years. Appreciate.

Indeed, he's been doing it for 12 long years. But maybe it's starting to catch up to him.