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Celtics-Kings Preview

Feb 16, 2010 - 4:55 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Boston (32-18) at Sacramento (18-34), 10:00 p.m. EDT

In the first game after the 2009 All-Star break, the Boston Celtics lost Kevin Garnett to a knee injury. A year later, they may still be feeling the effects.

After an injury-plagued first half of the season and quiet All-Star game, Garnett and the sputtering Celtics still hope to reestablish themselves as title contenders during the season's second half, which begins with Tuesday night's visit to the Sacramento Kings.

It was during a 90-85 loss at Utah last Feb. 19 that Garnett was initially injured, causing the 2004 MVP to miss all but four remaining games and the playoffs.

Garnett missed nine contests from Dec. 30-Jan. 20 with another knee problem, and he's been held without a double-double in 10 games since returning, averaging 12.4 points and 6.4 rebounds.

He started but played just 13 minutes in the All-Star game, totaling four points and three rebounds, and seemed miffed by questions about his health before Sunday's game.

"I'll speak one time about my health. It's great," Garnett said.

The Celtics (32-18) are 5-5 since his return and 9-13 since Christmas as their lead in the Atlantic Division has slipped to four games over Toronto. They're already two losses shy of their total from last season and two over the total from their 2007-08 championship campaign.

"Our expectations are to try to win a championship and be consistent, and that's something we haven't been able to do over the last month or so," Paul Pierce said. "But we're a veteran team, we stick together, and we'll turn this thing around."

Boston will start by trying to avoid a third straight defeat. After a 96-89 home loss to Orlando on Feb. 7, the Celtics went into the break with a 93-85 defeat at New Orleans on Wednesday, with Garnett totaling seven points and shooting 2 of 9 from the field.

"Our starters struggled," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "Kevin struggled in the second half and Paul forced too much due to the struggling of the team."

While Pierce won the 3-point shooting contest on Saturday night, he'd love to share some of his outside touch with teammate Ray Allen, who missed the loss at New Orleans due to back spasms after shooting 38.9 percent from the field and 26.8 percent from 3-point range in his previous 10 games.

Allen has been mentioned in trade rumors ahead of Thursday's deadline. If traded, he would have played his last home game with the Celtics, who also face the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland and Denver on this trip.

Sacramento (18-34) is the weakest opponent on the trip after it lost 18 of 22 going into the break to effectively end its playoff chances. But the young Kings won their last two games and will be trying for their first three-game winning streak since they won four straight from Nov. 25-Dec. 2.

Kevin Martin scored 26 points and Beno Udrih added 22 off the bench as Sacramento won 103-97 at Detroit on Wednesday, prompting coach Paul Westphal to lament the timing of All-Star weekend.

"We're learning and getting good performances from different people," Westphal said. "I hate to see the break coming right now."

The Kings have also been involved in some trade rumors, mostly involving Martin as rookie guard Tyreke Evans continues to emerge. Evans leads all rookies with 20.3 points per game.

He's never faced the Celtics, who've held Sacramento to an average of 77.5 points in four straight wins since they acquired Garnett and Allen. Boston's last visit to Arco Arena resulted in the biggest home loss in Kings history, a 108-63 defeat on Dec. 28, 2008.