Garnett's 27 Points Make Dinos Sore As Boston Beats Toronto For 5th Straight Win: 99-95

Good...   

Sweet...   

Lord.

Maybe it was all the trade talk. Maybe it was his 25,000th point looming just over the horizon. Maybe it was just due.

But, Good...Sweet...Lord!

Growing up as a young man, Kevin Maurice Garnett must have broken a lot of hearts on his way to basketball supremacy. I say this because tonight against the Toronto Raptors, on the heels of several rumors and much speculation about teams eagerly, hopefully inquiring as to his availability in trade, The Big Ticket unveiled some mad skillz directly related to his brand-new persona: The Big Tease. That's right. The Big Tease.

Sensing the amorous eyes of the basketball world fixed firmly on his 7-foot frame, Garnett walked out onto the floor of the Air Canada Centre and proceeded to show all of his suitors exactly how much they're never going to get, delivering his highest single-game scoring output since the Championship run of 2008.

Feasting on the Dinos as if they were Brontosaurus Burgers, KG netted a game-high 27 points on 11-18 shooting and pulled down 10 rebounds IN JUST 26 MINUTES. Contrast that performance with Toronto's high scorer, new Raptor Rudy Gay, who scored 24, but had to take 24 shots to get there, making only 8. In fairness, he did get 10 boards, 4 steals and 3 assists, but he managed to sink only one shot in the 4th quarter amidst an aggressive Celtics defense.

As astounding as KG was tonight (did I mention he scored 27 in only 26 minutes?), he had some help from Captain Paul Pierce, who shot an abysmal 2-11 but still nearly got a triple-double by living up to one of his favorite sayings and "giving the game what it needs", which was apparently 12 points, 11 rebounds and a team-high 6 assists.

Courtney Lee had a strong 15 points, Avery Bradley got 11 and Brandon Bass scored 10. Coming off the bench, a very active and explosive Leandro Barbosa dropped 14 on 5-8 shooting with several baskets coming in crunch time as the Celtics took command of the game down the stretch.

When asked to give his assessment about the game and why the Celtics are beating teams without Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger, KG uttered these heartwarming and telling words, "We believe in each other." They apparently like each other, too, as evidenced by the embrace we saw Jeff Green (who played great defense) give Barbosa after the game and the smiles pasted all over the faces of the team.

Milestones? Did someone say Milestones? No? Well, we're talkin' about 'em anyway!

Doc Rivers got his 400th Celtic win and KG now stands at 24,994 career points -- for all of you non-math majors, that's just six points away from an impressive milestone. Tomorrow night against the Los Angeles Lakers, Garnett should join the only other active player in the NBA with 25,000 or more points. That player? Kobe Bryant. Bryant, by the way, recently said something to the effect of, "You guys don't want Rajon Rondo? Send him my way...I like everything that guy's about." Take THAT, Rondo haters!

Not to make early projections here, but the Celtics are now 2 games over .500, just 6.5 games out of first place in the Atlantic Division, and only 8 games out of the top spot for the Eastern Conference. Aww, Hell...I WILL make a projection, or at least, a prediction...the Celtics will win the Atlantic Division. After that? ANYTHING IS POSSIBLLLLLEEE!

Take Of The Tape

Box Score

Next Up, The Los Angeles Lakers!

THE BUZZ:

The Boston Celtics vs. The Los Angeles Lakers
Thursday, February 7th, 2013
@ 8:00pm
The Boston Garden, Boston MA