Yeah, I'll be happy if he comes back healthy as long as he comes back by the end of the season, regardless of what it means for record, playoff opponents and home court advantage. The only Eastern opponent I think can beat the Celtics is Cleveland. And I'll reiterate what many have said - a healthy KG is a lot more important toward winning that potential series than home court advantage. As scary as a game seven in Cleveland might be, and as much as every national analyst continues saying that nobody will win a game seven against Lebron on his home court, I think with a healthy KG, we can wrap it up in six.
That said, I'd love it if Garnett returned for about 25 minutes of the home game against Miami Wednesday (second night of back to back after a game in Chicago, so we could use the minutes) and then the game in San Antonio Friday. That would be just shy of 4 weeks off. If it's not a serious injury, I would think that would be enough rest. Then regardless of how he's feeling, sit him out the second night of the back to back at Memphis to avoid any additional strain and ensure he gets adequate cooldown and adjustment. I don't want to rush him, but since the Celtics play 6 games in the next 9 nights, it would be nice if he could give us some minutes during the back-to-backs.
If not, I'm hopeful he can return the following Monday against the Clippers to shake off some rust to help us out in Orlando and Atlanta on Wednesday the 25th and Friday the 27th. Those are dangerous games and Orlando is only one game behind us in the loss column - winning in Orlando not only gives us an extra game distance but also guarantees the tiebreaker against the Magic. Again, I don't care MUCH whether we have to play Detroit or Miami (likely 5/6 seeds) instead of Chicago, Charlotte, Milwaukee or Philadelphia (likely 7/8 seeds) in Round One, and I don't care much whether we have home court for a potential ECS matchup against Orlando. But if it's all the same, I'd certainly prefer the 2 seed, Garnett likely helps us win those games and come into the playoffs strong.
And honestly, if he's not ready then (which would be extremely worrisome and would give me little hope that he'll make it through the playoffs in one piece), keep him out until April 8 against the Nets. The team has 4 days off after their home game against Atlanta on the 3rd. KG can get a few practices and the New Jersey game to shake off any rust from his 6 plus weeks off, and hopefully be playoff ready for the home game against Miami on April 10, and the game at Cleveland April 12. Those two contests will have him, and the rest of the team, in playoff mode as the season winds down.
