NBA Playoff Preview: Celtics Look To Survive Without Kevin Garnett

The Celtics’ quest for back-to-back NBA titles just became more difficult, as reigning defensive player of the year Kevin Garnett is out for the playoffs due to a knee injury.

Garnett helped Boston raise its first title banner since 1986 last season. He was acquired before the season in a trade, and immediately become the heart and soul of the Celtics. On the way to the title, Garnett improved Boston’s team defense dramatically.

This season, Garnett missed 13 games following the knee injury suffered Feb. 19. The Celtics were hopeful he would return before the end of the regular season, but that never came about.

Celtics head coach Doc Rivers told a Boston-based sports radio station Thursday morning that Garnett is out for the playoffs.

The Celtics have gone 18-7 in games without Garnett this season. But in those games, the Celtics are allowing opponents to score nearly eight points more per game. From the field, opponents are averaging 44.2 percent in those games compared to 42.2 when Garnett plays.

Boston begins its title defense Saturday against the Chicago Bulls. Boston is the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team Boston beat last season in the Eastern Conference semifinals on its way to the franchise’s 17th NBA title.

The Cavaliers enjoyed a league-best 39-2 home record this season, finishing with franchise records for most wins, most home wins, and most road wins. Boston appeared to be Cleveland’s biggest threat throughout the regular season with Garnett in the lineup.

The Cavaliers finished the regular season with a 66-16 record, which allowed them to clinch home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Cleveland clinched Monday against the Indiana Pacers. Cleveland beat out the Los Angeles Lakers for home-court advantage. The Lakers are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

In its opening playoff series, Cleveland plays the Detroit Pistons, who have appeared in the Eastern Conference finals the last six seasons. Detroit will sit Allen Iverson for the entire postseason due to his back injury and his grumblings about playing time.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference, the third-seeded Orlando Magic play the Philadelphia 76ers. Orlando has battled injuries all season. Point guard Jameer Nelson was lost for the remainder of the season exactly halfway through this season. Now, starters Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis are recovering from recent injuries as they head into the playoffs.

The other Eastern Conference matchup features the Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat. The Hawks nearly upset the Celtics last season, taking Boston to seven games in the first round. Meanwhile, the Heat made the playoffs despite winning just 15 games last season. The Heat are led by first-year coach Erik Spoelstra and MVP candidate Dwyane Wade.

The team Boston beat last season in the NBA Finals was the Lakers, who finished first in the Western Conference this season like last year. The first-seeded Lakers enjoy the return of starter Andrew Bynum as they head into the playoffs. Bynum missed 32 games this season due to a knee injury suffered Jan. 31.

The Lakers’ first-round opponent is the No. 8 seed Utah Jazz. The Lakers won two of the three meetings against the Jazz this season with both wins coming at home. Utah, meanwhile, enjoyed a 13-game winning streak in late February and early March, but struggled down the stretch, losing seven of its last nine games.

After acquiring point guard Chauncey Billups midseason, the Denver Nuggets turned their season around. The second-seeded Nuggets will play the New Orleans Hornets in the first round. Led by All-Star point guard Chris Paul, the Hornets struggled late in the regular season like Utah, losing six of their last eight games.

The San Antonio Spurs beat New Orleans last season in the conference semifinals. This year, the third-seeded Spurs will face the Dallas Mavericks in the first round. But the Spurs are without Manu Ginóbili, a centerpiece of their last three titles.

San Antonio has won the NBA Finals every other year since 1999 except in 2001, while Dallas has made the postseason the last nine seasons but has not won an NBA title in that time.

In the 4-versus-5 matchup, the Portland Trail Blazers face the Houston Rockets. Led by third-year All-Star guard Brandon Roy, the Blazers are one of the youngest teams in the playoffs.

Houston has lost seven consecutive postseason series, tying Denver for the longest active streak. Houston guard Tracy McGrady, who has never won a playoff series, missed the last 30 games of the regular season and is out for the playoffs.

The three hottest storylines surrounding the 2009 NBA Playoffs concern three teams, Boston, who is without Garnett, and Los Angeles and Cleveland, the No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences.

Cleveland outlasted the other two during the regular season to earn home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Cleveland is led by MVP candidate LeBron James, who enjoyed a career year this season. He begged for a sufficient supporting cast around him since he was drafted.

Now with one, Cleveland is the favorite to win the title.

In Cleveland’s way are the defending-champion Celtics and the Lakers.

The Celtics won 72 percent of their games without Garnett this season. Plus, they have home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs.

For the Lakers, those likely to contend with them for the Western Conference title will likely play more games on their way to the conference championship, according to most experts, who believe the Lakers won’t play more than four or five games until the NBA Finals.

So with the focus on Boston, Los Angeles, and Cleveland this postseason, two questions remain:

With Cleveland and Los Angeles as heavy favorites in their respective conferences, is this matchup a lock for the Finals? Or will Boston show resilience without Garnett and make consecutive Finals appearances?