All-Star forward Kevin Garnett, the emotional leader of the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, will miss two to three weeks with a muscle strain in his right knee, the team announced Saturday, Bloomberg reported.
Garnett left the Celtics on Friday and returned to Boston, where he was examined by team physician Dr. Brian McKeon at New England Baptist Hospital. Tests including an MRI revealed a posterior muscle strain in his knee.
Garnett, 32, suffered the injury in the first half of Thursday's loss at Utah, testing the knee at halftime but sitting out the second half. He traveled with the Celtics to Phoenix after the game but returned to Boston the following morning.
After Thursday's loss, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said that unless Garnett is "close to 100 percent, I'd rather have him healthy for the playoffs."
The Celtics (44-12) lead the Cleveland Cavaliers (42-11) by one-half game in the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference, and Garnett is a huge key to their success. In addition to averaging 16.4 points and a team-best 8.9 rebounds per game, the fiery leader anchors a defense that is second in the league, allowing just 91.9 points per contest.
The 6-11 Garnett was acquired in a trade with Minnesota in the summer of 2007 and helped engineer the greatest one-season turnaround in NBA history. Boston improved from 24 to 66 wins and went on to win its 17th championship.
Although Garnett is crucial to the success of the Celtics, they have gone 12-2 without him over the last one-plus seasons. Reserve Brian Scalabrine started the second half in Utah, and Leon Powe figures to play additional minutes in Garnett's absence.
A 12-time All-Star, Garnett entered the NBA directly out of high school in 1995 and is a future Hall of Famer. In 14 seasons, he has averaged 20.2 points, 11.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 1,051 games, winning NBA MVP honors in 2004.
Garnett figures to miss at least seven games. If he is sidelined for just two weeks, he could return March 8 vs. Orlando.
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