Garnett making all the difference

It can be comical sometimes how quickly we forget just how important Kevin Garnett is to the Boston Celtics.After a month long stretch of below average .500 basketball, both Garnett and the rest of the Celtics appear to be back on track. The green have now reeled off four straight victories, and with each win both KG’s health, and the Celtics’ confidence appear to be on the rise.The fact is Celtics head coach Doc Rivers has all but conceded the Eastern Conference’s best record to the Cleveland Cavaliers saying, “we’ve earned the record that we have right now; we’re tied for the second seed in the East. We’re not going to catch Cleveland.”The Celtics may not catch Cleveland, but with a healthy Garnett their chances of getting past Cleveland in the playoffs have dramatically increased.Though Garnett’s minutes have been very limited through his first four games back, KG himself says that he is feeling great.”Timing is everything. My wind feels fine,” he said. “As I get into more minutes I’m sure I’ll have to deal with that more, but there’s nothing I’m terribly concerned about. I have some energy. Man I just try to be a presence out there, even though I’m playing limited minutes.”Rivers has been adamant about limiting his star’s minutes.”He’s still not ready for long minutes. If we can’t get the top seed, we want to be healthy.” Rivers said. “The tough thing with him, he plays a long stretch and he gets better toward the end of the minutes. It’s like he’s warming up. But you know the minute you take him out, then that’s it. The next step is to be able to put him back in.”The Celtics head down to Orlando for an Eastern Conference showdown with the Orlando Magic tonight.The Magic, led by superstar Dwight Howard, sit third in the Eastern conference just one game behind the Celtics. The Celtics are 2-1 this season against the Magic, meaning a win tonight would give the green the tie-breaker and all but lock up the second seed in the East, and home court advantage through round two.The Magic also have a lot to play for. A win would give them their second straight Southeast Division title. Howard is ready for the challenge.”It is a big game,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of their guys back, so we’re looking forward to it. They won their last couple of games and I think it’ll be a good matchup.” For the Celtics it will give them a chance to reestablish themselves as the defending NBA champions.