PHILADELPHIA — Kevin Garnett had been away from the Nets for so long that some teammates, and even coach Jason Kidd, joked with him prior to Saturday night’s game against the 76ers that he should be treated like a rookie. And despite being in the 19th year of a Hall of Fame career, Garnett admitted to feeling nervous before stepping on the floor.
But after missing 19 games over the last five weeks because of an ongoing bout with back spasms, Garnett looked as if he hadn’t missed a day, let alone a month. Moving fluidly, Garnett finished with 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting to go with four rebounds, an assist and a block in 13 minutes as the Nets earned a 105-101 victory over the hapless Sixers.
“I’ve been working my [butt] off to get back to where I’m at,” Garnett said after coming through the game with no further back issues. “Obviously I’m not to where I want to be but I felt good, I felt strong. … It’s been a journey to get back to this point, so I’m just trying to contribute at this point.”
The win improved the Nets (42-34) to 16-5 in their past 21 games and snapped the team’s three-game road losing streak, but the only thing that mattered was the way Garnett felt in his first action since Feb. 27. And with the way Garnett looked against the 76ers (17-60), his return to the floor can only be considered an unqualified success.
In fact, it looked like the time off actually gave Garnett some added energy in his legs, as the future Hall of Famer played as well as he has in any game this season. He moved freely and easily at both ends of the floor and found an immediate rhythm within the offense and with his jump shot.
“I thought he was great,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He looked like he didn’t miss a day.”
Garnett’s biggest highlight of the night came in the second quarter, when he turned back the clock by setting a screen for Deron Williams and then rolling hard to the basket, leaping in the air to catch a lob pass from his point guard and slamming it home with two hands.
“He has fresh legs,” Williams said afterward with a smile.
Everyone was smiling in the locker room afterward, including Garnett. Famously competitive, Garnett reiterated during his postgame sitdown with the media the same thing he did after a practice on March 20: He has a newfound respect for the back, and for back injuries.
This was Garnett’s second attempt to return to the floor since his back spasms began, with the first coming against the Raptors in Brooklyn on March 10, when Garnett was going through pregame warm-ups before his back seized up on him, forcing him to start the healing process all over again.
“I don’t even want to talk about it,” Garnett said of the first comeback attempt, “but it was all systems fail. That’s basically what it was.
“It wasn’t a good time for me. But I learned from it, I’ve been able to build off that point and it was good to be out there today.”
Garnett said he’s on a plan laid out by the team’s medical staff to get him back to 100 percent, one that likely would have him practice Monday in Miami, play a few more minutes than he did against the Sixers Tuesday against the Heat, then sit out Wednesday’s game in Orlando.
But after spending the last several weeks waiting for his back to let him play again, he was just glad to finally be able to do so.
“It feels good to be back on the floor,” Garnett said. “It feels good to be fluid, to be able to jump and move. … The guys have been playing unbelievable and I just didn’t want to come in here and knock off any rhythm. But I felt good, I felt solid.
“A couple of plays, I had to blow the cobwebs off a couple of the plays. … I felt like a first-year rookie. I was not nervous, but I was really anxious to get out here today. [But] it was a positive day, we won, and at the end of the day that’s all that matters.”