NBA

Garnett remains on shelf

Kevin Garnett will miss at least a few more days because of his seemingly never-ending bout with back spasms.

The Nets announced before beating the Timberwolves 114-99 in Brooklyn that Garnett, who had previously been ruled out of his 16th straight game, won’t return until either this weekend against either Detroit at home Friday, at Philadelphia on Saturday or in one of the team’s two games in Florida against the Heat and Magic early next week.

But whenever he comes back, — whether it’s one of those four games, sometime after those or not until the playoffs — Nets coach Jason Kidd said Garnett won’t need any practice time when he deems himself ready to go.

“He just needs to put the uniform on [when he’s ready],” Kidd said. “That’s it.

“He can just play. It’s basketball. He’s done it his whole life. It doesn’t change.”

Garnett hasn’t been on the floor with his teammates since feeling his back stiffen up in the Nets’ blowout win in Denver on Feb. 27. He sat out the next game in Milwaukee on March 1, and hasn’t played since, although he came close March 10 against the Raptors.

But moments before the tipoff, Garnett was scratched from the lineup after his back tightened up, and he hasn’t attempted to practice in the three weeks since. With Garnett being ruled out already for Tuesday’s game against the Rockets and Wednesday’s game at the Garden against the Knicks, he is guaranteed to miss at least 18 straight games.

The Nets also announced Andrei Kirilenko, who missed his fourth straight game with a sprained right ankle he suffered in last Sunday’s overtime win in Dallas, could return Tuesday or Wednesday.

Sunday marked the 35th game Kirilenko has missed this season, with the vast majority during the first two months of the season when back spasms sidelined him for 26 of the first 30 games.

Since then, Kirilenko has missed time for a variety of small, nagging injuries, including a calf strain and a sprain of his left ankle.