BOSTON — Now Knicks fans have another reason to hate Kevin Garnett.
Forget the January flare-up with Carmelo Anthony. Overlook the 52 rebounds he grabbed for the Celtics in the last three games of the Eastern Conference first-round series. Garnett has done something that already has impacted the series in a damaging way for the Knicks.
He taught Terrence Williams professionalism.
“I’ve got to be professional,” said Williams, one of the Game 5 heroes for the Celtics, who now seek to even the series 3-3 Friday night. “It’s one thing I learned from Kevin. I look up to Kevin so much, more now being on a team with him. Playing against him, you hate him, but now I look up to him like a big brother. So watching him work every day I kind of molded it into my game, so I’ve just got to be ready.”
Williams was ready when it mattered for the Celtics in Game 5. Having gotten virtually nothing at point guard from defense-first Avery Bradley, the Celtics sought anybody to combat Knicks pressure and quell Boston’s turnover epidemic.
So coach Doc Rivers weighed every pro and con and ultimately went with a real sabermetric style approach.
“Sometimes, you pull out a card and he was it,” Rivers said.
Williams “steadied the ship,” according to reserve guard Jason Terry. Williams played just 16:49, but it was an impactful, turnover-free, defense-laden 16:49.
Not bad for a guy who was in China at the start of the season before coming back in February, a guy who ranks on the long, lengthy list of Nets draft busts. He was the 11th pick in 2009 after a standout career at Louisville. He was considered an athletic marvel, but one devoid of defense and a knucklehead, and his Nets experiment at point guard fizzled.
But Williams, who scored four points, grabbed four rebounds, and added two assists, did everything asked, and more, in the Game 5 that had to plant some serious doubt in Knicks minds.
“He controlled the ball,” Rivers said. “He handled the pressure bringing the ball up. He had guys in our stuff. We were becoming unorganized and he allowed us to get organized. “Once he got on the floor, we liked his presence, loved his size. He was rebounding and what we asked him to do is something he’s never done and he’s doing it: He’s defending. I told him that the other day I was really proud of him because everybody told me he can’t defend and he’s proving a lot of people wrong. He can and he’s doing it for us.”
Give Garnett an assist there. As for the point guard stuff, credit the injured Rajon Rondo, who provided instructions from the bench in street clothes.
“Having Rondo next to me on the bench to help me and to guide me through a lot of things, it’s definitely helpful,” said Williams, who is with his fourth team in four years. “[Rondo told me] how to break down pressure, what to look for when I do break down pressure, when I pass the ball into Kevin, where to cut, where he likes the ball, no bounce passes. It’s just definitely helpful for me.”
And hurtful for the Knicks.