BOSTON – Nenad Krstic was tired. And coach Lawrence Frank was tired of needing more frontcourt production.
So Krstic, who is returning from major knee surgery, sat the entire second half of last night’s 91-69 blowout loss here to the Celtics. Krstic shot 1-of-5 with two points in 13 minutes. He’s shooting .379 , averaging 6.6 ppg overall.
“I felt tired but no excuses. I just played like [garbage]. And when we get in here in the locker room, Coach said to Malik [Allen] ‘You’re going to start,’ ” Krstic said. “I understand. It’s hard because I’m struggling . . . If I can’t help the team . . .”
Frank said he wasn’t ready to consider moving Sean Williams into the starting unit and of Krstic, he claimed, “He didn’t seem to have a real good rhythm tonight. Just decided that tonight wasn’t his night.”
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Williams, the rookie from Boston College, again impressed with his electric energy. And he was pumped to play Boston – Kevin Garnett is his idol. But he wasn’t intimidated.
“Ain’t nobody going to do that – besides Shaq maybe,” Williams said, laughing. “Kevin Garnett is a prototype in this league. He makes the most money and he’s a big dude.”
Teammate Antoine Wright on Williams: “His athletic ability is unmatched. Some of the things that he can do, we’re in awe in practice. And we have guys like Vince [Carter] and Richard [Jefferson] on this team.”
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The Celtics’ Big Three win because they learned how to lose, Frank suggested.
“You’re looking at three guys who are high level players who have experienced losing. They’ve tasted winning but they’ve experienced losing,” Frank said. “They’ve all united with a chip on their shoulders.”
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There really is no update on when Carter (ankle) will be back, but he will accompany the team on the upcoming western trip.
“We’re just going to see how his body responds. He was able to do a little more work in the pool today,” Frank said of Carter, who did not make the trip to Boston . . . Some said he was speculating about playing Saturday at home against Miami. Unlikely.
Jamaal Magloire had his first career did not play, coach’s decision, Monday against Hornets. He admitted he was a little surprised but claimed, “I’m optimistic. It’s still early.”
Magloire played last night, but only seven minutes and only after Williams got into foul trouble.