National Basketball Association

Boston's Garnett sits out Suns game with sore knee

Published Dec. 31, 2009 2:39 a.m. ET

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Kevin Garnett has joined Paul Pierce on the sideline for the Boston Celtics.

Garnett sat out Wednesday night's game against the Phoenix Suns because of a hyperextended right knee.

Coach Doc Rivers said before the game that Garnett hurt the knee in Sunday's loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles, then got kicked in Monday's loss to Golden State. Rivers said he didn't like the way Garnett ``looked at all'' against the Warriors.

The Celtics were without Pierce for the fourth game in a row because of an injured right knee.

Rivers said Garnett's injury has nothing to do with the knee problems that kept him out of last year's Eastern Conference semifinals against Orlando.

``My only issue is, how long is it going to take to get him right from this?'' Rivers said. ``A week, three days, four days? We don't know. But I looked at the schedule, and obviously this is a tough game. ... If you're going to rest someone to get them right, there's no better time than right now.''

The coach said he's also keeping a close eye on guard Rajon Rondo, who started against the Suns despite a sore hamstring.

``It's funny, as far as injuries go, I'm actually far more concerned with his than with Kevin's,'' Rivers said. ``Kevin is sitting down, but Rondo I'm watching closely, because with a hamstring, that's a tough injury. He did strain it a little bit, but if it's anything, if I see anything in the game, he's out, too. And we'll just play with who we've got left.''

Garnett sat out the Dec. 22 victory over Indiana because of a bruised right thigh but returned to play at Orlando, the first stop of four in a row on the road.

After the Phoenix game, Boston returns home to play Toronto on Saturday, then has three days off before beginning a three-game trip with a game at Miami.

Entering the Wednesday night game, the Celtics (23-7) had lost two in a row for the first time this season.

Garnett was averaging 15 points and 7.6 rebounds. Pierce is the team's leading scorer at 18.2 points per game.

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