Acquisition of Garnett makes No. 5 a fixture in the stands

By JERRY ZGODA, Star Tribune

Last update: January 25, 2008 - 9:54 PM

BOSTON - Look around TD Northbank Arena, the modern-day arena with the antiseptic name that replaced lovable old Boston Garden, and you'll see both white and green No. 5 jerseys everywhere.

Celtics superstar Kevin Garnett's surname is stitched on the back of the NBA's hottest-selling jersey this season.

"Everybody has the [No. 21] Minnesota one already," Boston teammate Paul Pierce said. "When you go to a new team and are doing well, it's like a fresh start and people take notice. When you're bottom-dwellers on a losing team, people tend to forget. You'll see it everywhere now because people have an opportunity to buy a Kevin Garnett Celtics jersey."

You'll see Pierce's No. 34 jersey in the Garden, too. It has just been loved a lot more.

"It's hard for my jersey to sell right now because people have already had 10 years to try and buy it," he said. "Everybody's already got them. They don't need them now."

Those lazy, crazy days

Wolves forward Ryan Gomes came home Friday night to the arena where he played for his two pro seasons and to New England, where he grew up. He and his wife, Danielle, are expecting their first child in July.

"I never thought another summer would be as big as last year," said Gomes, who was born in Connecticut and went to college at Providence. "I got married and got traded last summer. Now, I'm going to be a [restricted] free agent and have a baby this summer."

Imitation is ...

Friday's game just barely avoided delay when clouds of rosin rose and swirled at opposite ends of the court. Garnett, of course, created the mess at the press table near the Celtics bench in his pre-tap ritual. Wolves guard Rashad McCants did so at the other end in a gesture he has done all season to honor his former teammate.

"It's going to get pretty smoky out there," Gomes said. "I'm going to stay far away from that."

What makes an All-Star?

Wolves forward Al Jefferson returned to the Garden for the first time since the Celtics traded him last summer with All-Star statistics -- 20.8 points and 12.1 rebounds a game -- but with a team that had won only seven games.

The disparate numbers almost certainly will keep him from being voted into the All-Star Game by Western Conference coaches, but fans selected Dwyane Wade to start from a Miami team that has won only eight times this season.

"Perception is sometimes hard to overcome," Wolves coach Randy Wittman said. "A lot of times with the All-Star Game it's cracking it for the first time, getting your foot in the door and then maintaining a level of play that warrants voters to say, 'He has been an All-Star and his numbers still are All-Star numbers.' "

On the other side now

Wolves coaches spent 12 seasons trying to maximize Garnett's talents. Friday, they tried to diminish them.

"There's things we know he likes and dislikes," Wittman said before the game. "It's going to be difficult. That's why he is the great player he is. He has seen everything and done everything."

Etc.

• Wittman rejoined the team before Friday's morning shootaround. He missed practice Thursday to attend the funeral of his father-in-law in Indiana.