INDIANAPOLISKevin Garnett had a noticeable limp following Friday night's loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Adding even more mystery to it was his response to a question regarding which ankle was giving him problems.
"Y'all have a good night," Garnett said in ending his post-game interview.
Whether he plays or not tonight against the Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers will continue to go with his '5-5-5' plan for using Garnett, a plan Rivers admits he's not "in love" with having to use.
The plan involves keeping Garnett on the floor for five minutes straight during three different stints, in each half.
The problem so far, Rivers said, has been Garnett being ineffective for the bulk of the five-minutes, but seemingly turning it on shortly before he is to be subbed out.
"Three times (against Chicago), giving you nothing for about four minutes," Rivers said. "And then right at the fifth minute when he comes out, he makes a shot. And then your every impulse, keep him in. Then you risk the rest of the game. So it's just a tough call right now. I still like it; I don't love it, but it's what we have to do."
Boston Celtics
The purpose is to get Garnett to be a more assertive, more aggressive player offensively to start games and quarters with him knowing that he's going to get a break after about five minutes.
Whether you go by his production or the team's (lack of) success, it's clear that the plan isn't working nearly as well as the C's were hoping.
Garnett is averaging 12.7 points per game. If he maintained that average this season, it would be his lowest scoring average since Big Ticket was known as the Kid who dropped 10.4 points per game as a rookie in 1996.
Lack of scoring is a direct byproduct of less-than-average shooting and fewer shot attempts.
Garnett, a career 51.5 percent shooter from the field, is connecting on 49.5 percent of his shots this season - his lowest shooting percentage since coming to Boston. He's also taking 10.3 shots per game, which would be the fewest shot attempts for him since his rookie season.
And while there are plenty of logical explanations for Garnett's reduced production at a time when the Celtics need him to deliver more, he's placing the blame for his slow start squarely on himself.
"It starts with the man in the mirror; I definitely gotta do better," Garnett said. "I'm going to do better, watch tons of film and just continue to try and better myself. That's all I can do, and continue to encourage teammates and continue to be the glue or one of the pieces of the glue, and just stay supportive. You don't win anything the first month. I do know that. It doesn't help when you're losing, but adversity says a lot about who you are. I'd rather go through it now versus later."