"Doc Rivers offered "ear-witness" support for Kevin Garnett last night, while Charlie Villanueva stood his ground, claiming that Garnett crossed the trash-talk line and called him a "cancer patient."

The claim and denial stem from Tuesday's Celtics road win against the Detroit Pistons. Garnett was trying to unnerve Villanueva with words, and the latter posted his account of the talk on Twitter later that night.

Villanueva, who has alopecia universalis, a medical condition that results in hair loss, made three tweets:

KG talks alot of crap, he's prob never been in a fight, I would love to get in a ring with him, I will expose him."

"KG called me a cancer patient, I'm (upset) because, u know how many people died from cancer, and he's tossing it like it's a joke."

"I wouldn't even trip about that, but a cancer patient, I know way 2 many people who passed away from it, and I have a special place 4 those."

Garnett replied yesterday in a statement.

"I am aware there was a major miscommunication regarding something I said on the court (Tuesday) night," he said. "My comment to Charlie Villanueva was in fact, 'You are cancerous to your team and our league.'

"I would never be insensitive to the brave struggle that cancer patients endure. I have lost loved ones to this deadly disease and have a family member currently undergoing treatment. I would never say anything that distasteful.

"The game of life is far bigger than the game of basketball."

Before last night's victory at the Garden against the Milwaukee Bucks, Rivers corroborated Garnett's statement while expressing displeasure with players' use of Twitter."