"Doc Rivers is a smooth and confident man, but he looked exceedingly uncomfortable when the subject of Kevin Garnett was raised after last night's game.

The Celtics coach doesn't like to hit his veterans over the head with words, but what could he say? Rivers had put it on Garnett to be more assertive with the ball after he went 3-for-9 mainly from the outside in the Game 1 loss in Miami. He said he wanted 20 shots in Game 2, and Garnett gave him 20. But 15 of the 20 shots were jumpers.

On Saturday, Garnett took his considerable talents to the paint and changed the face of Game 3 — and, the Celtics hoped, the series — when he pounded his way to 28 points. Having established that concept and shown what it could do for others in terms of opening up the floor, the Celtics fully expected that Garnett would dominate again in Game 4. But it didn't happen that way.

Garnett went 1-for-10 from the floor on the way to seven points last night at the Garden. He got to the line for four free throws in the first half, but his first shot within 10 feet came with 5:45 left in the third quarter.

Rivers didn't have any quick answers. He was choosing his words carefully after the 98-90 overtime loss that the Celtics firmly believe never should have happened. But it did, and the Heat now own a 3-1 series lead.

"I don't know," Rivers said. "They trapped him a couple of times, and I thought he was probably looking more for traps. You know, we have to get him down there more. We tried .?.?. so I don't know. He was looking to be a passer to me more than being an aggressive scorer. And that was that."

Just to be clear, Rivers was asked later if the plan with Garnett had been the same as Saturday— to get him powering to the basket.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah," Rivers said, his voice trailing off.

But it was a different Garnett last night. Hard as it may be to believe, this one almost didn't seem to realize that he is, in fact, Kevin Freaking Garnett, and that he has the power to turn the Green tide when he so chooses."