"The Celtics are back on the beach, that uncomfortable place referenced by Kevin Garnett after Game 2 when he said, "We're not on a sunny beach anymore. We're back in the jungle."

By the jungle, he meant the Garden — site of his series-shaking 28-point performance in a Game 3 win. But he got lost in the jungle in Game 4 on Monday, when he strayed from the post — and his appetite for scoring — with a seven-point performance on 1-of-10 shooting when the Celtics' path to success was clear.

The Heat, a star-studded team that is nevertheless as hollow as an Easter chocolate bunny, were most vulnerable when Garnett went against his nature and turned selfish with the ball. One game from elimination with Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series set for tonight at American Airlines Arena, the Celtics must somehow convince Garnett that he can't remain the Mother Teresa of basketball.

"We have to get him down there more," said coach Doc Rivers, who spent much of Monday night imploring Garnett to attack.

But 30 minutes after Game 4, Rivers couldn't have been more uncomfortable if he had just been flagged for a full-body pat-down at airport security. His Celtics had just lost a game in overtime they should have nailed down at home in regulation for a series tie, and there was no accounting for Garnett.

There aren't many Hall of Famers who fade off the screen at precisely the moment their offense is needed, but ill-timed unselfishness has been Garnett's weakness for much of his great career.

Garnett only took a jumper-heavy 10 shots in just more than 41 minutes of play, and the low point total wasn't necessarily because he was cold. After taking 20 shots in each of the previous two games, he turned into the world's biggest point guard — a big man with the inclinations of Ralph Sampson."