BOSTON -- Following the Boston Celtics 93-83 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, Kevin Garnett spoke frankly on the state of his team as they fell to 14-17 on the season. He addressed glaring problems the Celtics are looking to fix, and gave credit where credit was due to his opponents. Check out five thoughts from number five:
On considering losing "disturbing" or part of the 82-game season: "It's disturbing. It's part of it, but a loss is a loss. It hurts. Nothing's good about a loss."
On Zach Randolph, who posted six points, eight rebounds, and two assists in 30 minutes: "I'm playing against one of the best forwards in the world, that being Zach (Randolph). I have a lot of respect for him. I knew it was going to be like a bear fight, so it was kind of just getting ready for that whole match up. I never once really balanced it out as far as being offensively-minded, so I'll do a better job of that. I've got to."
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On Avery Bradley's return from double-shoulder surgery: "I thought he brought some good energy. It was good to have him back. He's a big part of this team. We're going to be better and he's going to be part of that process. It was good to see him out there."
On piecing the Celtics defense back together with the presence of Bradley: "He's a big addition to what we do. Obviously losing him was a huge, huge loss to us. Him coming up starts the rebuilding or the starting process of what we have broke here, and that's get back defensively sound and being the team we know we can be. As you see, it doesn't just happen. You have to work at it. When you're playing against good teams, it makes it that more difficult. But we're not hanging our heads, we're not making excuses. We're going to try to come in here and try to grind this thing out and turn this thing around."
On the development of rookie Jared Sullinger: "Jared's earned his trust, Doc's trust, the trust of his teammates, and I think all the playing time that he's getting, he definitely earned. He's given us a lift, man. He's coming in rebounding like a monster, doing the things that we know him to be, and he's getting better. That's a good sign for us."
Garnett played 32 minutes against the Grizzlies, scoring 12 points (5-14 FG), grabbing seven rebounds, and dishing five assists.