As section214 noted in his recap from the arena, the game was a bit chippy. There was more jawing than action, I'd say, though Tony Allen gave Dahntay Jones a huge forearm shiver and Mikki Moore absolutely destroyed Rajon Rondo on a "block attempt." Kevin Garnett got hit about the head a few times; on replay, neither scrape to his eyes was close to looking intentional. And if KG thought someone was trying to hurt him, we'd know.

The whole Garnett-Francisco Garcia spat began when KG was yanking the ball (and by extension Garcia's forearm) around well after a whistle. Most players would walk away. Garcia yanked his arm away with his palm still gripping the ball; KG yanked back a bit and Garcia slapped the ball away. Again, most players walk away. Garcia did not. Garnett got in his face. The two continued to yap at each other all night. Dime Magazine's recap indicates Garnett brushed Garcia off; apparently, the viewer didn't watch KG walk straight into Garcia during a dead ball in the third. Garnett was every bit as involved in the spat as Garcia. And apparently on the Celtics broadcast of the game, the play-by-play man said Garcia's final words to Garnett -- the ones Dime ridicules -- were El Flaco telling KG it's not personal, good game, etc. That's what KG brushed off. But yeah, he's the classy one who's above all the muck down here on Planet Earth.

The Boston Globe's Marc J. Spears seems to have the only sane telling of the events from the Celtics' point of view. The Boston Herald can't manage to tell the difference between Dahntay Jones and John Salmons, despite Jones going to training camp with the C's this year and Salmons playing in Boston twice a year as a former 76er. The Herald's Mark Murphy paints Artest as the clown last night. I know things are sweet and beautiful in Boston, I really do realize this. But stop making KG out to be a saint. Kendrick Perkins fouled Artest hard; Artest said something, KG jumped in. KG kept yapping into the timeout. Artest walked toward the bench. He wasn't going at Perk for the hard foul -- Perk was behind Artest, the slowest back to the huddle. Artest was focused on KG. You think Garnett was innocent in this, that Ron-Ron would single him out for no reason? If you do, your shamrock-colored goggles must fog up every time The Ticket steps into your visage. Also, if you think this, you should read Sam Amick's Bee recap:

This was all just a really long of pointing out the subtle reasons most of the country dislikes Boston sports fans. I really like CelticsBlog -- I'd consider Jeff Clark a very good blogfriend. But when I see silly headlines like this one, I want to punch someone in the nose. That moniker was stupid and played out in 2002. Analysis by gay joke is not remotely useful.