Boston Beats Portland, No Thanks to Big Baby

The headline might seem rough, but Glen "Big Baby" Davis was literally of no help Friday night as the Celtics sonned the upstart Blazers in Boston. The C's went on a devastating 21-0 run beginning three minutes from the half and stretching well into the third quarter. Portland's mounted only minor resistance at the end of the third, and Doc Rivers replaced his stars with his subs, including Davis.

Things didn't go well from there, as a collection of bench Blazers sliced the lead to 11 within a matter of minutes. For his part, Davis went almost four minutes with no points or rebounds and a few highly visible defensive flubs, and his effort seemed poor. As you'd guess, Kevin Garnett was not pleased. KG brutalized Davis during a timeout, saying what we can only imagine to be harsh criticisms. Davis responded well.

After the conflict, Davis sat on the bench with a towel over his head, television close-ups portraying him as near tears.

He sat like that the rest of the game. The camera zoomed in repeatedly -- he (an eighth man) became as big a story as Boston's attempt to repel the Portland surge. Other Celtics on the bench -- Tony Allen (in street clothes, if you wear suits on the street), Leon Powe, Patrick O'Bryant -- everyone else celebrated Garnett's monster jam to stop the bleeding and Rajon Rondo's near-Rondabout. Davis stewed. (He did give KG a high-five once the starters came out for good, but then went right back to his hole of sadness.)

Thankfully, Garnett told the media he'd be talking with Davis about his situation.

"I'll probably get real deep with him," Garnett said. "Try to understand what he's going through right now, research the problem. But Baby is frustrated a little bit with some of what we are doing. He just has to understand his role and not come outside of it."

KG's like an extra coach on the floor, only he's one that makes his teammates cry and talks an inordinate amount of trash to the opponents.