On Friday night, future Hall-of-Famers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were supposed to return to Boston to take on the Celtics for the season time this season.
Garnett and Pierce helped lead the Celtics to the championship in 2008 when they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in six games and nearly won another in 2010 when they fell to the Lakers in seven games.
The two were traded to the Nets before the season as the Celtics prepared to rebuild.
Pierce will be the only one taking the court Friday night.
Garnett will not make the trip to Boston and will miss his fourth straight game because of his bad back.
“It is tough for him,” Pierce said of Garnett not being able to play via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN New York. “We had a chance to see him get out on the court and do some extra stuff [on Wednesday before beating Memphis]. But he is a competitor. He hates to sit out. The good thing is we need him to get his rest so he can come back full strength.”
This will be the 11th game Garnett has missed this season.