At first, Doc Rivers thought he was being asked whether the Celtics can win an 18th title with Kevin Garnett not at full strength.

“Yeah, we can,” Rivers said. “I believe that. Defensively, is where we need him, offensively, too, with his shot and all that and his leadership on the floor. I really believe we can. And I think he will be 100 percent or close to it. I don’t know if he’ll be 100  percent. Yeah, I do, though, that is the answer.”

Then told that the question was can you win without Garnett, PERIOD, that generated a slightly different response.

“No, that would be difficult,” Rivers added. “That would be very difficult. But let’s hope that is something we don’t have to find out.”