Kevin Garnett will not have the chance to renew acquaintances with Carmelo Anthony on Tuesday. (AP)

WALTHAM — The Celtics are playing it safe with Kevin Garnett and hoping rest will be the answer to inflammation in his left ankle.

Celtics general manager Danny Ainge confirmed Monday that Garnett will be out for Tuesday’s game against the Knicks.

“Take a couple of Advil and give it some rest,” Ainge said. “Could he play [Tuesday]? Yeah but we’re not playing him [Tuesday]. The time frame, I don’t know but it’s not an ankle sprain but there’s inflammation in the ankle, sort of like an ankle sprain in unpredictability. So I think that it’s not longer than three weeks or it could be a week. I’ll guess two weeks just because we want to make sure he’s really ready. We need to get him fresh anyway.”

Doc Rivers said Garnett aggravated the injury against the Mavericks and the discomfort forced him to miss Saturday’s game in Memphis. He was sent back to Boston for an MRI.

In the meantime, Rivers said it’s likely that Garnett will miss at least “four to five games” with the injury.

“I think we’ll know more later,” Rivers said, referring to the MRI. “I would say doubtful for [Tuesday] but we’ll know more later. I don’t think Kevin is playing [Tuesday]. I’m almost positive of that but then what we want to make sure is that he’s going to be good soon.

“At the end of the day, I want him right, not half-right.”

Rivers said he doesn’t expect this to be a season-ending ailment.

“But can he miss four or five games? Yeah that’s probably possible,” Rivers said. “I don’t know that but to me [season-ending] is not a concern. He hurt his foot in that Dallas game. [It's not season-ending] unless something crazy happens in the MRI that I can tell you the first look, they didn’t see that. At the end of the day, he may miss some games.

“We’re going to err on the right side, whatever they decide. If they give me an option of you can play him every third game or give him two weeks rest, I can tell you right now I am going to say two weeks rest, if it’s my decision.”

Ainge later confirmed Rivers’ estimate, telling reporters at practice that the results of the MRI along with consultation with the team’s medical staff indicate that he’ll likely miss two weeks.

“I’ll guess two weeks, just because we want to make sure he’s really ready” said Ainge, who added that he thought Garnett originally injured the ankle against New Orleans last Wednesday.

“I think it happened in New Orleans game, it was just sore, just inflammation. A lot of things can cause inflammation. I think everyone has a little bit of inflammation this time of year. KG, we need to get him fresh anyway.”

On the bright side, Courtney Lee is expected to return from his sprained left ankle suffered in the final minute of Friday’s loss in Dallas.

Neither player took part in Monday’s practice, which included just 10 healthy Celtics.

Rivers said the Celtics will be forced to go with a smaller lineup that he says includes “no point guards” while the Knicks feature a lineup with two point guards in Iman Shumpert and Raymond Felton, with Jason Kidd off the bench.

For more, visit the Celtics team page at weei.com/celtics.

The message could not have been more clear from Doc Rivers.

Even in a loss, the energy and fight needs to be there if the Celtics are to get back on track and make a second-half run to the playoffs.

“If I saw that effort every night,” Rivers said, ‘I’d be very happy.”

He wasn’t happy with the fact his team lost its fifth straight after winning six in a row. He wasn’t happy with his team’s execution down the stretch. But he was satisfied with making life tough on Carmelo Anthony again, especially in the first half 26 minutes, when they held him to 4-for-15 shooting from the floor.

He was happy with the fact that his team trailed 80-70 with eight minutes left and made a charge to make it a two-point game.

He says the signed are there.

“We missed a lot of open shots,” Rivers said of his Celtics, who finished shooting 40 percent. “But I don’t think it’s pressing; I just think we’re missing shots. [At the end] those were just two turnovers. Overall, you look at the whole total, we had 12 turnovers. That doesn’t sound like pressing.”

Paul Pierce had another miserable night from the floor, making just 6-of-15 shots. He had a key turnover with 7.1 seconds left as the Celtics were trying to tie the game but that’s not what really bothered Rivers. It was the play with a minute left and the Celtics down five. A bad pass from Jason Terry and a golden opportunity to cut into the lead with under a minute left went by the boards.

“The play before [Pierce's turnover] is what I was more disappointed in,” Rivers said. “I didn’t think we executed that great. That was supposed to be a hand-off to Paul coming off, and they got their hand in on the ball. And I had my three best shooters with Jet, Paul, and Kevin (Garnett) involved, and it just didn’t work out.

“It’s frustrating to lose when you give effort, because you’ve got to keep convincing your guys if you play that way every night, you’re going to make more shots than that. And you’re going to win a lot of games. But right now they’re sitting there thinking, ‘We lost.’ So, they know it. They know with that effort you’re going to win most nights.”

Even before Celtics superstar Kevin Garnett and Knicks counterpart Carmelo Anthony‘s pregame fist bump, Boston’s Garden security starved the crowd of any further beef between the two NBA All-Star Game teammates, confiscating enough Honey Nut Cheerios paraphernalia to fill the rink for Friday’s Bruins game.

Of course, you’ll remember Anthony confronted Garnett at his team bus after the C’s defeated the Knicks, 102-96, in New York on Jan. 7. Rumors suggested KG told Melo his wife La La “tasted like Honey Nut Cheerios” — a claim all parties involved since denied — but Anthony earned a one-game suspension for his postgame antics.

“I think it was overrated,” said Anthony. “I think people just blew it up for no reason. They were just kind of waiting to see what was going to happen, but it’s sports. That’s what happens in sports.

On Thursday night, Anthony finally got his revenge, scoring 28 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dealing one of his three assists to teammate J.R. Smith for the dagger in an 89-86 “satisfying” victory in Boston.

“It was kind of quiet today for the most part,” Anthony said of a Garden crowd that NBA on TNT announcer Marv Albert accused of being artificially enhanced during the broadcast. “I was expecting there to be boos and a real hostile environment tonight, but it was cool for the most part.”

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Give them this: At least the Celtics played with heart, but the Knicks still handed them their fifth straight loss, an 89-86 defeat made even more discouraging by J.R. Smith‘s wide-open 3-pointer and Paul Pierce‘s turnover with several chances to tie the game in the final minute. Here’s what else went wrong (and right).

WHAT WENT WRONG

Terry dry: Since his return to the bench, where he’s been most comfortable during his career, Jason Terry continues to slump. He entered the game shooting under 40 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point range in 22 minutes a night this month, and those numbers didn’t get any better. After getting off to an 0-for-4 start in his first six minutes, Rivers limited his playing time. Terry finished 1-for-6 in 14 minutes, including a costly fourth-quarter turnover.

Brain farts: As well as the Celtics played in stretches, they still took their foot off the pedal at times. The Knicks started the second quarter on a 9-0 run made up of a couple Amar’e Stoudemire buckets around the basket, a J.R. Smith layup and a Pablo Prigioni 3-pointer. In the third quarter, the Celtics committed five turnovers, including three that directly led to layups and New York’s 72-66 lead after three quarters.

Off the mark: While the C’s defense held the Knicks below 40 percent shooting on the night (38.6 percent FG), their offense wasn’t much better (40.8 percent FG). Despite getting a ton of open looks, the Celtics missed jumper after jumper. They combined for 3-of-18 shooting from beyond the arc, including an 0-for-5 night for backup guards Terry, Courtney Lee and Leandro Barbosa. Compounding that fact, the C’s didn’t tally a single point off their misses, getting outscored 16-0 on second-chance points.

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Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points to lead the Knicks over the Celtics, 89-86, Thursday night at TD Garden. Rajon Rondo had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in collecting his 27th career triple-double and his fourth this season for the Celtics, who lost their fifth straight. The Celtics lost five straight twice last season before rallying at the end of the season for a 37-29 record and the Atlantic Division title.

They might not be as lucky this season, as the Atlantic-leading Knicks improved to 26-14, seven games ahead of the 20-22 Celtics in the division.

There were no war of words or trash-talking incidents between Kevin Garnett and Anthony, who greeted each other with a fist-pound at the beginning of the game. Anthony even helped Garnett up from the floor after Garnett hit the deck early in the third quarter.

The Celtics managed a 24-20 lead after one quarter, despite shooting just 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) from the field. The Knicks started the second quarter on fire, opening on a 9-0 run and scoring 11 of the first 12 points in the period to take a 31-25 lead. But the Celtics answered as Paul Pierce started to dominate.

The Celtics went on a 15-3 run to take a 40-34 lead. The Knicks rebounded and managed a 50-48 halftime lead on a pair of free throws with 7.1 seconds left by Amar’e Stoudemire. Rondo missed a layup just before the buzzer that would’ve tied the game. Still Doc Rivers pounded his fist in the air and appeared happy with his team’s effort.

Rivers was particularly pleased with the fact that the Celtics held Anthony to just 4-for-13 shooting in the first 24 minutes. Read the rest of this entry »

Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said before Thursday night’s game with the Knicks that he still believes his team has what it takes to overcome the doldrums that have seen his team lose four straight after winning six in a row.

Rivers was asked if he had any changes in store for a big weekend of basketball that includes the Knicks, Hawks and Heat on Sunday.

“Let’s hope we don’t [have to make changes],’ Rivers said. “If we start playing better then you don’t, obviously. If you don’t [start playing better], then we have to do something at some point. Again, I think we have what we need in the locker room. I’m just not getting it out of them and I have to figure out a better way of getting it out of them.”

Rivers also said he hopes his team is inspired by the Kevin Garnett-Carmelo Anthony incident the last time the two teams met in New York, a 102-96 Boston win. Anthony was held to 20 points on 6-of-26 shooting from the field.

After getting into a confrontation late in the fourth quarter, Anthony tried to meet with Garnett in front of the Celtics locker room and then in front of the Celtics team bus before Madison Square Garden security and police intervened.

Carmelo Anthony (AP)

Carmelo Anthony appears to be putting his strange beef over breakfast cereal with Kevin Garnett behind him with, strangely, breakfast cereal over beef.

Anthony plans to break his two-week fast for “clarity” after hosting the rival Nets on Monday, when chefs from New York City’s Old Homestead Steakhouse will be chauffeured in a town car to the Knicks locker room to deliver a 40-ounce porterhouse steak covered in “a classic French Bordelaise sauce infused with pulverized Honey Nut Cheerioes,” according to the New York Daily News.

“They said after his fast they wanted to satisfy his urge of both and actually put these two things together,” a member of the restaurant staff told the Daily News.

Since rumors circled the internet that Garnett told Anthony his wife La La Vazquez “tasted like Honey Nut Cheerios” during the Celtics’ 102-96 win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 7, everybody from KG to La La has denied that comment is what led to Melo’s confrontation with Garnett in front the C’s team bus.

Still, Anthony seems intent on discovering just how good Honey Nut Cheerios can taste.

“Only the owners and chef have tasted it, and the first one after them to taste it will be Melo. If he likes it, then it goes on the menu,” the staff member, who claims Garnett won’t be welcome in the restaurant, told the paper. “Melo was insulted, and we want to help him. Garnett’s messing with the wrong town.”

Of course, we all know Garnett is a master chef himself and probably has his own recipe for Bordelaise sauce that he will surely use as a metaphor for team chemistry sometime before the Knicks host the Celtics on Jan. 24.