Perhaps when Ainge and T-Wolves GM Kevin McHale were teammates Ainge seethed with jealousy over the stats that McHale put up as the result of assists from he and the late Dennis Johnson; McHale was known as a “black hole” where basketballs went and disappeared forever. Whatever the motivation, Ainge seems to have flim-flammed his former Boston buddy and resurrected the Celtics at McHale’s expense.

I would ruminate on the uncertain future the Timberwolves now face without their superstar, except for the fact that nobody outside the state of Minnesota really cares. The only intriguing aspect of the Timberwolves was Garnett. Now that he’s gone, the Timberwolves’ fans will go back to ice fishing and chuckling over Garrison Keillor.

But the Celtics, now there’s a case study.

In context, the Garnett acquisition is humungous, because everything else in the Eastern Conference has been diminished in stature. The Detroit Pistons will again threaten to be the conference’s representative out of the playoffs, but they have a certain amount of built-in dysfunction that seems to continually foil them. The Cleveland Cavaliers may be a team on the rise, but their Finals performance against San Antonio exposed them as a valiant but limited contender whose future progress promises to be excruciatingly incremental.

The Miami Heat is always a viable contestant, assuming it can keep both Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade healthy at the same time while conjuring a miracle out of their supporting cast. The Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards all are mildly fascinating in their own way, and each theoretically could challenge for the East crown. But none scares anybody.

The Celtics with Pierce, Allen and Garnett — the league’s leading rebounder last season — on the floor together pose serious matchup problems that only teams like the Pistons or Spurs in the entire NBA can hope to neutralize. Although Boston will still have the little matter of surrounding those three with enough talent and depth to keep the stars from wearing themselves out, the extended forecast in New England is sunny for the first time in years.

More than their actual win-loss record, however, is the attitude. Arrogance is back. If Red were alive, he’d be so happy he could smoke.

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