Tom Curran • E-mail

BOSTON - It was closing in on midnight and James Posey — still in his game shorts and sporting an ice wrap on his shoulder — was the last man left in the Boston Celtics locker room.

Big Game James (the latest edition) was applying the final comments to Boston’s 76-72 steel-cage match win over Cleveland in the first round of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

He’d done the little things: A key 3 here, a couple of clutch free throws there, locking up with LeBron James on the final possessions. Must-dos for an NBA team to succeed in the springtime.

Posey, a member of the title-winning Miami Heat in 2006, has filled that role for years. He's more a ball bearing than the engine — necessary but sometimes overlooked.

The engine for the Celtics on this particular Tuesday was Kevin Garnett. On a night when the other members of Big Three 2.0 — Ray Allen and Paul Pierce — were deep funked, Garnett scored 28 points, going 13 for 22 from the floor with eight boards. With that, Garnett — the Best Player to Have Never Gone To The Finals — moved one step closer to getting there.

"At the end of the day, you play to win championships," said Posey when asked about Garnett. "Players come and go. Accomplishing the ultimate goal of winning a championship is what he’s about. He’s done everything else. He’s been the face of the league. Now he has the opportunity."

"Has been the face of the league."

An insightful choice of words by Posey. In the ever-evolving Association, the young superstars molt every few years. Garnett, the one-time youngest player in league history at 19 years, 11 months back in 1995 has since been succeeded by Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and now, the boy king he opposes in this series ... LeBron.

James is 23 and has been to the Finals. Garnett, soon-to-be 32, doesn’t yet know what that’s like. That’s why this series and these playoffs are — rightly or wrongly — a referendum on Garnett’s legacy.

All he did for the Celtics this year — turning them from a 24-win team to a 66-win team, winning the Defensive Player of the Year award and returning the NBA to relevance in Boston — merely set the stage for now: May and June.

And what happens from here on out will impact how Garnett is remembered. Will his legacy have eternal "yeah, but" attached? Or will he not only reach the Finals, but win?

"It would be the icing on the cake," said Posey. "For some players, making as much money as possible is the most important thing. With him it’s not about that. His intensity is for winning and that’s what he wants.”

Almost too much. Brilliant as he was Tuesday night, not more than a week before he tightened up noticeably (along with many other Celtics) down the stretch in the sixth game of Boston’s opening round series with Atlanta. He forced passes, passed up shots and the Celtics lost, forcing a game seven back in Boston that the Celtics won easily.

Special feature Luck of the Irish How the Celtics went from worst to first in one year

Garnett played that Game 7 without sleep. He stayed up all night, watching game film, willing himself to success.

In the past week, comparisons have been drawn between Garnett and the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez -- another superstar whose postseasons have been unfulfilling.

But while Rodriguez gives an air of detachment to his failings, Garnett is actually the opposite. He is completely and utterly engaged, perhaps to a fault. Perhaps this is evidence of that, perhaps it’s coincidence but Tuesday night, after scoring down low in the fourth quarter against Cleveland’s Ben Wallace, Garnett retreated on defense and then stopped at half court and put his hands on the floor and actually crawled toward Cavs point guard Ernest Gibson as he came across half court. A 7-foot puma, stalking prey is what he seemed. It was engaging yet … odd.

His greatest strength — that intensity — may also be his fatal flaw.

"I have a lot of respect for a lot of players in this league and I wish they could experience what I experienced in Miami when we won," said Posey. "KG is one of those players."

Practically speaking, this could be Garnett’s last, best chance to carry a team to a title. He, Allen and Pierce are all on the wrong side of 30. And the vagaries of professional sports — most prominently injuries — can waylay the most well-established franchises. It isn’t now or never for Kevin Garnett, but it is about time. 

And the Celtics throw in their lot with him.

"He’s called the Big Ticket for a reason," Celtics center Kendrick Perkins said. "You throw it in there, and he goes to work. He is either going to make it or miss it, but you are still going to love him either way.”

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