Garnett is averaging 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds in 57 games. Without him, the Celtics (56-19) were 7-6 in their first 13 games. They were 3-1 when he returned and 2-0 in their last two when he was sidelined.

"We're just going to shut him down until we feel like he's ready," Rivers said. "It's nothing structural. It's the same thing that it's been. It's just not reacting the same way we thought it would react. He didn't react to the games we thought he would and he's clearly not reacting to practice the way we thought he would."

Boston's next four games are all at home against Charlotte, Atlanta, New Jersey and Miami. The last three are at Cleveland and Philadelphia and at home against Washington.

Second-year forward Glen Davis has started nine of the 15 games Garnett missed and is averaging 12.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in that span. For the season, he's averaging 6.2 points and 3.8 rebounds. He had double-doubles in the last two games.

Backup center Mikki Moore also has played more and matched his season highs with 12 points and 11 rebounds in Sunday's 103-84 win over Oklahoma City.

"It's a big adjustment. He's the center of everything," Moore said of Garnett. "He enthuses guys to come out and play hard. We're going to miss his presence out on the floor, but he's always in the locker room or on the sideline out there talking to us. We'll be all right."

Rivers said there's more pressure on the healthy big men to produce with Garnett sidelined and that "may be a reason to cut their minutes a little bit as well. Bottom line is we're going to be healthy when playoffs start and we're going to do whatever we can to have the legs."

But not everyone is convinced that the entire team, including Garnett, will be healthy by then.

"There's always concern," center Kendrick Perkins said. "A guy that has a month off from rest, comes back and he's still not fully recovered, it's still kind of scary. But then again, you're dealing with a warrior, so he'll find a way to get back."