BOSTON — Kevin Garnett walked over to the Boston bench, nursing a sore hip and Celtics coach Doc Rivers asked repeatedly if his big man needed a break. It was going to take more than that to knock Garnett out of the playoffs.

”He’s good. He’s good to go,” Rivers said Wednesday during a conference call with reporters. ”He’ll practice tomorrow, and he’ll play on Friday.”

Garnett appeared to clutch his stomach while going for a rebound early in the fourth quarter, but he wouldn’t let Rivers take him out of the game. ”He got hit in the hip, very similar to having a hip pointer in football. It’s affecting him. I was concerned he was grabbing something else,” Rivers said. ”In a couple timeouts, I was asking if he was OK.”