Nobody knows what Kevin Garnett will say or do when Carmelo Anthony steps onto the floor in Boston on Thursday night, when theKnicks and the Celtics meet for the first time since Garnett’s on-court posturing turned Anthony into a backstage vigilante early this month in New York.

That is the point. Garnett is as unpredictable as he is emotional. He is as calculating as he is quick-witted. If that sounds contradictory, Garnett has always come across as a little stranger than the average professional basketball player, and at least that much sharper.