Garnett third in voting

He and Cavs' James praise MVP Bryant

Kevin Garnett finished a respectable third in voting for the NBA's Most Valuable Player.

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant won his first MVP award, with 82 first-place votes (out of 126) and 1,100 points, while Hornets guard Chris Paul was second with 28 first-place votes and 894 points.

Garnett finished with 670 points, getting 15 first-place votes. The 2004 NBA MVP averaged 18.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.25 blocks for the team with the best regular-season record.

"It's great. I'm happy for him," said Garnett, who did win the Defensive Player of the Year award. "Lord knows that he's worthy. This probably won't be his last. Congratulations to him and he's definitely worthy of it."

Paul Pierce received one fifth-place vote.

"I don't think it has [mattered] with us anyway," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "I don't think anyone in our locker room cares.

"You don't hear anyone ever talk about them, which is interesting. You usually hear teams talking about awards. No one has talked about them."

Cleveland forward LeBron James, who finished fourth in MVP voting, said, "I've always said, since two or three years ago, that Kobe Bryant is the best player in this league. I think he's been the best player in this league for the last five or six, seven years.

"It's good that he won it. His team played well. He's part of the reason why they finished No. 1 in the West."

Cavaliers coach Mike Brown believes that if his team had a better regular-season record - they went 45-37 - James would have won.

"Kobe is a great player," Brown said. "He won it, but he's just as deserving as LeBron. I'm a little biased."

Joked Rivers, "I thought LeBron should have been higher. We're playing Cleveland, right? As a matter of fact, I thought he should have won."

Pollard checks in

Injured Celtics center Scot Pollard is still in Indianapolis after having surgery there Friday to remove bone spurs from his right ankle. Pollard was already out for the season after having left ankle surgery. He is scheduled to fly back to Boston tomorrow and hopes to attend Game 2 against Cleveland.

Pollard is slated to begin running on a treadmill in mid-July and playing basketball again in August.

"I believe the right will catch up with the left because it was less severe," said Pollard. "I don't think the right one will slow me down."

Pollard, who played on the Cavaliers' Eastern Conference championship team last season, believes the play in this series will be a lot slower than that in the first round against Atlanta.

"[Cleveland] is a more half-court-oriented team," Pollard said. "LeBron tries to create on the fast break. But when they don't have anything, they set up the offense. They can throw it in to Zydrunas Ilgauskas. He's tough to stop. He can play in the post, hits jumpers."

Positive signs

On the drive the Celtics make to their training facility in Waltham, motivational signs posted on poles have caught their eye of late.

One reads "Celtics Pride." Another is the number "17," for a 17th NBA title the team is trying to win. A third is "6," the uniform number of Celtics great Bill Russell. And one other had four check marks, presumably in reference to the four playoff wins the team had entering Game 1 against Cleveland last night.

"They're really nice," Rivers said. "I don't know where they came from. Celtics fans. They are really great. I noticed them about a week ago. It's really nice."

Added Garnett, "I've seen it. It's Celtics tradition. That's what it is."

Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com