After missing 10 games with a hyperextended right knee, Celtics forward Kevin Garnett has returned with no restrictions.

Garnett played 30 minutes in his return on Friday night against Portland.

"It's good to have Kevin back - more important it's good to see him playing better after the game and playing a lot of minutes," coach Doc Rivers said. "That's a good sign for us."

The Celtics aren't monitoring Garnett's minutes as they look to turn it on in the second half of the season.

"We felt pretty good about it before," Rivers said of Garnett's appearance Friday. "There wasn't a minutes restriction -- this is totally different from last season's injury, and that's why we were really not concerned about the minutes. Our only concern with him minute-wise is conditioning. It had nothing to do with the knee.

"We always put an extra guy on (the first) team (in practice) to give him rest and to give (Kendrick Perkins [stats]) rest as well, but he's free to play."