By Chad Finn, Boston.com Staff

During the two press conferences on two channels separated by an hour or so in time and a million miles in tone, Kevin Garnett and Josh Beckett reminded us that they have one thing in common beyond the standard intense fame and seemingly endless zeroes on the paycheck of the modern athlete.

A extraordinary gift for defiance.

Not that the way one uses it at all resembles how the other does.

On Garnett, the victor in the immediate aftermath Thursday night of what astute observers said was his defining performance as a Celtic, his defiance was both serious and amusing, an admonition not to write him off at age 35.

"I'm really good at my craft and I take my craft really seriously,'' said Garnett after his 28-point, 14-rebound, 5-block instant classic. "I guess being 35 -- soon to be 36, not 37, 76 -- look it up. I put a lot of work into my craft. I take this very seriously. I always have since '95 when I was able to come into this league and it's almost like you guys are shocked."

On Beckett, stone-faced and outwardly indifferent in defeat, his stubborn defiance was enough to make you wish the World Series star of just five years ago would pack up his spikes, glove, smirk, fading fastball and collection of fancy new punch-top Miller cans and go back to the mansion, hunting blind or some combination thereof where he spends the 4 1/2 offseason months that apparently don't count as days off in his mind.