Sorry Perk

Out of respect for the big fella, I'm not going to post the video here, but RwH readers need to know: In last night's Clippers-Thunder game, Kendrick Perkins secured his place on NBA highlight reels until the end of time -- the wrong way. In the third quarter, Perk got absolutely obliterated by Blake Griffin, victim of the the most spectacular dunk dunk-like maneuver I have ever seen on a basketball court.

(Check it out here.)

Goodbye, Perk

Last night, a make-shift Boston Celtics team went scoreless in the final six minutes, ceding the final 16 points in an 89-75 loss to the revamped Denver Nuggets.

Why make-shift? Boston only had nine active players, including D-League call-up Chris Johnson, who scored six points and blocked three shots after being signed to a ten-day contract earlier in the day. And why were the Celtics so depleted? Thursday was the league's trade deadline, and the Celtics were unexpectedly active. The carnage:

• Marquis Daniels, who reportedly was going to miss the rest of the season, was sent to Sacramento, along with cash considerations, for a protected second-round pick in 2017.
• Semih Erden and Luke Harangody were shipped to Cleveland for a second-round pick in 2013.
• Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson were traded to Oklahoma City for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic.

Giving Celtics GM Danny Ainge the benefit of the doubt (something I'm having a hard time doing right now) requires that we recognize that the picture is not yet complete. A bunch of guys are about to have their contracts bought out by their teams, and some of them may show up in Boston. That possibility explains away the trade of Erden and Harangody, promising rookies who were each worth at least a second-rounder themselves.

But this post is not about Erden and Harangody. It's not about Troy Murphy or Rip Hamilton or anybody else who may become a Celtic in the coming days. And be warned: It's not entirely about basketball, either.

***

We'll start with basketball, though, because when all is said and done, there's still a season to be played, a championship to be won, redemption to be earned. Green is the big piece coming to Boston. He's a three who's played the whole of his four-year career out of position as a four, because the Thunder already have a pretty good small forward. I liked him a lot when he was at Georgetown, because of his terrific passing in John Thompson's Princeton offense. I'm less bullish on him as a pro, not so much due to what I've seen (I don't watch OKC very much), but from what I've read and heard from people whose basketball opinions I trust. SI.com's Zach Lowe:

Green is not as good as most folks believe he is ... [He] grabs a lower percentage of defensive rebounds than [Paul] Pierce, and [his] presence on the court has consistently turned the Thunder into a porous defensive team.

My buddy Colin:

Jeff Green 100% sucks.

To be fair, not everyone shares these views. As Lowe himself points out, respected veteran writers Peter May, Ian Thomsen, and Bob Ryan all have higher opinions of Green. But the defensive and rebounding numbers don't lie. His scoring average in OKC (15.2 this season, 14.2 in three-plus career seasons) does lie, however, at least a little bit: He's shooting just 43.7 percent from the floor and around 30 percent from three-point land for the season, despite playing with supremely talented offensive players Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Of course, the system in which you play means something. So it's possible that Green won't be a defensive liability in Boston, and that his offensive efficiency will improve in his new environment. I have more confidence in the latter than in the former; the Thunder have been a good defensive outfit with Green off the floor, but Boston's got some pretty good offensive players of their own and from what I've seen OKC does a fair amount of standing around shooting jumpers.

Krstic is okay; a decent shooter for his size, but below average on defense and on the glass.

***

The stated rationale for the trade is that with Daniels out (and possibly even if Daniels were healthy), the Celtics desperately needed wing help. In addition to now having someone to spell Pierce, Doc Rivers pointed out that the addition of Green allows him to go "go small" the way he did in the championship year, with Green taking the place of James Posey.

That's true, but the key to that lineup in 2007-08 was James Posey's defense. Offensively, Posey did little more than stretch the floor with his three-point shooting. Green has a more diverse offensive game, but his three-ball is suspect. But more importantly, there's little evidence that Green can have anywhere near the defensive impact that Posey had.

Relatedly, ESPN's John Hollinger and others have theorized that this move was made with the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs in mind, which is noteworthy for the reverse implication that it means that Boston is no longer concerned with the Orlando Magic or Los Angeles Lakers. The Heat and Spurs are perimeter-oriented, and the thought is that Kevin Garnett can handle Chris Bosh and Tim Duncan in a small lineup that would allow Boston to match up better 1 through 4.

Whether that's true, it's not as if having an elite defensive center like Perkins is a liability. And what happens if Boston does have to deal with Orlando and Dwight Howard, or the Lakers -- the two-time defending champions, after all, with Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum inside -- wake up in the playoffs? And, for that matter, what about Chicago's formidable tandem of Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah?

We don't know who is going to be bought out just yet, but we do know the rumors, and the rumors say that there are a lot more wing players about to become available than there are true centers. I've got to think we'd have been better off with adding a wing that way (or via trade -- we really couldn't get anybody for Semih and some draft pick?) and keeping Perk.

Ainge also defended the trade thusly:

The numbers show that he's been better with our starters. We beat all the good teams in the league while Kendrick was out, and that gives you a little more comfort.

I'm not sure exactly what numbers he's talking about, but I have the following problems with this argument:

• The regular season and the playoffs are different animals. Doc and Danny should know this. Beating Miami and Chicago and the Spurs in October, December, or January is a hell of a lot different than being them in best-of-seven series' in May and June.
• We beat the Lakers, Heat, and Magic with Perkins in the lineup.
• We won a championship with Perk in 2007-08, and probably lost one in 2009-10 because we didn't have him for Games 6 and 7.
• Whatever comfort Danny takes in how the team has played with Shaq should be tempered by the fact that Shaq's availability is hardly a sure thing. Right now, he's sitting out with injuries more or less related to being nearly 39 and in his 20th NBA season. He's not hurt so much as he's hurting. And the odometer isn't running backwards. If Danny and Doc have taken his availability for granted, then they've made a grave mistake.
• Some of Danny's comments seem to suggest that at least some of the motivation was that Shaq is better with the starters than he is with the second unit. I have my doubts about the truth of that statement, as Shaq's inability to play help defense without fouling is exacerbated when he's on the floor against the opposition's elite scorers, but even if it's true, trading your starting center is a weird way to solve the problem of your backup center being ill-suited to being a backup center.

***

This isn't a move for the long-term, either. It's true that Boston was likely to lose Perkins to free agency in the offseason. He had previously turned down Boston's offer of a contract extension worth $22 million over four years, which is basically the limit of what Boston could offer him under current rules. He was likely to be overvalued in the offseason, and someone else was going to pay him more than we could.

But Green doesn't necessarily fit into Boston's long-term plans, either. Green has always been a favorite of Doc's and Danny's, but his contract extension talks with the Thunder broke down in October and he'll be a restricted free agent after this season. Assuming some team will want to give Green starter's money, the Celtics will have to give Green something similar to what they offered Perk if they want to keep him, and at the expense of re-signing someone like Glen Davis. It's a high price to pay for someone who plays Paul Pierce's position. And while Green may provide more sign-and-trade options than Perkins would have, there's also less chance that Green takes a discount to re-sign with Boston, whereas Perk at least theoretically could have changed his mind.

Also, while Boston did receive a first-round pick in the trade, it's the Clippers', and it's top-ten protected through 2016. The Clips are on the way up, but the franchise has a history of mismanagement and it may be a long time before we see any payoff from that pick. We've spent so much to win as many championships as possible in this window. I don't care, and neither should anyone else, who we might get with that first a few years from now.

***

That leads us to a discussion of the collateral damage from the trade. From a pure basketball standpoint, it puts home court advantage in the East in real jeopardy. Boston's depleted roster lost to the Nuggets Thursday night, but Chicago's loss to Toronto on Wednesday and subsequent defeat of Miami preserves the status quo atop the East. For now. Boston has two more games on this road trip without Shaq, meaning that they must play the Clippers and Jazz with Krstic as their only center. Hopefully Shaq will be back after that, but who knows. Additionally, Boston will be shorthanded until the buyouts happen. And then those players, along with Green and Krstic, will have to be integrated into our system. (Let me point out, to those who think Green will provide a nice offensive boost, that Doc couldn't get Robinson integrated into the offense last year, and while some of this has to do with Robinson's negative basketball IQ, I'm not at all convinced that Green is going to blend in well any time soon.)

Secondly, this rips the heart out of so many of Boston's key players. Pierce, KG, Allen, and Rondo may be Boston's Big Four to the rest of the basketball world, but those aren't terms they use internally. Perk and Rondo were extremely close friends. Garnett spoke of it being like losing a family member, not a teammate. This was probably the closest starting five in the NBA, and now its gone.

Boston's vets, as professionals, will no doubt regroup and give it their all the rest of the way. Green and Krstic are teammates now, and no one is going to hold the loss of Perkins against them. But even so, there's very little chance that either will truly succeed this year. The prevailing attitude of almost every Boston fan I know was that the Celtics were going to win the title. Whether that was a reasonable expectation, as it now stands, if Boston fails in that goal, in everyone's mind it will be because of this trade.

***

Many times over the past few seasons, the tiny microphone Rivers wears during nationally-televised games has picked up him urging his charges to trust each other. That trust, which won Boston a ring and got them an injury or two away from perhaps two more, was built up over the course of an intense 2007-08 campaign. Upon what basis can the veteran Celtics be reasonably expected to trust Green and Krstic? And should they trust Doc and Danny that this move is in their best interest, after they more or less stabbed their friend Perk in the back?

Because that, truly, is what they did. After Perk signed a hometown-discounted exception four seasons ago, after Ubuntu and "Boston is a brotherhood" and "We not me,"after all the talk about Boston's starting lineup having never lost a playoff series together and them coming back for one more shot at a title, they traded Perk out of the blue.

Here's the brutal irony. Perkins, as you know, tore his ACL in Game 6 of the Finals last year. He had surgery in early July. The very optimistic target for his return to the floor was after the All-Star Break this year.

But that wasn't good enough for Perkins. He worked his ass off rehabbing his knee and came back even earlier than that original optimistic target, making his season debut on January 25 against Cleveland. His reward for all the hard work? Being traded away from his brothers at the deadline. Had Perk not worked so hard and returned after a more reasonable amount of time, Oklahoma City never would have had enough confidence in his health to pull the trigger on this trade. Perk's loyalty to the franchise paved the way for the franchise to betray him.

I've long understood, or thought I had, that basketball is a business. There's been a lot of hand-wringing recently over how LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, among others, have manipulated which team they play for. I never liked it, either -- I guess I was latching onto whatever ideals I held about how professional sports should work. But this trade is a poignant example of why they do. If the Boston Celtics can break up this core, this way, in the middle of this season, then I'm not sure that loyalty from a team to a player does exist. And if there's no loyalty there, then I see no reason to hold the players to a higher standard.

***

I'm a relatively recent Perkins convert. Even during the championship run, his offensive ineptitude and occasional on-court petulance drove me crazy, to the point were I distinctly remember typing in an email or instant message to someone during that season: "If Kendrick Perkins were in front of me right now, I would punch him in the face."

But he improved and matured, and I started watching more closely and digesting more and more information about the team once I started writing this blog. And I came to appreciate not only his hard work and terrific defense, but his deceptively bright personality, his loyalty, and his value as a teammate.

It's taken me a day of reflection and four hours of typing to write this post. I've been fluctuating among hopeful optimism that I'm wrong, anger, and acute sadness. I still love the Celtics, individually and as a whole, even though my perception of the tradition of the franchise has been tarnished somewhat. I still love this year's team. I just love it a little bit less than I did yesterday morning.

Goodbye and good luck, Perk. We'll miss you.

Trade Deadline Blues

Bottom line: Kendrick Perkins, Nate Robinson, Marquis Daniels, Semih Erden, and Luke Harangody are out. In are Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, a couple of draft picks, and a whole lot of questions regarding who Danny Ainge plans to bring in once buyouts start happening.

I'll post substantively tomorrow. For now, this pretty much sums up how I feel.

Boston 115, Golden State 93

We'll get to the game in a minute. First, a few words about Bill Walton.

[recap] [box score]

The former Celtic filled in as color commentator alongside play-by-play man Mike Gorman for Tuesday night's broadcast. (Tommy Heinsohn doesn't often make the West Coast swings these days.)

I've done a complete 360 in my opinion of Walton, the broadcaster. (I've always appreciated Walton, the player, though I've only been able live his career through listening to others talk about him, because I was just a little too young to remember him.) Like many, I grew tired of Walton's boorish exaggerations ("John Stockton is one of the true marvels, not just of basketball, or in America, but in the history of Western Civilization!") and forced catchphrases ("Throw it down, big fella, throw it down!"). Over time, however, I came to appreciate him. He's still over the top, but he knows he's over the top. I don't want to use the term "schtick" because Walton's enthusiasm is genuine, but he certainly has a modus operandi.

One of his tendencies is to poke fun at middling NBA players, either by insulting them outright ("The only way Danny Schayes is getting into the Hall of Fame is if he pays the admission fee") or by so exaggerating their abilities that you know his tongue is planted firmly in his cheek ("If Eric Piatkowski continues playing at this level, he's going to replace Jerry West on the NBA logo.")* Tonight's target? Warriors starting center Andris Biedrins, who has fallen off a cliff -- he went from averaging 12 points and 11 rebounds two seasons ago to five and eight last year -- despite not yet turning 25. In the first quarter alone, Walton dropped the following gems:

• After Biedrins fouled Kevin Garnett: "You don't want fouls on Biedrins, if you're Boston. You want him in the game."
• A few moments later: "What does this Biedrins fellow do?"
• After Biedrins bricked a pair of free throws when Delonte West, who had missed the last 39 games with a broken wrist, entered the game for the first time: "Biedrins is the one who looks like he has a broken wrist."
• And finally, after Biedrins missed a layup: "He's playing scared. He's playing ... like his feet hurt."

No, I don't know what the last one means, either. And yes, it's probably unnecessarily mean to pick on Biedrins. But it's Walton, and we, as Celtics fans, can forgive him. His undying loyalty to the franchise probably colors my opinion of him.

Walton's playing career, of course, was abbreviated due to injury, and it appeared that his broadcasting career would similarly be cut short thanks to a debilitating back condition. Walton has taken a lot of time off from the microphone in recent years. I'm not sure if he's planning on making the rest of the trip with the Celtics or whether this was a one-shot deal because the Cs were in his native California -- and I won't be able to tell (the Celtics play on TNT on Thursday and at the Clippers on Saturday, which means I get the local broadcast here in LA instead of the Boston telecast on League Pass). But it's good to see him healthy enough to put on the headset, even if only for a few hours.

Bullets:

• Walton and the numerous Celtics fans in attendance at Oakland's Oracle arena were treated to a vintage Rajon Rondo performance. 19/6/15 with two steals, and one of those nights where it just feels like he can get wherever he wants, whenever he wants.
• Kendrick Perkins banged knees with someone in the third quarter and didn't return. It doesn't seem serious, and it's the left knee, which is not the one he ripped up in the Finals last year. Something to watch, but probably nothing to worry about long-term. The short term is a different story; Boston has to keep winning to stay ahead of Miami in the race for home-court advantage in the East, so even a brief Perkins absence -- especially with Shaq still out -- could be disproportionately costly.
• This was Boston's first win in Golden State in seven years, which is fairly remarkable considering that the Warriors have made the playoffs once in the previous six seasons and compiled a combined record of 213 wins and 279 losses over that time (they are 26-30 this year).
• One thing that makes playing the Warriors so difficult is that they have some really talented offensive players. After a poor defensive showing in a first half in which they surrendered 60 points, the Celtics held Golden State to just 33 second-half points.
• Another thing that is difficult about playing the Warriors is their style. They have no conscience whatsoever, and opposing players can get caught up in the hoist-the-first-halfway-decent-shot-you-get mentality. Nate Robinson fell victim to this a couple of times, though at this point it might be safe to just assume that Nate will always do the wrong thing.
• Fortunately, Golden State is really quite bad defensively (they are second in the league in steals, but that's due in large part to the pace of the game -- more possessions for the other team means more steals, and they do encourage more risk-taking on the part of the opposition's offense). Their deficiencies on that end allowed Boston to win handily despite a 14-point deficit at the free throw line.

Next game is at Denver on Thursday, at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT. In their first game without Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups** -- and with the quartet of players from the Knicks not yet in uniform -- the Nuggets hung 120 points on Memphis Tuesday night in a comfortable win. It's still too early to say what the new-look Nuggets are going to be like, but my money's on a continued emphasis on running (Ty Lawson is better-suited to an uptempo game than Billups) and the three-point shot. Wilson Chandler, acquired from the Knicks, brings a little bit of a defensive mindset that was lacking in every key Denver player other than Arron Afflalo, so there might be some minor improvements there. But probably not enough to worry about, though I might well be underestimating the "We're out to show everyone that we don't need 'melo" factor.

*All the past Walton quotes come from this Web page, which has a great compilation of his hits.

** Thoughts on the Carmelo Anthony trade:

1) There was a time when I was pretty sick of all the trade talk, but by the time the deal was close to being done, I found the whole thing very interesting. It was really a staring contest between Anthony, the Nuggets, and the Nets, with the Knicks sort of lingering around the outside. The Nets had extended the Nuggets a Godfather offer: Very-good-but-not-great point guard Devin Harris, promising rookie big Derrick Favors, the third overall pick in last summer's draft, and an incredible four first-round picks. It was a better deal than the itself attractive package the Knicks were offering, which was breakout PG Raymond Felton, Chandler, sharpshooter Danilo Gallinari, and bruising Timofey Mozgov, plus a first and two seconds, but it came with a caveat: New Jersey wouldn't pull the trigger unless Anthony signed an extension.

Once the Knicks -- Anthony's preferred destination -- upped their offer to include Gallinari, it was good enough for the Nuggets to take, which effectively gave no teeth to New Jersey's insistence that Anthony sign an extension prior to a deal going through. Anthony could more or less insist he be shipped to New York under those circumstances by refusing to sign a contract extension, which I'm guessing he did (because I believe Denver would rather have taken Jersey's offer).

Of course, the Nets could have called Anthony's bluff. 'Melo didn't have a no-trade clause or something similar that they were trying to get him to waive; he was just using the extension as a tool to get what he wanted. New Jersey could have rolled the dice by doing the deal anyway, forcing 'Melo to decide between signing an extension with a depleted Nets squad and losing tens of millions of dollars in free agency.

Here's the thing. 'Melo signed an extension worth three years and $65 million. Because of rules that allow teams to pay their own free agents more, that's more than he would have made in the first three years of a new contract with the Knicks in free agency (my calculations have it at around $6 million more, but my understanding of this part of the CBA is severely lacking).

But that's the current CBA, which expires this summer. It's a near-certainty that the new agreement will restrict player salaries below what they currently are, and thus the difference between signing an extension and waiting for free agency could easily climb into the tens of millions of dollars. So the Nets could simply have called Anthony's bluff and agreed to the trade, banking on Anthony not wanting to give up that much money. The same holds true for the Nuggets; Anthony said he wouldn't sign an extension, but if Denver wasn't getting value for him, it might have been a good strategy to simply hang on to him and hope he'd stick around for the money. It's a lot of money to give up.

Instead, the Nets and Nuggets blinked and the Knicks and Anthony got what they wanted.

2. Or, at least, what they think they wanted. Anthony has non-basketball reasons for wanting to play in New York, and I can't criticize those. And I can't say that I think it's a bad move, necessarily, for the Knicks. But I do think it's hardly a sure thing that the Knicks will be materially better for it, both now and in the future.

For starters, I think there are serious deficiencies with a Anthony-Amare' Stoudemire core. There's no commitment to defense in either of those players, and head coach Mike D'Antoni is famously focused on offense. Even if we assume that Boston will be out of the picture after this year and that Orlando has irrevocably screwed up its team with its trades this year, the Knicks are still going to have to deal with Miami and Chicago for the next several years. Both are outstanding defensive teams that aren't slouches on the offensive end, either. You can't beat either of them in a seven-game series simply by being very good on offense, and at best, that's all the Knicks will be: very good on offense. Additionally, the pairs and trios of stars that have worked of late have worked because of complementary skill sets: The Big Three in Boston, for example, work because they fit together (Garnett on the inside, Paul Pierce as a slasher, Ray Allen as a shooter), because of Rondo, and because Garnett can affect a game so profoundly without doing much offensively; LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh have worked in Miami because of defense and James' uncanny passing ability. A couple of guys who need the ball a ton -- paired with a point guard, Billups, who isn't a traditional playmaker and might not be a great fit, at his age, for D'Antoni's offense -- don't really fit together all that well.

Secondly, if we think of these teams as engaging in some sort of arms race, the Knicks are already one star behind Miami. The new CBA might even make it all but impossible to build a core consisting of three studs the way the Heat have. But even if it doesn't -- even if, say, Chris Paul or Deron Williams makes it to New York the offseason after this one to take Billups' place -- they'll be a full two years behind in chemistry. And the way things are currently set up, with the draft and various salary cap exceptions, you can add a player or two per year to your core. That is, the Heat, having already assembled their "Big Three," can start adding role players to join Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem this offseason. The Knicks will have to make do with surprising rookie Landry Fields alongside Anthony and Stoudemire, saving their cap room until they can get another stud, and then adding free agents in the seasons following. So they'll be another player behind Miami because of that, too.

This all assumes that the model the Heat have followed is a successful one. Time will tell on that, though it certainly can be argued that competing with James/Wade/Bosh is too tall a task for Anthony/Stoudemire/whomever.

3. Again, I'm not saying it was a bad deal for the Knicks. They'd placated their fan base for two years by explaining that they were clearing cap room for a big move last year, and having missed out on James, they needed to do something. And they might not have wanted Anthony to go to the Nets, who are scheduled to move to Brooklyn in a couple of years. (I think this is overstated, though, as is the argument that Anthony will drum up interest in the team. That's a decent argument for most NBA franchises, but not the Knicks, one of the league's most popular outfits. They've got no problems selling tickets and merch at MSG.) But I don't think it gets tem any closer to contending for a title, this year or beyond.

Dallas 101, Boston 97

Friday's game was one of those where I was legitimately surprised that the Celtics couldn't finish the job.

[recap] [box score]

It's not even that we played that well; we didn't. Our defense was terrible in the first half, as was our offensive execution over the game's final two minutes. But it just seemed -- hmm, how do I say this without taking credit away from the Mavs? -- it just seemed like we were making far more plays down the stretch than they were. Yeah, we didn't score for the final 2:42, but we came up with a bunch of great stops defensively, whereas it seemed like we were just missing shots on our end, rather than being stopped.

Anyway, I can't be too mad at the key play, a Jason Kidd three that put Dallas up two with just seconds left. The Mavs ran Jason Terry off a Dirk Nowitzki screen, with Action Dirk rolling to the basket. Boston's defense was in place; Nowitzki was free to catch the ball, but he would have had a contested shot. Terry's pass was low and Nowitzki booted it. The ball was loose just long enough for Ray Allen to react to it, leaving Kidd open in the process. Dirk recovered quickly enough to beat everyone to the ball, kicked it to Kidd, who patiently waited for Allen to fly by before knocking down the game-winner.

Allen was pretty magnificent tonight, actually, coming alive offensively in the third quarter. He also contributed a huge block of Tyson Chandler in the fourth, and battled Chandler for the rebound on a Dallas miss that ended up out of bounds to Boston. These were all things I was prepared to write about in more detail had the Celtics won. Instead, because the Cs lost, I'm forced to question the quick three-pointer Allen took under a minute to go. It would have iced the game and frankly I'm perfectly fine with him taking that look, but I'm sure some will question the shot selection.

Kendrick Perkins started tonight in place of Shaquille O'Neal, who is out with some sort of Achilles injury and probably won't play Sunday against Orlando, either. Perk was great, with 13 points and 12 boards, including a couple of tip-ins and another bucket in the fourth. He looks terrific out there, and I think it's safe to say we have our starting center back. Just in time, too; in addition to Shaq's latest malady, word came after tonight's game that Jermaine O'Neal had knee surgery and is expected back in six to eight weeks -- in other words, expected back in time to mess up the rotation. More likely, because Doc Rivers is sensitive to these things, he'll be back in time to be available in absolute emergencies. But I'm not expecting anything out of JON the rest of the year.

Kevin Garnett started really hot and then missed something like nine of his last ten shots, including a long jumper that went in and out on the possession before the Kidd dagger. He also got hit with a technical foul for pushing J.J. Barea, which isn't that big of a deal. However, during the minor fracas with Barea, he also pushed away the arm of official Eric Lewis, drawing a reprimand of sorts from ESPN play-by-play man Mike Breen.

I doubt very much it's something the league is worried about, and therefore I don't bring it up in the context of it possibly costing him some money or even a game. KG did the same thing when Steve Javie was trying to keep him away from Channing Frye in the dustup in Phoenix last week. I mention it only to draw attention to what I thought looked like unprofessional conduct from Lewis: It sure looked to me like Lewis pushed KG back after Garnett swatted his arm away.

Generally speaking, I think it's a bad idea to put your hands on someone who is fired up. This is an accepted practice in breaking up NBA scuffles, however, so I'm not going to criticize Lewis for that. And if the rule is a player, KG in this case, can't swat an official's arm away, than I guess I have to live with that, too. But part of the officials' job is to keep a cool head when tempers flare, the same way, say, players aren't supposed to run into the stands when someone throws a beer at them. Lewis obviously didn't go after KG, but he reacted poorly. After KG pushed Lewis' arm away and Lewis responded by shoving KG's arm, Lewis then gestured with his thumb while talking with fellow official Bob Delaney -- at Garnett, perhaps, or perhaps suggesting that Garnett be shown the exit. It was as if Lewis was saying to Delaney: "You deal with him." That's not an acceptable mindset for an NBA official to have, and Lewis' actions were inappropriate.

As for Dallas, they're a pretty strong team. They're dealing with the loss of their starting small forward, Caron Butler, as well as a nagging ankle injury to Nowitzki that caused him to miss nine games earlier in the season. (It speaks to how talented Nowitzki is offensively that he scored 29 points against one of the league's best defenses while being far less than 100 percent healthy.) They've got DeShawn Stevenson in their starting lineup, which is okay as long as he doesn't finish games, and he nearly cost coach Rick Carlisle the win Friday night before Carlisle took him out. They also have a ton of scoring punch off the bench, with Shawn Marion, Barea, and Jason Terry, and they may get Rodrigue Beaubois back in time to contribute down the stretch. They're certainly deeper than the Lakers and Spurs, but I'm not sure they have the horses to beat those teams in a seven-game series. I wouldn't overlook them, though.

Boston 95, Sacramento 90

Ray Allen does a lot of things I wish I could do. After last night, you can add tearing into Boston's second unit to that list.

[recap] [box score]

The Celtics starters had played a sloppy but effective first quarter, turning the ball over too much but keeping the clamps on the Kings for a 27-20 lead at the end of the period. The second unit promptly squandered that lead, and Boston went into the locker room down down by nine. Among the biggest transgressions: Surrendering 13 points to backup forward Donte' Greene in the quarter; Nate Robinson blowing the simplest play in basketball by not giving the ball back to Marquis Daniels on a two-on-one break, charging into Pooh Jeter instead; and Glen Davis getting blocked by DeMarcus Cousins, retrieving the ball, then trying a fadeaway 10-footer in traffic that was blocked by Omar Casspi. I certainly would have had a few choice words for the guys myself after that type of performance.

Actually, I have no idea what, exactly, set Ray off, but something did, and it kept Boston from dropping an obvious "trap" game at the end of a road trip. Robinson struggled with his offense in the second half, but was huge on defense, diving for loose balls and accumulating five steals. He played well enough to earn the nod over Rajon Rondo in crunch time, Doc Rivers electing continuity rather than bringing Rondo back in the fourth quarter as the Celtics put the game away. And Davis responded with ten points in the period.

Lest Allen's rare appearance as a vocal leader outshine his play, I should point out that he backed up his words with another outstanding game. He's been dialed in all year, now shooting nearly 51 percent from the floor overall and nearly 46 percent from behind the arc. Watching him play, Allen looks more like he's got shooting down to a science than anyone I've ever seen, and it's most noticeable when he puts the ball on the floor and then takes a pullup in the lane. Allen hangs on the air on these shots, calibrating himself and seemingly calculating the exact arc and power his shot needs. He's been the most fun Celtic to watch this season, and given that two of his teammates are having perhaps career years and a third has resurrected a career that seemed headed downward due to a knee injury, that's saying something.

Rondo had a strong game, too, going into attack mode early and supplementing Allen's scoring in the first half. Kendrick Perkins was solid inside off the bench, and I imagine it won't be terribly long before Doc Rivers installs him as the starter. After the All-Star break, perhaps?

Boston 88, Portland 78

[recap] [box score]

The Celtics kicked off a four-game road trip with a chippy, sloppy win over injury-depleted Portland.

The Blazers, playing without Brandon Roy, Marcus Camby, and (of course) Greg Oden decided from the opening tip that they weren't going to be intimidated or pushed around by Boston, and Boston, for its part, seems to relish the opportunity. The result was a physical, ugly contest for three quarters. But some solid work on both ends of the floor from the second unit gave the Celtics a 15-point lead with 4:22 remaining, which proved to be enough of a cushion to protect against missed free throws and Portland suddenly getting hot from three-point range.

Things actually got really dicey when Marquis Daniels stepped to the line with Boston up 82-77 with 42 seconds left and promptly missed both free throws. But Kevin Garnett simply outworked LaMarcus Aldridge for the rebound, and Glen Davis was able to knock down a pair from the line to seal the victory. It was the final stamp on a terrific all-around night from KG, who put up a Rondo-esque ten points, nine boards, and nine assists.

Kendrick Perkins looked great again, with ten points and nine boards in nearly 21 minutes, a little bit more floor time than what we've been told Perk will be playing at this stage. Von Wafer also had a strong game off the bench, and I have to admit I'm starting to talk myself into him. He replaced Nate Robinson in the rotation in the second half and had a couple of nice buckets and a steal. I still think Nate's our guy at the backup 2 when Delonte West returns, but for now, as Nate continues to struggle to define his role, we may see more Wafer.

Boston 112, Cleveland 95

[recap] [box score]

The Celtics sent the Cavs to their 18th straight loss blah blah blah blah...

Kendrick Perkins returned to the lineup!

Forgive me for skipping to the important part. But a win against the hapless Cavs, even one that avenges, as this one does, an early-season loss, is nothing to write about. The return of big number 43, just seven months after tearing his ACL in the opening minutes of Game 6 of the NBA Finals, is.

I knew Perk was close to coming back; reports had established February 4 against Dallas as his target return date. But seeing him suit up Tuesday night, a week and a half early, was certainly a surprise.

Perkins' return has to be considered a big success. First and most importantly, he showed no real ill effects, physically, from the injury or the surgery to repair it. He moved laterally. He ran hard up the floor -- his familiar, loping gait providing reassurance that all was well. He challenged shots, fought for rebounds, and finished at the basket.

He played so well, in fact, and the atmosphere surrounding his return was so positive, that one has to pause to remind oneself that this is Kendrick Perkins we're talking about. No one recognizes the value of what Perkins brings to the floor more than Boston fans do, but he doesn't suddenly make the Celtics an unstoppable force. He had eight points and six rebounds in limited minutes against a pathetic and undersized Cavs front line, and those totals are more or less in line with what we can expect from him as he works himself into better shape and plays against stiffer competition.

But Perkins is a big piece of a title contender, and it's reassuring to have him back out on the floor. His absence may have cost the Celtics a title last year. His return may win them one this season.

Perk Out for Game 7

This doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who watched the game last night, but Kendrick Perkins will not suit up in Game 7 due to the knee injury he suffered in the first quarter of Game 6. There are conflicting reports about whether the injury is a torn MCL and PCL or just a sprain of the ligaments, but Perk isn't having an MRI until he returns to Boston after the series and he officially isn't available for tomorrow night. For the sake of next season and Perk's future, let's hope it's just a sprain.

However, now is not the time to think about next year; next week is. Now is the time to think about what Perkins' absence means for Game 7 against the Lakers, and what adjustments need to be made.

The bad news is obvious. Perk is our best on-ball defender in the post, and while he hadn't consistently delivered his best work on that end this series, he had done a decent job on Pau Gasol (with Kevin Garnett sliding over to guard Lamar Odom when Andrew Bynum was out of the game, which was more often than not due to Lakers' young big's own knee injury). In addition, Perk is a reliable big body, of which we are now down to just three -- making foul trouble a real danger for Game 7. With Boston weakened on the front line, LA will probably look to dump it into Gasol more often in the hopes of getting Rasheed Wallace into foul trouble. The Lakers are best when the offense runs through Gasol, but they are sometimes reluctant, for some reason, to exploit him. But even Kobe Bryant should see that foul trouble to Wallace would be so detrimental to the Celtics that he can't help but go to Gasol early, and thus the Lakers offense may be more effective by accident.

There is some good news, or I guess at least a silver lining. For starters, Wallace has actually guarded Gasol fairly well in this series, although he has had trouble doing so without getting into foul trouble. If 'sheed can force Gasol to catch the ball off the block and contest his shots without fouling (content to live with the results of a contested shot) -- things Perk does extremely well -- then we may not miss Perkins at all defensively. If, however, Wallace gambles for steals and blocks in his typical fashion (which is okay when we're less reliant on him for minutes than we will be Thursday night), we could be in some trouble. Either way, I look forward to seeing, at least once, Gasol fall on his ass and then look up helplessly at the official when 'sheed breaks out the "pulling the chair" move.

Offensively, the news is better. There's a John Hollinger column on ESPN about how the Celtics are better off without Perkins, but I'm not an Insider and am not particularly inclined to go around searching for it. I have seen bits and pieces, however, from various blogs, and Hollinger has at least one thing right: Wallace is a much better offensive player than Perkins. Perk's offensive limitations allow the Lakers to guard Boston's starting unit close to 5-on-3, with Bryant backing well off of Rajon Rondo and whoever is guarding Perkins ignoring him unless Perk is standing within five feet of the basket. Wallace's range, which extends out to the three-point line, should unclog the paint for Rondo drives and Paul Pierce isolations, and keep the Lakers honest on pick-and-rolls with Pierce and Ray Allen. I suspect that LA will be more than happy, at least initially, to roll the dice with Wallace bombing away, and so he'll have to knock a couple down for this advantage to really bear fruit. (Fortunately, Wallace expertly didn't waste any of his makes on a lost cause in Game 6!) We don't need the 29 points on 5-for-7 from deep that he gave us in a January win at Toronto with Garnett out (though we'll take it), but the zero points on 0-for-6 from three-point land from Game 6 won't do, either. I'd love to see 'sheed step inside the arc for some of his offense, but at this point, I consider that something of a lost cause.

No matter how well 'sheed plays, however, he, Garnett, and Glen Davis are probably going to need help handling Gasol, Bynum (if he plays), and Odom, particularly on the glass. Last night, that guy was Shelden Williams, and he was, well, terrible. That leaves one other possibility: Brian Scalabrine.

When Shelden is playing regularly, like he was at the start of the season when Davis was out with a hand injury, he's a better option than Scalabrine. He's stronger, a better rebounder, a little more athletic. But he's out of rhythm now, and his performance in Game 6 was bad to the point of being painful to watch. (His play in four minutes in Game 2, his only other action of these Finals, was not much better.) I know Scalabrine hasn't played since March 28 and has barely even dressed for any games during the playoffs, but at this point, if Scalabrine can simply catch the ball most of the time it lands in his hands, he'd be an upgrade over Shelden.

Look, I know this isn't ideal, but there was a time, before we got Wallace, that this wouldn't have been so ridiculous a suggestion. Last year, Doc Rivers tabbed Scalabrine eight times as a starter; five times when Perkins was out and three when Garnett was out. In one of the former, against Phoenix, with Garnett guarding Shaquille O'Neal, Scalabrine held Amare' Stoudemire to 0-for-7 from the field, actually outscoring the five-time All-Star 4-to-3. Scalabrine defends and rebounds with every ounce of his by-NBA-standards-underwhelming ability. If he sees the court on Thursday, there won't be anyone on it playing harder than Brian Scalabrine.

Scal also has the ability, when left open -- and he gets left open a lot -- to knock down an open three or two. It's asking a lot of a guy to step in after not playing for two-and-a-half months and hit jumpers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but six or nine points from Scalabrine could be absolutely huge.

Heading into Game 6, there was a lot of chatter on the Internet about how, if Boston won the series, who would win the MVP was still an open question. Scalabrine will never be mentioned in that discussion. But in a series in which the best two players are wearing purple-and-gold, it may take a solid, if unspectacular, performance from a forgotten role player to push the team wearing green-and-white over the top.

Miami 101, Boston 92

[recap] [box score]

Really, the header on this post should be "Dwayne Wade 46, Boston 92." Flash was a one-man show in the fourth quarter on Sunday, pulling his team out of a six-point hole with 19 points in the period, 17 in the first six minutes. There's not a whole lot you can do when Wade is going like that, although Boston could have done more: Getting a hand up on his three-pointers, trying Tony Allen on him instead of Ray Allen, double-teaming like they did in the second half of the quarter to good effect. Fortunately for Boston, it's unlikely that Wade, as good as he is, will be that good often enough over the next three games to steal this series.

The bad from Sunday: Something like nine first quarter turnovers; three first half fouls apiece on Ray and Paul Pierce; a second straight scoreless game from Kendrick Perkins; falling behind by 18 points in the first half; losing a fourth quarter lead after coming back from 18 down.

The good from Sunday: Being in a position to win the game despite everything in the previous paragraph.

Really, we would've been right there had Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett -- career 89.4 percent and 78.5 percent career free throw shooters, respectively -- missed five straight from the stripe in the fourth quarter, amidst a crowd of Heat fans wielding noisemakers that sounded something like cicadas. We can probably count on that not happening again.

Game 5 is back in Boston Tuesday night. Most of the country won't see it, however, as it's on NBATV. I'm not worried, but I would very much like to close the Heat out right now.

Boston 94, Sacramento 86

[recap] [box score]

This was a strong performance for about 30 minutes, before the bench came in and let the lead slowly slip away. By the time the starters returned, they were a little out of synch. The team never really seemed in danger of losing this game, but a more consistent effort would have been nice.

Return of the bullets:

• Kendrick Perkins missed this game with tendinitis in his left knee. (Why is tendinitis spelled that way and not "tendonitis"? It is, after all, itis of the tendon.) We don't know exactly how long Perk's going to be out, but word is that he'll miss the San Antonio game.
• Rasheed Wallace, starting in Perkins' place, played the most energetic game we've seen from him in a while. At one point, he jumped on the floor to tie up Carl Landry, earning a Tommy Point in the process -- the first one I can remember him receiving this year. (To be fair, Heinsohn hasn't given as many of these rewards for hustle plays this season.)
• Rajon Rondo was at his apothecarial best on Friday, dishing out a regular season career-high 18 assists. He was masterful, particularly in the first half, whipping the ball through the narrowest openings and playing with his usual flair. Too much flair, perhaps, but a lot of fun to watch -- and effective, against the hapless Kings, at least.
• Rondo's strip of Sean May in the second quarter gave him the Celtics single-season record for thefts. His 168th steal eclipsed the mark of Rick Fox. Whatever we can do to erase Fox's name from the team record books is a positive thing, in my opinion.
• Marquis Daniels got the DNP-CD in the first half, and didn't enter the game until the third quarter, when the game seemed well in hand. I think I heard Greg Dickerson say in a sideline report that Daniels is in some ways still learning how to fit in with the team, since he missed all that time with the hand injury. Sitting him for the whole first half is a funny way to get him comfortable.
• Nate Robinson sprained his ankle in the first half and didn't return to the game. I don't have any word as to how much more time he'll miss, if any.

San Antonio is in town on Sunday (8 p.m. Eastern, ESPN). The Spurs are missing their point guard, Tony Parker, but as they seem to do when they are missing one of their big three (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Parker), they have been playing well of late. They knocked off the Cavs on Friday after beating Oklahoma City earlier in the week, alternating those wins with losses to Atlanta and the Lakers. Sunday's game is the last in a five-in-eight stretch, as difficult a series of games as you'll see in the NBA. Maybe we can catch them tired, though we shouldn't need to to beat them.

Boston 86, Washington 83

[recap] [box score]

As some brave followers know, I took advantage of my new Twitter account to live-tweet last night's game. I thought it might be fun to re-post some of that commentary, with annotations. I realize this disincentivizes people from following these sessions, but what, as they say, ever.

So, here we go. Tweets in regular font, annotations in italics.

RhymesWithHondo

Welcome to the RwH livetweet of Cs-Wiz. No Oscar tie-ins, because I'm not clever enough. If you're following, say what's up.

And welcome to the RwH post-livetweet blog entry of Cs-Wiz! Still not clever enough for Oscar tie-ins.

RhymesWithHondo

Early, college-style TO from Flip just over a minute in. Are they ever effective in the NBA?

This after Boston went up 4-0 1:07 in. This would represent the largest lead the Celtics held all evening -- or, as we say on the West Coast, all afternoon.

RhymesWithHondo

Attn those with League Pass: Rockets-Piston tied in the final 20 seconds.

League Pass is awesome. Get it next year. Also, Detroit won.

RhymesWithHondo

25-19 bad guys after one. Andray Blatche killing us, but he has two fouls. KG 0-4. Need to get Ray and Rondo going offensively.

Blatche is a unique talent who has absolutely exploded since the trade-deadline departures of Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. He displayed his soft touch on the midrange J, and he can put it on the floor. Think Lamar Odom, without the court vision. But a guy to build around in Washington, given the mess they've got there.

Garnett, by the way, finished 0-for-7 from the field, the first time he was held without a field goal since his rookie year -- January 27, 1996, to be exact.

Also, not to pat myself on the back too much, but the final sentence fragment of the above tweet would prove prescient. Stay tuned!

RhymesWithHondo

Robinson checking Boykins is both exactly the same and exactly the opposite as Scalabrine guarding SA's Matt Bonner.

I amuse myself greatly. ESPN's Dan Shulman was the first to point out that the listed 5-9 Nate Robinson would be matched up with the 5-5 Earl Boykins, but I took it to the next level by making the brilliant Scalabrine-Bonner analogy-slant-distinction. That's why you read me, folks.

RhymesWithHondo

This is the most we've seen from Perk offensively in a while. Should we credit Blatche's "defense"?

At the start of the year, Perkins looked greatly improved offensively, so much so that I didn't mind us feeding him the ball every now and then. He'd regressed the last several games, yet we were still going to him, which bugged me. But his ten points in the first half kept us in it yesterday.

RhymesWithHondo

JaVale McGee stuffs KG and the Captain in a span of like three possessions. One of my favorite underrated guys from the 2008 draft.

I love McGee, and have for a while (see the second item). I'm really excited to see what he can do now that Haywood is gone and he's the starting center by default in the nation's capital.

RhymesWithHondo

Folding laundry during halftime. Being an obscure Internet personality isn't as glamorous as it sounds. Back after halftime.

I'm not entirely sure what I did during halftime, because when I left my apartment this morning, half of my laundry was still in the basket. The other half is on my bed, having been poured there as I searched for a a pair of socks.

RhymesWithHondo

2 pts from Rondo at half. Need another 14-pt third quarter like the one he had after going scoreless in the 1st half against Philly on Fri.

Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you. We beat the Sixers in Philadelphia on Friday.

RhymesWithHondo

Ten str8 pts from Ray followed by 7 str8 from Rondo. Nice to see guys stepping up after PP went to bench. Wizards by 4 after three.

The first signs of life from Boston on this night, erased by a terrible start to the fourth quarter, thanks to a bench that shot 3-for-21 for the game. But wait! There's more!

RhymesWithHondo

Glen Davis has GOT to stop trying to score in the post against taller guys who are good shotblockers. This has been a trend.

This isn't really fair of me, because I'm always criticizing Baby for wanting to play outside. But he really lacks the knack for scoring that shorter post players need to be effective (see San Antonio's DaJuan Blair, for the most recent example). Davis needs to either learn to score among the trees, or to kick the ball out more.

RhymesWithHondo

With that said, he's doing great work on the offensive glass. And he was definitely fouled on that last possession.

If I'm going to criticize the guy, I have to praise him when he deserves it, too. Davis was very active yesterday. But an offensive rebound goes only so far if the putback gets swatted.

RhymesWithHondo

79-66 Washington, 6:10 remaining. Put up or shut up time, but there's not a whole lot to be hopeful about.

Whoops. Who needs hope when you have Ray Allen? /foreshadowing

RhymesWithHondo

SEND IT IN, RAY!

An Allen jam on the fast break makes it 79-72 with 4:39 left. This also led to a brief discussion about the origins of "Send it in!" which led me to Youtube, where I spent half an hour after the game watching college basketball highlight videos. I love March.

RhymesWithHondo

And one! This game is there for the taking, even though we don't deserve it.

A Rondo drive makes it 81-79. Thirteen second-half points for Rondo, by the way.

RhymesWithHondo

A lot of stuff just happened, incl us taking our 1st lead since the 1st Q, but bottom line is that we've got the ball, down 1, 27 secs left.

"A lot of stuff" included Rondo missing the free throw, a scramble on the rebound, Perk grabbing the loose ball, Ray draining a three as the building went crazy, and then Randy Foye answering on the other end with an icy-cold jumper.

RhymesWithHondo

I'd bet a lot of money on this being an iso for Pierce. If it's not, it'll be a three for Ray.

Not that this took a lot expertise. We're sooooooooo predicatble in these spots. I don't know why Doc likes getting Ray open for a three when we're only down one, but he does.

RhymesWithHondo

1/3 screen-roll with Ray curling off a screen on the weak side. His three ball is wet. Boston by 2. One more stop and we've stolen one.

Told ya.

The final tweets just narrate the final few plays:

RhymesWithHondo

Blatche short on a fadeaway. Pretty good look. Rebound OOB off Washington. 6.3 seconds left, Boston ball.

RhymesWithHondo

Rondo had Robinson wide open in the backcourt, but was too focused on Pierce. Would've killed some time. KG at the line to seal it.

RhymesWithHondo

KG misses the first. Hits the second. I say foul here, up 3. No timeouts for Washignton [sic].

RhymesWithHondo

Boston doesn't foul, Al Thornton leaves a decent look at a triple short. Six minutes of defense is enough to beat the Wizards, apparently.

***

So that's that. It was actually a lot of fun, and I plan on doing it again sometime. Any opportunity I have to be self-indulgent, I take. And I'll probably use my Twitter account for basketball-related thoughts (college and professional) in the future, so follow me if you're into that sort of thing.

Boston's got kind of a tough week. It starts at Milwaukee tomorrow. The Bucks are 9-2 after the All-Star break, including a win on Saturday against LeBron-less Cleveland. We beat them by nine in December, but we were 17-4 at the time and they were 9-11. A lot has changed since then, and the 33-29 Bucks seem firmly ensconced as a playoff team.

We then return home to face Memphis on Wednesday. We won a close game in the first matchup in December, a game I didn't get a chance to watch because it was during final exams. Memphis us an up-and-down team, but they have a lot of talent, a few wins over top teams, and a number of tight losses to the league's elite.

Friday we host Indiana, and then we have a showdown in Cleveland with the Cavs on Sunday (3:30 p.m. Eastern on ABC).