Love him or hate him, the return of Kendrick Perkins from off-season knee surgery to the Celtics rotation is pivotal to the team’s run at another championship. As much as it may pain the anti-Perkins fan base to admit it, the Celtics center was a crucial part of last year’s team and was a huge reason for that decisive Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. I’ll even go a step further and say with Perkins, there is zero chance the Celtics lose that game. With Perkins, Banner 18 is hoisted to the rafters of the TD Garden. With Perkins, the Celtics and their retooled club and deep bench are in prime position to return to the NBA Finals this season with a shot at back-to-back titles.
While that is neither here nor there, the facts remain that in that Game 7 match-up, the Celtics were not only beat, but dominated on the glass. They were outrebounded by a margin of 66-46, including 23(yes you heard right) 23 offensive boards by the Los Angeles Lakers. Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant alone totaled more rebounds than all of the Celtics’ starters combined! Also noteworthy, is the second-chance points the Lakers were able to accumulate in this game. 17 of their 83 points came off second chance opportunities. That comes out to a gaudy 20% of their total points. Could Perkins have helped balance out some of these ridiculous numbers? Without a doubt.
While Kendrick Perkins is no Bill Russell, I’m sure his Celtics teammates wouldn’t have minded the 10 points, 8 rebounds, and nearly 2 blocks he was offering on a per game basis up to the point of his injury. I’m sure the 36 year old Rasheed Wallace, who had not played more than 25 minutes in more than a handful of games all season and was forced to log nearly 36 in Game 7, wouldn’t have minded a breather. I’m sure Doc Rivers wouldn’t have minded another big man to work into his rotations to bang down low against the likes of Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom. And I’m certain; absolutely certain, that Celtics fans would not have minded celebrating Banner 18, nonetheless on the court of the hated Los Angeles Lakers.
Perkins’ return has been fast-tracked to a projected date of February 4th. With Jermaine “thank you for the $6 million contract” O’Neal down with a knee injury which may require season ending surgery, Shaquille O’Neal seemingly in foul trouble every night, and Semih Erden who is still learning how to play the NBA game, Perkins’ arrival couldn’t come soon enough.
So while you may hate his horrible looking jumper, the technical fouls he seems to receive at least once every couple of games, or the puss-face scowl he puts on whenever he is called for a foul, the truth of the matter is that Kendrick Perkins is invaluable to this Boston Celtics team.
Perkins claims that if he was healthy for Game 7, it would have been a completely different outcome. “We would have won the Championship”, he said. Are his thoughts for this season any different? Not a chance. When asked about this year’s Celtics club Perkins responded with “In seven games I don’t think we can be beat by any team. Too deep. Too much experience. Too many hard-working guys. Too many guys that have a chip on their shoulder.” By the looks of it, come April, Perkins and his teammates will have the opportunity to prove just that.