Perk in Pain
Kendrick Perkins may not be the flashiest player. He may not be the most effective player, and he certainly isn’t the best center in the league, but he is one hell of a defensive player, and good at his role.
By now we’ve all seen the highlight of Kendrick Perkins coming down between Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum, his knee clearly moving in a direction unnatural, and quivering to watch. After watching it just once, it comes to no surprise that the starting Center for the Boston Celtics tore his MCL and PCL. With one remaining game in the NBA season the Celtics will look to fill that large void on the floor left by the absence of Perkins. Just how will they pull that off for Game 7?
Perkins averaged 28 minutes per game for Boston this season, and was a cornerstone of their defense, especially when countered by the likes of a Shaquille O’Neal, Dwight Howard, and now the towers of L.A. in Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom. For a quick statistic, Perk’s net plus/minus was +7.0 for the Celtics this season (for an explanation on plus/minus site my Rasheed Wallace blog). Perkins was effective for Boston when he was on the floor, and the C’s are taking a blow losing him, but that doesn’t make it a foregone conclusion that the Lakers now have the upper hand.
Andrew Bynum has been hobbled over the past few games, clearly dragging a bit while on the floor. I look for Bynum to only give a solid 4-8 minutes in Game 7, while the rest of his time he will be a shell of himself. With L.A.’s starting center running around on one leg the Celtics will have to take advantage of that by taking him out of the paint. The likes of Glen Davis, Rasheed Wallace, and yes Brian Scalabrine will be able to open the floor up for penetration and drag Bynum out of the paint.
Expect to see Scalabrine get some time in Game 7. Scal is a big body who can bump down low, of course he has 6 fouls to give, and he can stretch the defense and open lanes to the hoop because he is an outside shooting threat.
The part that Doc Rivers and his staff must stress tonight will be the rebounds and boxing out. Perkins may not get every board, but when he doesn’t he is normally preventing his man from pulling down the rebound as well. A downside of stretching the floor for this Celtics team this year has been the lack of rebounding when they are stretching themselves thin. All 5 players cannot be 18-plus feet away from the rim when the shot goes up. Rasheed Wallace, Glen Davis, Kevin Garnett, and all of the Celtic big men need to be aware that Perk is not down there doing the dirty work anymore. This will need to be a team effort to get past a talented Los Angeles team.
Wallace has played his best basketball for the Celtics when he plays a maximum of 20 minutes a game. He will be forced to play more for Game 7, but Doc will have other options as well. Glen Davis should get a small majority of the minutes between himself, Wallace, Scal, and possibly Sheldon Williams.
Other storylines to watch for: needless to say rebounding is a huge factor in this series. Rasheed Wallace’s 3-pt. percentage for the Finals is an anemic 22%. Defensively in Game 6 Tony Allen held Kobe Bryant to 1 for 7 from the floor, while Kobe was 8 for 12 when being covered by anyone else.
The Celtics and Lakers both realize that Game 7 is the ultimate challenge in the NBA. The Lakers have, arguably, the best closer in the league, while the Celts have a man who has never lost a game 7. Both Kobe and KG are the ultimate competitors, but one team will fall tonight, writing another chapter in the Celtics-Lakers epic rivalry.
Sean Sendall – follow me on Twitter
Tags: Boston Celtics, Sean Sendall
