Kendrick Perkins 'Back Probably After The All-Star Break'

Kendrick Perkins, who just underwent "successful" surgery on Monday to repair tears to his ACL, MCL and PCL in his right knee, will not be back on the court for the Celtics "probably after the All-Star break," said GM Danny Ainge Thursday Dennis & Callahan's show. The 2011 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for Feb. 20.

"It's projected that he'll be back probably after the All-Star break, could be my guess, sometime in mid- to late February," Ainge said. "We'll be very careful with Perk and not be in a rush to get him back, but I guess there's a chance to get him back probably a little earlier, that's probably realistic."

It was originally expected that Perkins would be ready by late December.

This news makes the addition of Jermaine O'Neal suddenly seem like a great move. More Ainge:

What was funny is when this whole process started, everybody knew we needed a center, nobody more so than [Kendrick Perkins]. Perk came into my office and he gave me a couple of names and one of the names was Jermaine O'Neal. That was one of the first things I said to Perk was, "Boy, he had a decent year, but he sure struggled for possession in the playoffs." And Perk said to me, "Don't hold that against him. Every big man plays bad against me." Right on down the line, all the guys on the team agreed that he was the best big man available. He's 31 years old, they played against him, they know Jermaine and I think it was pretty unanimous that he was the guy we would go after.

Expect more reaction at CelticsBlog.

Kendrick Perkins Has 'Successful' Surgery On Knee

Kendrick Perkins had successful surgery on Monday, according to a Boston Celtics spokesman:

Perkins is expected to be out until December for the Celtics. With his absence, the Celtics recently signed Jermaine O'Neal.

Perkins To Have Surgery Next Wednesday, Out Until December

Celtics' center Kendrick Perkins will have surgery next Wednesday and may not see the court until December or January 2011:

The Celtics center said last night that he has been told not to expect a return to action until late December or early January as the result of major knee surgery that has been scheduled for [Wednesday, July 7].

The Celtics center will undergo major reconstructive surgery to repair tears to the anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee – all the result of an awkward and ultimately mortal landing with an offensive rebound during Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

[...]

“It’s just part of what I have to do – I can get it together to get this done,’’ he said tonight before boarding a Boston Harbor Cruise as part of a Shamrock Foundation function.

“They told me to expect late December or early January,’’ said Perkins. “I don’t know what is expected from something like this, but I’m just going to go with the plan and see what I have to do.

“But after I took the MRI and found out that it was an ACL I was surprised – I have to admit that,’’ he said. “So I just have to go with things.’’

The Celtics were reportedly shopping Perkins before the NBA Draft last Thursday. Surprisingly, not many teams had any interest in a one-legged big man.

Celtics Believe Kendrick Perkins Has Torn ACL

While the injury that kept Kendrick Perkins off the court for Game 7 of the NBA Finals was initially described as a torn MCL and PCL, Danny Ainge has revealed that the Celtics believe that Perkins has a torn ACL as well—a condition which could make him miss part of the 2010-2011 season.

Nothing will be known for sure until Perkins actually has surgery, but ACL injuries carry much longer recovery times than MCL and PCL injuries. With only four months separating the end of the Finals and the beginning of the next season, it’s hard to imagine Perkins being ready for the start of the season if it is an ACL injury.

Kendrick Perkins Will Not Play In Game 7, Multiple Reports Confirm Torn MCL And PCL

Let's get the most important part out of the way: Kendrick Perkins will not play in Thursday night's Game 7, with coach Doc Rivers officially ruling him out Wednesday afternoon. The Celtics' center was seen at the Staples Center on crutches, with the knee heavily wrapped.

Perkins injured his right knee midway through the first quarter of Game 6 when he landed awkwardly and had his leg buckle underneath him.

"It's crazy," said Perkins. "I bang all the time and come out fine, and this time I get hurt. It's one of those plays you wish you could take back." [...]

"I don't want anybody to feel sorry for me," Perkins said. "It's an important game, it's not about me. It's about winning the title."

Now, as for the knee itself.

Rivers said that Perkins has not yet undergone an MRI on the knee, and won't until the team gets back to Boston on Friday, adding that "initial tests on Perkins showed enough damage to keep Perkins out of tomorrow night's game."  The MRI will reveal just how severe the damage is, and for how long it will keep him out (it could be months).

Perhaps because of a lack of an MRI, there was some confusion at first as to which ligaments Perkins actually tore. At one point, the Boston Globe's online sports section had a headline of "torn ACL, PCL," while the story it linked to reported a torn MCL and PCL.

After some uncertainty, it seems that everyone is now on the same page, however, with Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix, Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears, ESPN Boston's Chris Forsberg and the Boston Globe all reporting the same injury: it's a torn MCL and PCL for Kendrick Perkins. Which was the original report from Yahoo! Sports to begin with immediately after Tuesday nights game.

Kendrick Perkins Has Torn MCL And PCL, Will Not Play In Game 7

The news is in concerning Kendrick Perkins' right knee, and it is a worse-case scenario: the Celtics' center told the Boston Globe he has both a torn MCL and PCL. Not surprisingly, he has officially been ruled out of Thursday nights Game 7 against the Lakers by Doc Rivers.

"He's not going to go, I can tell you that now," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "We're not going to do an MRI until we get back. Once they did the tests that they did on him and they realized he couldn't play well, there was no reason to send him to an MRI, too. That will come, and then we'll make a determination on what we have to do."

The plan was for Perkins to undergo an MRI on Wednesday, but that has apparently been put on hold.

Perkins was seen in the Staples Center Wednesday afternoon, on crutches, and wearing a knee brace on the injured right knee.

Expect plenty more reaction both here and over at CelticsBlog.

In Wake Of Perkins' Injury, Questions About Celtics' Rotation Arise

With Kendrick Perkins increasingly unlikely to play in Game 7 -- depending on whom you ask -- Celtics fans have turned their attention to the question of how his absence might affect the back end of the rotation.

With Perkins injured and Rasheed Wallace, his backup, in foul trouble for much of Game 6, the Celtics turned to utility big man Shelden Williams for 14 minutes. He was disastrous, missing his only shot attempt (a dunk, no less), grabbing just three rebounds, committing two fouls and turning the ball over twice.

His poor performance, though, should be expected, if you ask Greg Payne of CelticsBlog, who writes, "the fumbled passes, the failed attempts at rebounds, and a few questionable basketball decisions" have "defined" his season in Celtics green. Which is why Payne believes that Brian Scalabrine, likely to join the active roster if Perkins is de-activated, should take Williams' minutes in the rotation, backing up Wallace and Glen Davis.

Both are listed at 6'9, so the Celtics wouldn't be giving up any height, and while both are below average rebounders, you'd have to figure Scal holds the edge in veteran savviness and would be less likely to commit unnecessary turnovers and make poor basketball decisions. We wouldn't necessarily be counting on Scal to produce, but instead, just not mess up. That's really all that it comes down to between these two players - who is more likely to not make a mistake and potentially cost the Celtics a bucket? Scal gets my vote, strictly based on what we've seen from Williams thus far. And if he scores a point or two, uses his fouls wisely, and happens to grab a few rebounds, all the better. Again, he can't be much worse than Williams has been.

There's never a good time to argue whether your team's 11th or 12th man is best suited to pick up some slack in the wake of a costly injury, but the day before Game 7 of the NBA Finals is quite literally the worst possible time to have this sort of discussion.

Report: Kendrick Perkins Has Sprained MCL And PCL

According to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski (who cites "league sources"), the Celtics' Kendrick Perkins suffered both a sprained MCL and PCL in his right knee. The center will undergo an MRI on Wednesday to determine if either of the ligaments were torn.

Perkins has already said he will "give it a go" in Game 7, but if he is unable to play, the Celtics would obviously be in trouble. After Tuesday night's loss, coach Doc Rivers speculated on who would take his place in the starting lineup if Perkins is out.

"I haven't given that any thought yet on who we would start. It's pretty easy to figure out, it'll be one of two guys -- Rasheed or Baby -- but I'm not sure. We've got to get better play out of Baby, and I told him that after the game. We do. He has to come with that same spirit he came in the famous Shrek and Donkey game. We need that again, and we need that from everybody."

Kendrick Perkins Will 'Give It A Go' In Game 7

ESPN’s Ric Bucher reports that Kendrick Perkins said Tuesday night that he will attempt to play in Game 7 on Thursday.

Kendrick Perkins Will Not Return In Game 6

According to the ABC telecast, the Celtics' Kendrick Perkins will not return to play in Game 6.

Perkins will be reevaluated later.

VIDEO: Kendrick Perkins Leaves Game 6, Return Unknown

Celtics' center Kendrick Perkins left Game 6 in the middle of the first quarter after suffering a right leg injury.

Perkins has undergone an x-ray, but no word yet about the severity of the injury.

(Video via Jose3030)