Paul Pierce, who has suffered two shoulder stingers in the past three days, has been cleared to return to action Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, while Kendrick Perkins, who missed two games with tendinitis in his left knee, will also return.
With Pierce, it was a simple matter of having him checked out by the Celtics medical staff, namely head trainer Ed Lacerte and team physician Brian McKeon.
“Eddie just came to me,” coach Doc Rivers said. “Called me in the morning, actually, and he said, ‘Paul’s ready.’ I think Dr. McKeon looked at him, too, and gave him the go-ahead. So that’s good.”
Perkins, who had been dogged by knee pain for close to two months, finally took the advice of Rivers and the training staff last week and sat out two games, Friday against Sacramento and Sunday against the Spurs.
His return will bring the starting five back to full strength and will move Rasheed Wallace back to sixth-man status on the Celtics depth chart.
“It means our bench will be better,” Rivers said. “Now Rasheed goes back to the bench and gives us a post player. And it’s just good to have [Perkins] back. Our starting lineup’s record is pretty good when they’re all intact, so we like it when we have him.”
