WALTHAM, Mass. — With a guy like Kendrick Perkins, it's always hard to gauge his progress recovering from an injury. You can't really judge the Celtics' 280-pound big man based on his speed or his agility — those are traits that even when healthy, Perk isn't exactly blessed with.
But when head coach Doc Rivers gave Perk the green light to practice with the team on Thursday, making a speedy recovery from a strained right knee, he was confident that his center was back to full strength physically.
"Perk looks fine," Rivers said at the team's practice facility in Waltham. "He moved pretty well — for Perk."
Perkins suffered the injury in shootaround before the Celtics' Game 2 in Cleveland on Monday. He played through the injury, took Tuesday off as the team flew back to Boston, then sat out practice on Wednesday afternoon. He enjoyed getting back on the floor on Thursday afternoon and playing through the slight pain.
"I practiced the whole practice today," Perkins said. "It didn't affect me, really. You know, there's still pain there, but it's nothing serious. … It's a little sore, but it's nothing I can't play through."
Despite suffering the injury on Monday morning, Perkins was given the OK to play in Game 2 at Quicken Loans Arena that evening. He ended up playing just over 30 minutes, shooting 5-of-6 from the floor and finishing with a near-double-double of 10 points and nine rebounds.
If he can do that, just imagine what he's capable of when healthy.
"It feels better since the last game on Monday," Perkins said. "It feels a lot better. I've been coming in and getting treatment with [head trainer Ed Lacerte and physical therapist Todd Campbell], and it felt great [on Wednesday]. It improved [Thursday]. So it's getting better."
As it turns out, the long layoff between Game 2 on Monday and Game 3 in Boston on Friday has been a blessing for the Celtics, who have used the time to recuperate from various injuries. They'll all be ready to go Friday.
"I think it helps us a lot," Perkins said of the mid-week break. "We have guys that need rest. There's Kevin [Garnett], with whatever injury he's got [a strained foot]. A lot of guys — [Rajon] Rondo, a little bit. He's banged up from hitting the floor. So I think these few days have helped us a lot."
