Fast forward to now — spring. In 27 games since the trade, O’Neal has played in exactly one game for the C’s. That one game was a brief appearance, too, as O’Neal was felled by a calf injury.
It’s that same calf injury that will keep O’Neal out of the Celtics lineup on Sunday night when they open their first-round series with the New York Knicks.
There’s no question that the Celtics have struggled some since the trade. They’re a pedestrian 15-12 since the deadline, and throughout that stretch, they’ve not only lacked a toughness that Perkins brought to the table, they’re lacking size in general. Jermaine O’Neal has been hurt as well, and Nenad Krstic has been, well, Nenad Krstic.
The C’s may get through the first round against the Knicks, but if they are able to do that, things will get much more difficult, especially without a true big man. Thinking down the line, if the Celtics were to meet up with the Heat in the second round, they’re going to need a big man. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James love to take the ball to rim, and just having a big man in the middle like Shaq can help congest those lanes.
The same can be said for if the Celtics make it through to the Eastern Conference finals and meet up with the Bulls. Derrick Rose has proven in the past that he can more or less blow by Rajon Rondo at will, and just like they’ll need against the Heat, Boston will need someone in the middle who can at least help slow and limit Rose’s activity around the rim.
If you want to get really carried away, perhaps you could envision a Celtics-Lakers rematch in the Finals. We saw how that played out last year as L.A. crashed the boards hard, especially in Game 7 in which Perkins was out with a bum knee.
You could argue that the Celtics aren’t good enough to win the title even without Shaquille O’Neal. That said, you could also argue that they don’t even need Shaq, as the last month or two of basketball has been a team that eventually put it in autopilot when they realized they would not be grabbing the one-seed.
Can the Celtics win the NBA title without a significant contribution from Shaquille O’Neal? Share your thoughts below.
Wednesday, April 13: What grade do you give the Celtics’ regular season?
Can the Celtics win the NBA title without a significant contribution from Shaquille O'Neal?Market Research
