Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Kendrick Perkins has sprained MCL and PCL ligaments, and source close to him says "looks like he's out," for Game 7. MRI on Wednesday.
Yahoo's Adrian Wojnorowski on Twitter
Perkins’ diagnosis may be a sprained right knee that will be re-evaluated today, but Ray Allen sounded like he was saying goodbye last night.
“It’s terribly unfortunate,” said [Ray Allen]. “You hate to see that (happen to) anybody, if it was this team or the other team. But we have to do this for him. We have to push forward, and there are guys on the bench that can step up and make the plays that Perk is capable of, or has made over the course of our time here.
“So you know, it does make Glen (Davis) more valuable, and Rasheed (Wallace) will play more minutes and definitely Shelden (Williams) will be in there a lot more,” said Allen. “We’re going to be counting on them.”
Herald: Kendrick Perkins a central concern
I know I'm not the first person to say this, but it's just a kick in the jewels that a guy who had spent the entire series on his best behavior avoiding the dreaded 7th technical ends up missing Game 7 anyway because of this injury.
Of course, we don't know for sure that he's missing the game, but it would be a shock if he can play at all. The only glimmer of hope is that he was walking on his own power after the game and he says he's going to try to go tomorrow. That's a good sign, and one you should know about... but I don't want to get everyone's hopes up, either. Today, obviously, is a huge day.
Without Perk, we're going to need a big performance out of Rasheed Wallace. The Celtics are going to need him to play against Pau Gasol because Glen Davis is just not big enough to bother him in the post. Sure, Baby can push him way from the hoop, but this isn't Dwight Howard here. Gasol can hit from 15 feet away with no one bothering his shot.
The Celtics can do it without Kendrick Perkins... but this just got a whole lot harder.
On Page 2, This "together" thing is still a problem
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesESPN Boston: Postgame Notes: No sugarcoating it"I thought we would play better, obviously," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "I thought they were ready. I just thought the Lakers played harder, better. They executed, they trusted more. I thought we played an individual game tonight, really on both ends. They jumped on us with 50 whatever points in the first half, so we never had a chance to get into transition, to get Rondo going, which I thought hurt him.
"And we never gave ourselves an opportunity offensively because we didn't trust tonight. Everybody was trying to make their own plays. When we've done that this year, we've lost games. We've been blown out in some of those games, and if you do that against a team like the Lakers, and a team like the Lakers who are really ready to play and play desperate, you're going to lose, and I thought we did that."
The Celtics have this bad habit of trying to be heroes in big games. No matter how many times Doc says "Together" on those mic'd up segments... the C's don't seem to get the message.
However, there's a bright side to the blowout. The Celtics may be the best team at flipping that post-blowout "momentum" back to their own side.
- They followed a 124-95 Game 3 loss to Cleveland with a 97-87 win.
- They followed a 113-92 Game 5 loss to Orlando with a 96-84 win.
- They followed a 102-89 Game 1 loss to the Lakers with a 103-94 win in LA.
I know I keep going to boxing analogies in these things but that's what these series are like. The Celtics are good fighters. They can be technicians that slowly pick their opponents apart with a variety of combinations. But they can't resist going for the big knockout punch when they've got their opponent on the ropes. And they always seem to get caught with big shots when they do that. They end up on the canvas and they lose a round... badly.
But to them it's just a round. It's not the end of the fight. They bounce back in the next round knowing that they can go back to what they've done before and continue picking that guy apart.
Maybe a few guys were trying to win the MVP. Maybe they felt desperate because some guys were not hitting. But whatever it is... they need to stop.
Of course, it would help if they made some of the layups and stopped missing dunks. And it would help if they turned Sasha Vujacic back into Sasha Vujacic. And playing Celtics basketball will do that.
They've only got one more chance to do it.
The rest of the links:
Herald: C's can't close the deal in Game 6 | Injury KO's middle man | Tough road for Celtics | Rondo's star turn awaits | Rebounding shows as Celtics demise | Celtics get one last chance | Despite win, Lakers realize job not done | Globe: Hollywood flop | What's up for Game 7, Doc? | LA Displays muscle | Celtics head to Game 7 | It was a no-show job | Bench marked by futility | Business as usual for Bryant | Perkins injures knee | Winning made Havlicek hungrier | Russell goes to the memory bank | ESPN Boston: First impressions | WEEI: Video: Pierce after Game 6 | Odom, Artest come through for Lakers | Veterans call a meeting | Not tough enough | Rondo talks after loss | 5 reasons C's lost | At home with the bench | Celtics left to put back the pieces after Game 7 | Jackson on Game 7: "a high tension situation" | Rondo gets stitches after Artest elbow | CSNNE: Sox change Thurs. start time for Game 7 | Wounded C's lose Game 6, possibly key starter | C's bracing for Game 7 without Perk