The beast in the middle will be sidelined for about three weeks to rest his nagging plantar fasciitis. The injury is known to be a very nagging one, and it has clearly affected Perkins’ play and production on the court. Due to all three Celtics centers being out right now (Perkins, Ratliff, Olowokandi), Doc will move Al Jefferson into the starting lineup at center, with Brian Scalabrine and rookie banger Leon Powe backing up Al and Ryan Gomes. This is Big Al’s big chance to really prove himself, let’s hope he makes the best of it.

Positives Out of This

• Al Jefferson will get the starting job for the time being, he will play a ton of minutes, and he gets his big chance to prove himself to the coaches, the organization, the fans, and other teams around the league.
• Leon Powe, rookie banger in which every fan loves, will get solid backup minutes at both C and PF. It will be nice to see this rookie get some valuable minutes. He brings energy, toughness, rebounding, strength, and heart.
• Perk has a chance to rest his injury, let it heal, and hopefully he can come back on a high note.

Negatives Out of This

• We do not have a single center active, and Perk just happens to be our best one.
• We are forced to play small ball the entire game until one of these centers return.
• If Big Al gets into foul trouble, we are doomed.
• With Wally out as well, we only have 11 non-injured players. Ten actually, if you count Pierce who is playing through a hurt elbow.

These next few weeks are going to be very interesting, we’ll see how it pans out. Let’s hope for the best.

Monday night, the Celtics went to Chicago to face the scrappy Bulls with a hurt Paul Pierce (right elbow), and no Wally Szczerbiak (sat the game out with a sprained right ankle). The result: torture. Nobody in green had anything going besides Ryan Gomes (19 points, 7 rebounds) and Tony Allen (20 points off the bench). Paul Pierce was virtually shut down by Luol Deng, who held the captain to just 8 points on 4-13 shooting. The entire Celtcs bench, except for Tony Allen, was terrible on both ends of the floor. Telfair and West did not play well in the starting role together against a small Bulls backcourt (Kirk Hinrich and Chris Duhon). The bigs, other than Gomes, were manhandled. The Celtics did not look good whatsoever, it was a blowout from the start.

Player of the Game

19 points, 7 rebounds

Next Game: Wednesday (12/6/06) at home vs. Memphis (13-4). Game starts at 7:30 pm ET. Let’s hope for a much improved performance, last nights performance was just embarrassing.

The 5-10 Boston Celtics play the 7-9 Chicago Bulls tomorrow night (12/4/06) on the road. Wally’s ankle apparently was worse than I thought, and he will not be available for the game. He’s still listed as day-to-day. This means Allan Ray will be activated for the game.

Paul Pierce (right elbow) will be playing, so that is at least some relief.

 Paul Pierce hurt his elbow in Friday nights’ game @ Toronto. He hurt it about a minute and a half into the 3rd quarter, but he ended up returning to the game and finishing up. However, after the game, he was icing it and it was swelling. He is going to have a doctor look at it tomorrow, and he will be a gametime decision Monday @ Chicago. My guess: The Truth will play, he is a true warrior.

 Wally Szczerbiak hurt his ankle on the very last play of the game in Toronto as he came down off a jump. He was on the ground holding his ankle in pain for a minute or so tops, but he ended up getting up on his own and walking into the locker room with no support. After the game, he iced it and he said it is most likely a sprain. He is listed as day-to-day.

 Theo Ratliff still has that sore lower back. Nobody is really sure when Theo will return to the lineup, but you can expect him to be in and out of the lineup all year long. Don’t expect him to play in very many games. It would be nice, however, because his athleticism and defensive presence down low is very much needed.

 Michael Olowokandi has a strained abdoman. When the injury was first diagnosed, he was expected to be out for about two weeks (in which he would return sometime this week). That’s not exactly the case, as he has been a slow healer through this one. It is unknown when exactly he will be back in the lineup, but he should be in there well before Christmas.

Also of note: Kendrick Perkins has been playing with plantar fasciitis, which is a very painful and lingering injury. He has been toughing it out and playing, but this is an injury that does not go away for a while. Perk’s play will be affected by this for a pretty long period of time, so don’t be alarmed if he takes practice days off (like he did last week) or maybe sits out a game here and there.

Get well soon, C’s!

The Celtics lost a tough game to Toronto Friday night (106-102). The whole game was up and down for Boston, but lack of defense and offensive execution hurt them in the end (what else is new?). Toronto brought a ton of energy throughout the entire course of the game, the Celtics died down.

Some Positive Notes

• Pierce hurt his elbow early in the 3rd, but he came back and fought despite the pain. He also had 7 assists in the first quarter. He only took 10 shots tonight, ending with only 19 points. I applaud the warrior inside him that did not allow him to sit the remainder of the game.
• The second unit really played excellent basketball tonight. Gerald Green did a little bit of everything, Delonte West was knocking down shots, Tony Allen played excellent defense and attacked the basket, Brian Scalabrine did a great job on Bosh, and Al Jefferson was fighting down low.
• Ryan Gomes had a great first half. He got some open 18 footers, he was active, got involved offensively, did the dirty work, and kept the Celtics in the game despite Pierce’s lack of FG attempts.

Player of the Game

19 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists

Next Game: Monday (12/4/06) @ Chicago (8:30 pm ET).