Perk Might Be Back This Month

Posted by Ryan DeGama on Jan 4, 2011 1392115 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2011%2F01%2F04%2Fperk-might-be-back-this-month%2FPerk+Might+Be+Back+This+Month2011-01-04+21%3A13%3A45Ryan+DeGamahttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D13921

Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports talked with Kendrick Perkins, who is getting closer to returning from the ACL tear he suffered in game six of last year’s NBA Finals. There’s even a possibility he could be back in late January and ready for the C’s January 30th rematch with the Lakers:

“I’m thinking right before the All-Star Break I will get a few games in, but maybe a little sooner than that,” Perkins said. “Things are going well. I haven’t had any setbacks or anything like that.”

The seven months away from game action have done nothing to dampen Perk’s confidence. He expects the C’s will win another title this year.

“In seven games I don’t think we can be beat by any team,” he said. “Too deep. Too much experience. Too many hard-working guys. Too many guys that have a chip on their shoulder.”

Perkins also appears comfortable (resigned? indifferent?) to coming off the bench when he returns.

At least to begin with.

He doesn’t expect to immediately start, but given his experience with the system and Shaq’s foul problems, he’ll probably win back the job at some point. Perkins says the Celtics aren’t pressuring him to return quicker with Garnett out after straining his right calf.

Perkins’ return, even if he’s limited in how long and how well he can play, will allow Doc Rivers to finally start locking down his big-man rotation and seeing how his two candidates for starting center (Perk and Shaquille O’Neal) fit in with the second unit. Even if Perkins is not back until the all-star break (Feb 18), Rivers will still have seven weeks before the playoffs to figure out who should be playing with whom and for how long.