2. Perkins Sidelined With Knee Injury
ESPN Boston
LOS ANGELES -- Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins told reporters at Wednesday's media session that he tore two ligaments in his right knee in Tuesday's NBA Finals Game 6 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and will be sidelined for Thursday's decisive Game 7.
Perkins, arriving at the courtside podium on crutches with bandages around his knee, revealed that he tore the medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments. He underwent X-rays on the knee Tuesday night and was informed of the severity of the injury by team trainer Ed Lacerte on Wednesday morning.
He will undergo an MRI on Friday in Boston to further assess the damage.
"Physically, I'm in pain," Perkins said. "I hurt my knee pretty badly. I'm out for tomorrow. There's nothing I could do about it. It's a torn MCL and torn PCL, so I gotta watch from the sideline."
Perkins landed awkwardly trying to haul in an offensive rebound midway through the first quarter of Game 6 and suffered what was originally diagnosed as a knee sprain.
"I knew something was wrong," Perkins said. "I didn't know exactly what it was, but I couldn't get up on my own. I couldn't walk. My whole leg was hurting, and the back of my knee was in pain. I heard something pop, but I didn't know what it was. It was just painful."
Perkins wasn't under any obligation to handle media responsibilities Wednesday, but he said he wanted to address his health and be around his teammates.
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3. Stars Will Decide Who Wins
ESPN.com
There are too many reasons to pinpoint exactly why the NBA season has come down to a single game for only the third time in the last 16 years.
Among them are the Celtics' no-shows in Games 1 and 6 of the Finals, which could cost them a title. The Lakers' rise and fall in Game 4, a 96-89 loss, will not be forgotten, either, should the fourth-seeded Celtics win Game 7 in Los Angeles. Boston did that the last time these two teams played a deciding game there, also as the fourth-seeded East team in 1969.
Depending on Thursday night's outcome, certain individuals will either breathe a sigh of relief that his team picked him up when he was down, or carry for the summer and quite possibly the rest of his career the weight of not having it when the moments mattered most. Of course, we're talking about Ray Allen, who might already be holding his second championship trophy if he'd been just average in Game 3 (instead of shooting 0-for-13 from the field). We're also talking about Ron Artest, whose redemption in Game 6 just might be enough to erase his Games 1-5.
There is rightful talk about the newest addition to the sporting lexicon -- the "50-50 balls," those up-for-grabs loose balls the hungrier team gets -- and about the bench play that helped win Game 4 for the Celtics and Game 6 for the Lakers, who were quick and hungry on Tuesday night while the Celtics seemed to be standing still.
But Game 7 will be what basketball is: a superstar's game.
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4. No More Fun In Phoenix
ESPN.com
Even in the midst of this tense and unpredictable NBA Finals between the Lakers and Celtics, I found myself yearning for the wide-open style and high scores of the Lakers-Suns Western Conference finals. Now I'm simply mourning the Suns.
The fun days are over, the feel-good is finished. The first indication is the departure of easygoing general manager Steve Kerr, and the sure sign will come when Amare Stoudemire leaves as a free agent.
The Suns' high-scoring offense couldn't beat the bigger and better teams in the Western Conference and now it can't beat the accounting books, which remain the most formidable foe in the NBA. Kerr and Suns owner Robert Sarver clashed this month and you can see the result.
"Kerr wanted a little raise, Sarver wanted him to take a pay cut," one source said. "There's no other way to spin it."
Well, a second source indicated it wasn't as simple as a money grab by Kerr. He wanted more money for the coaching staff, video crew, front-office secretaries -- all the people who helped produce this unexpected trip to the conference finals that yielded more than $10 million in extra revenue from eight home playoff games. Except when Kerr went to bat with Sarver, "the guy just bludgeoned Steve," the second source said.
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5. Can Rasheed Step Up?
TrueHoop
While Kendrick Perkins' injury opens up more playing time for Glen Davis and probably even Shelden Williams, the onus for filling that void rests primarily on Rasheed Wallace's shoulders. Rasheed's talent shows that he can more than adequately fill this hole in the Celtics' interior, but his performance throughout the Finals has brought back a lot of the same issues he had in the regular season.
After seemingly breaking through his regular-season malaise with a strong showing in the first three rounds of the playoffs, he's been much less effective against the Lakers' frontcourt. Defensively, he's been able to frustrate Pau Gasol at times. A pest in the post, Wallace has been able to push his opponent out of a comfort zone. He is challenging shots well and being physical.
On offense, however, he's resorting back to the same Wallace who leaves some basketball fans wanting more. According to HoopData.com, Wallace took 64.6 percent of his field goal attempts outside of 10 feet during the regular season. He took a lot of heat because he was playing "3-point line to 3-point line" and not taking advantage of his ability to score in the post.
In the Finals against the Lakers, we're seeing much more of the same passive Rasheed on offense. He's attempted 17 3-pointers in this series and only two free throws. A whopping 26 of his 30 field goal attempts have been outside of 10 feet. This is a far cry from the Wallace who seemed to take it personally when guys like J.J. Hickson in the Cleveland series were guarding him.
While Kevin Garnett is likely to receive most of the scoring opportunities in the post Thursday night, Wallace will have to establish himself on the block multiple times in order to keep the Lakers' defense guessing. Wallace can't allow the Lakers to just leave him on the perimeter, with his only threat being a 3-point shot he has connected on just 23.5 percent of the time. He needs get in the post, punish the Lakers' big men when he can, and get to the free throw line.
Sheed doesn't have to carry this team on his back and lead them to a title. The Celtics just need him to be more aggressive than the Lakers' big men can handle.
7. Rondo's New Look
Garrett Ellwood/NBAE/Getty Images8. A Gift For The NBA And The Fans
ESPN The Magazine
LOS ANGELES -- It's all so perfect. The historic franchises. The incomparable star power. The great competitiveness.
With the LeBron Watch threatening to overshadow the NBA's Main Event, David Stern received a gift from the heavens.
Four likely Hall of Famers, two other All-Stars, the winningest clubs in the sport, the greatest coach in league history, one of the greatest coaches in today's game and colorful supporting characters nicknamed Ron-Ron, Big Baby and Donkey, are set to clash in a Super Bowl/March Madness/winner-take-all-style Game 7, and no free-agent frenzy or coaching flirtation can compare.
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9. Does It Get Any Better?
ESPN Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES -- This is the way it was supposed to be. This is the way we dreamed it would be. And luckily for us, this is the way it will be: Lakers, Celtics, Game 7, NBA Finals.
This is the kind of moment sports clichés -- do-or-die, must-win, no tomorrow, backs against the wall -- were created for, and the kind of game you'll talk about decades later no matter the outcome.
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