Quick return for Jefferson

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Al Jefferson returned to action last night , two weeks after undergoing an appendectomy, wearing protective padding around his midsection. Although Jefferson was pleased with his quick return, he expects to feel fatigued in his first couple games back. He had 6 points and 8 rebounds last night in 19 minutes against the Bobcats.

"I felt good for a half," Jefferson said. "The second half, I kind of felt it a little bit, toward the fourth quarter. I surprised myself. I thought I was going to be in worse shape that I was. [The offense] was there. I've been running the court, getting a lot of shots up, so when I come back I won't be rusty."

With Kendrick Perkins (left foot plantar fasciitis) also good enough to go, the Celtics fielded a bigger team than they have in recent weeks because of various injuries and ailments. Perkins played 27 minutes and had 5 points and 8 rebounds, and he expects to continue playing through pain.

"I just look down the bench to see who's actually sitting there," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "We're a bigger team today and that's a good thing."

Wally Szczerbiak took the floor despite a strained right gluteus muscle. His injury has improved, but Szczerbiak want to get plenty of rest. He is receiving electric stimulation and stretches so the strain does not linger.

"Hopefully, there are no more setbacks and this is something that's going to continue to progress forward," said Szczerbiak.

The Celtics were without Delonte West (sprained left big toe), who knocked down the overtime buzzer-beater when the teams met Nov. 8. Upon arriving at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena last night, West spent about five minutes trying to persuade trainer Ed Lacerte he could play. Lacerte made West realize it was wiser to miss a game than rush back and miss a stretch of games.

West hopes to play tomorrow night against the Knicks at TD Banknorth Garden.

"It's doing better," said West. "But I can't really put any weight on it. I can't really come up on my toes. I could probably run on the side of my foot, but that would probably hurt me more than it would help."

Doc Rivers expected West to miss last night's game because he was unable to practice Tuesday and is not counting on West to return for tomorrow's game.

The coach thinks next week is a reasonable return time for West.

Rivers added that tests on West's toe were planned for today, possibly an MRI or CAT scan.

Paul Pierce was on the dangerous end of a hard foul by Jake Voskuhl with 7 minutes 23 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Pierce hit the floor hard, landing on his tailbone. Shaken up, Pierce stayed in the game as the Celtics attempted to rally. "It was just the tailbone," said Pierce. "It was a hard fall. I lost my footing, but I'm all right." . . . The Celtics took the floor with Emeka Okafor on their minds. Okafor set a career, franchise, and NBA season-high with eight blocks against Dallas Monday. He entered the game leading the league with 4.1 blocks per game and his 43 total blocks are more than the team total for eight NBA squads. "You've got to understand he's a shot blocker and that's what he's good at, but you still want to be aggressive," Pierce said. "Shot blockers have a tendency to go for every shot, so they have more of a tendency to be foul prone. You use the pump fake to his disadvantage." . . . A thorough reader of the pregame notes, Pierce noticed his height and weight were not correct. "I haven't been 180 since sixth grade, maybe 10th," said Pierce. He was mistakenly given West's height and weight. Pierce and West used the error to make some minor adjustments. Pierce now wants to be listed at 6-7, 235 pounds, and West wants to be 6-3, 195 pounds.

Shira Springer can be reached at springer@globe.com.