Rivers still thinks Pierce, Perkins will play

Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perkins looked to be training for the Tour de France instead of tonight's Game 2 of the NBA Finals when the injured Celtics starters conducted a courtside spin class yesterday while their teammates practiced at TD Banknorth Garden.

Pierce (sprained right knee) and Perkins (sprained left ankle) spent much of the media-access portion of practice riding stationary bikes, and coach Doc Rivers indicated he was more optimistic about Pierce's chances of playing against the Lakers than he was about Perkins's, even though the fifth-year center said he figured to be about 75-80 percent.

"There's still aching in it right now, but it's all right," Perkins said of his ankle.

As for Pierce? "The swelling is down a little," he said, after showing up at a news conference wearing a multilayered sleeve on his knee. "Still some stiffness, can't quite all the way bend it like I want to, but it's definitely a step forward."

Rivers said, "I'm concerned, but, you know, I think they'll both play. I don't know how effective either one will be. They may be very effective. Paul is moving much better today, that's clear. And so, of the two, he's the guy I'm more optimistic about, just watching him move around and walk around."

Pierce and Perkins followed a similar regimen of two-a-day treatments: ice, electrical stimulation, and rest. They will go through more of the same today.

"Today he looked fine, but Paul has played through numerous injuries this year that you guys probably didn't have any idea about," Kevin Garnett said of the Celtics' captain. "But, obviously, this is significant. We're in June now, the body has been beat up a lot more, but for him to come out and finish off the game in the way he finished it was enlightening; enlightened everybody on our team and then heightened everybody's energy."

Pierce, who admitted Friday "it was sort of embarrassing" to be carried off the floor by his teammates when he sprained the knee in the third quarter of Thursday night's 98-88 triumph, returned 1 minute 45 seconds later to a thunderous ovation and scored half of his 22 points the rest of the way.

Many thought Pierce's return to the court was a defining moment in Game 1. But Rivers thought his departure was a defining moment for his team, forcing it to fully embrace its motto of "Ubuntu," based on the South African philosophy that emphasizes teamwork within the community.

What was Rivers's message to the team at that point?

"To continue to be aggressive and not worry about the things that we can't control, continue to keep our focus," Garnett said. "But it's pretty hard watching your teammate go off like that."

The situation soon was compounded when Perkins left the game with a sprained ankle. He went to the locker room for treatment, passing Pierce, who was on the way back out. Perkins returned to the bench but not the game.

"Other guys have got to be ready," Pierce said. "We've gone through injuries in the season, that's part of it. Other guys have to be ready to step up. I think we've got more than enough guys who are capable of stepping up: P.J. [Brown], Big Baby [Glen Davis], Leon Powe, if [Perkins] can't go.

"We've dealt with this type of adversity," Pierce added. "We dealt with this situation when Kevin was out, when Ray [Allen] was out. So if we have a situation where Perk is out, I think the guys will be ready."

And if Pierce is unable to go?

"It obviously changes their personnel," said Lakers guard Derek Fisher. "Paul is a very talented player. He's their go-to guy in a lot of situations, so, for whatever reason, if he doesn't play, then a lot of things change. It doesn't mean that they're any worse.

"I mean, they went on a 6-0 run while he was out, so I was pretty happy to see him come back," Fisher added. "We played them pretty even after that, but that 6-point difference after he left continued to change the momentum of the game."

Pierce said he didn't expect it would be difficult for him to play through whatever pain he experiences tonight.

"I think it's going to be easy as far as handling it mentally," he said. "Because once you step on that court, hear the crowd, you look up and you see posters of the Finals . . . I'm totally going to probably forget about it.

"From there on, my adrenaline will probably get going. Usually you tend to forget about injuries when you're on that court and you're playing for something special.

"That's what you dream about all your life."