***Celtics Injury News***

by **Brandon$$** Tue Mar 30, 2010 6:16 pm

Celtics captain Paul Pierce missed the second half of practice Tuesday afternoon after aggravating the shoulder injury he sustained in Sunday's game against San Antonio. Pierce's status has not been determined for Wednesday's game against Oklahoma City.

"He got hurt again, it's a stinger," coach Doc Rivers said. "Same exact reaction, looked worse. Eddie (Lacerte) says it's a stinger and if it's a stinger he'll be fine. You get concerned two days, a game and a practice, and the exact same thing happens. He just got picked and he went down so we'll find out.

"You can play a guy five minutes and that can happen. Nothing you can do about that. Good news it's not a shoulder separation, or anything and probably the worst case is he misses a game or two. That's not all bad -- obviously you'd rather have him."

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Kendrick Perkins said the knee tendinitis that's sidelined him the past two games, has been bothering him for nearly two months now. He returned to practice and is expected to play against the Thunder tomorrow, but said the sore left knee is something he'll have to play through.

"It’s probably something I’m going to have to deal with for the rest of the season," Perkins said. "I’m just going to continue to come in at night time and get treatment. That’s about it."

"It was bothering me probably like the last two months or so, but you know everybody has injuries in the league. I know something’s hurting on everybody. So I’ve just got to keep dealing with it.

The numbers fall in line. Through January, Perkins averaged shots 62.7 percent from the floor averaged 11.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per night. He's still having a career year statistically, but in February and March he's numbers have nose-dived: 8.0 points a night, 6.16 rebounds, 1.36 blocks, and a 55.1 shooting percentage. He admitted, reluctantly, that it's affected his performance.

"I can’t get up and really block shots like I want to or go up and rebound, but I’m out there, so I’ve got to get the job done," Perkins said. "It’s not really to make any excuses, but I think it has [hurt my performance]."

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2010/03/pierce_gets_ano.html