Sheed sure does have a way with nicknames.

Rasheed Wallace is a multi-talented person. He’s terrific at missing three-pointers, even better at letting opponents drive baseline, and is the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time, for those of you who didn’t follow) when it comes to picking up technical fouls.

Another talent that has emerged this season? Rasheed is quickly becoming top-notch when it comes to doling out insulting nicknames. He announced his presence as a nickname-giving force with the invention of “Turko-doo-doo,” mocking Hedo Turkoglu after Turk was especially flop-happy during an early-season game.

Yesterday, Rasheed returned atop the nickname-giving world, giving Manu Ginobili — who had just assaulted the Celtics with a barrage of buckets and dimes — the best name Rasheed could think of. (CSNNE)

“You know, Manure did his thing,” Wallace said. “He opened up the floor for them. We tried to trap him. He made the basketball play to the open man. We tried to do a good job on him, but he got a little loose in that first half.”

“Manure did his thing.” For those of you who didn’t pick up on it, Manure is actually Manu Ginobili. Wasn’t that a clever play on words by Rasheed? I told you he was becoming a nickname-giving force.

Of course, the nickname would have been more powerful had Manure not just singlehandedly owned the entire city of Boston with 28 points and 7 assists. Perhaps Rasheed will have to work on the timing of his nicknames.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are up next for the C’s, meaning they’ll be playing Kevin Don’t-rant and Thabo Sefo-no-balls. James Hard-on will also play meaningful minutes.

Kendrick Perkins, out with left knee tendinitis for the past two games, will likely play against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Doc Rivers, though, says it isn’t guaranteed. (Boston Herald)

“I don’t think it’s anything that serious (to require a test),” said Rivers. “Tendinitis can be tough, because it can linger and when you come back it can start right back up. That’s why we’re trying to head it off. Hopefully we’ve done it in time. We don’t know if we have or not.”

Rivers said Perkins spoke to him about his soreness a couple of games before the Celtics decided to sit him, but — knowing his tough center — figures the pain had probably affected Perk for awhile before then. Doc’s hopes are that the rest can return Perk, who has struggled for months, to his early-season form.

“Let’s hope that’s the fix,” he said. “I don’t know if that is or isn’t it, but he’ll clearly be moving better when he comes back – if it’s not bothering him any more.”

Of course, it might be tough to immediately tell how good Perk is feeling upon his return. As Doc points out, “he’s not that speedy of a fella” to begin with.

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Manu did a lot. Ray did not.

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘I think the start of the third quarter kind of tore the game away,’ said Shelden Williams. ‘We kind of got robotic in the second half and couldn’t come back.’ The Celtics used to be robotic in the third quarter, in a good way. That’s no longer the case. And of all the trademarks this team needs in order to maintain a championship level, third-quarter competitiveness could be the most important.”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The Celtics are in the middle of a six-game homestand, with Oklahoma City, Houston, and Cleveland on tap. Having gained a sense of consistency in the past month, they didn’t view last night’s loss as a momentum-killer, but more as a throwaway. ‘You trip up a little bit here, but what we’re doing, the mission that we’re on doesn’t change,’ said Allen. Or as Rondo succinctly put it, ‘Scratch this one.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Paul Pierce initially collapsed, much to the horror of the crowd, after taking a Manu Ginobili elbow to his right shoulder with 5:59 left in the third quarter. The captain stayed in the game and made 1-of-2 during that trip to the free throw line. He’s not concerned. ‘It’s a little sore,’ Pierce said. ‘It’s a stinger. I got some numbness down the right side of my arm, but hopefully it doesn’t get any worse.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “But then the Celtics were awful last night. They were outscored by five in the second quarter and by 16 in the third as Manu Ginobili took them apart. The Spurs began getting to virtually every loose ball. The Celts seemed sound asleep while their guests were kicking sand in their faces on the way to a 94-73 loss. It is the kind of stuff that will send them home early from the postseason. With nine games and a little more than two weeks left in this fall turned winter turned spring training, it is impossible to predict with any certainty what this team will do once push comes to playoffs.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘When you’re down by 20 with two minutes to go against San Antonio, you pretty much know,’ said Paul Pierce. ‘The way they played is the way we usually play, and we just got an old-fashioned butt whupping. They came out with more of a sense of urgency in the second quarter – just the extra effort plays. They had us on our heels most of the second half.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “The Celtics did a decent job on Tim Duncan (8 points, 9 rebounds over 26:31), but Rivers said the team had no answer for Ginobili. ‘Oh, I could look at the box score before the game and say, ‘I would take that on their end.’ Except for Ginobili, he said. “When Ginobili has points and assists they usually win. And 28.7 assists is a great indicator for them. That means his hand print [is there and] Ginobili dominated this game. All the loose balls that he kept alive, that he didn’t get credit for, defensive plays — I thought he single-handedly was the will of the game. And then Blair just followed in. But once you get a chance to beat a team on the road, and a team like us, your energy does go up. And you can see that with them in the fourth quarter. It was going to be tough to turn it around.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Popovich has the same issues as Celtics coach Doc Rivers. He has to preserve his veterans for the postseason, season his youngsters, and fight for playoff seeding simultaneously. Popovich accomplished all three last night. George Hill (15 points) is turning into quite a player with Tony Parker out with a broken right hand. Ginobili wore out the Celtics with 28 points, and he was two steps into the paint before any Celtic reacted. ‘Playing against the Spurs, you know, it’s the extra pass,’ Rivers said. ‘You’re not going to beat them off the bounce. And it seemed like we were hellbent in trying to do that. And it’s like [Popovich] said before the game to me, ‘You’re not going to beat the Celtics off the bounce.’ And they didn’t. They moved the ball. They kept swinging it, kept passing it. They did what we were supposed to do.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Playing against Finley for the first time since letting him go, Popovich made two things clear: the matchup was not with Finley alone, and that there are no hard feelings. ‘I don’t blame him a lick,’ Popovich said. ‘He’s one of the greatest guys I’ve ever coached, but he wanted to keep playing. He didn’t want to sit on the bench for the rest of the season. There’s nothing wrong with that. He wanted to play.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

If Manu was as old as someone with his immense bald spot should be, the Celtics might have won tonight. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Trailing by 17 points early in the fourth quarter, the Boston Celtics needed every stop they could get. Just as the doctor ordered, the San Antonio Spurs went cold, tallying five successive missed field goals. The only problem? They snatched their own rebound on every single miss.

The parade of San Antonio offensive rebounds was one of the many warning signs that flashed like a neon light in a midnight sky: the Celtics weren’t playing their hardest.

To be fair to San Antonio, the Celtics started the game with great purpose and energy. Manu Ginobili and the rest of the Spurs simply beat it out of them, one well-executed possession at a time. Ginobili was nothing short of magical. He seems to have regained the bravado, creativity, and explosiveness that make him one of the league’s most-feared crunch-time killers, and nobody the Celtics put in his way could stop him, or even slow him down. He finished with 28 points and 7 assists, but not even those gaudy stats could describe his impact on the game. Were it not for a few rare misses of wide open three-pointers, Ginobili might have gone for 35 or 36. He did what he pleased, when he pleased, and banked home a 27-foot, running, one-handed floater to beat the third quarter buzzer and firmly secure the final nail in the Celtics’ coffin.

Ginobili’s exploits helped to slow down a Celtics attack that, for the game’s opening minutes, looked poised for another respectable win. Paul Pierce was attacking the rim, Kevin Garnett was active, and the ball was hopping from one Celtic to another like a hot potato. But a troublesome second quarter left Boston down one point heading into the halftime breather, and the third quarter would get no better. Actually, it would get far worse. By the time Ginobili pumped his fist in celebration of his banked runner, the Spurs led by 17 and the Celtics might as well have headed home.

Even from the shoddy defeat, the Celtics could take a few positives. Captain Paul Pierce led the way with 18 points, and a quick scare — by what ESPN announcers deemed a stinger to a nerve somewhere between his neck and right shoulder — did not stop Pierce from being aggressive in getting to the rim, early and often. He seems to have fully regained his confidence and explosion, and looks ready to be the C’s go-to guy for the remainder of the season. Kevin Garnett had his third straight double-double, notching 12 points and 10 rebounds. Shelden Williams played his best minutes in months, finishing with 11 points and an unofficial count of 137 compliments from ESPN announcer Hubie Brown.

But, for the Celtics, there was a lot more to frown upon than there was to be proud of. Not to name names, but Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Glen Davis, Michael Finley, and Nate Robinson a few Celtics might as well have stayed home. The game served as a reminder that, while the C’s have come a long way from the team that struggled to a 18-19 record during a 37-game midseason stretch, they still have a ways to go until they are capable of raising another banner.

*****

Game Notes:

• George Hill has quickly become far better than I ever thought he’d be.  He possesses an impressive blend of length, athleticism, and skill, and is certainly a player to watch in the coming years.  He still needs to learn not to send nude pics to any girlfriends.
• Can the Celtics travel back in time and sign Antonio McDyess instead of Rasheed Wallace?
• Tim Duncan didn’t do much, but he’s such a team-oriented player that he hardly cared.  As much as he and Garnett are polar opposites, they’re very similar in the way they would sacrifice every single statistic for a win.
• Finley didn’t do much to prove Gregg Popovich wrong.
• Can someone amputate my ACL’s so I can become an unbelievable offensive rebounder?
• Kendrick Perkins, nursing a sore left knee due to tendinitis, did not play.  Doc Rivers said he is likely for Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This first dunker looks a lot like J.R. Giddens. Jumps like him too.

My man is looking kinda old.

Michael Finley left the San Antonio Spurs of his own accord, but he was on good terms with his teammates and coaching staff.  Finley says he doesn’t have any bitterness for the organization, despite receiving little to no nightly playing time this season.

But he still wants to kick their ass. (ESPNBoston)

“I still want to beat them, believe me,” Finley said with a smile. “I don’t want to go out and roll over dead for them. It’s still my job to go out there and do my best to give my team the best chance to win the ball game. Although we’re friends, I want to destroy them. I still want to beat them. That’s not going to change. The fact that we’re friends, it’s something we can laugh and cheer about before or after the game, but that 48 minutes, it’s all about business.”

Finley former teammates hold no hostility for him, either. While Manu Giniobili admitted, “It’s going to be awkward to see him in green and white,” he denied having any harsh feeling towards Fin, who asked for a contract buyout after appearing in only 25 of the Spurs’ first 57 games. (San Antonio Express-News)

“I’m glad he’s in a place where he is playing more and feeling good,” Ginobili said. “It’s not like he just jumped off the boat and didn’t care about us anymore. He has a great heart, and he’s a great teammate. Nothing’s going to change my opinion of him.”

Finley says he holds no grudges against the Spurs, but it’s tough to believe.  He clearly felt he had something left in the tank this season, and Gregg Popovich never gave him any opportunities to reveal it.  I know Finley probably has a lot of respect for Pop, his coaching tactics, and probably even developed a friendship with him, too.

But, if it’s me, I’d still be pissed off I got no playing time to showcase my still-solid talent.  I’d be out there gunning for 25, winking at Pop after every bucket.  I’d want to show him just how badly he misjudged me.  Because Finley clearly still has some gas left in that 37 year old tank of his, but Gregg Popovich didn’t think so.

Still, whether Finley goes off to impress his old coach, Finley’s most important contributions tonight might come from somewhere else.

“You’re giving the scouting report tomorrow,” Doc Rivers told him.

“I’m serious.”