Better yet, Perk’s target return date has been established. He says he will play against the Dallas Mavericks on February 4. In other news, February 4 will also be the day he notches his first technical foul.

Elsewhere on the Celtics, Shaq missed today’s practice.

Potentially related, Shaq played 35 minutes Friday night. A workload like that — even without a perilous slippage on ice — might leave Shaq in recovery mode until 2021.

Oh yeah, and some fella named Kevin Garnett participated fully in practice too. Most reporters came away from practice believing Garnett would suit up tomorrow.

According to the Celtics’ Twitter account, “It sounds as if he will be in the lineup tomorrow night against the Orlando Magic.” The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn also reports (via Twitter) Garnett is “likely to play tomorrow.” The Boston Herald reported that, “barring any unexpected problems,” Garnett would play tomorrow.

But ESPN’s Chris Forsberg reported a more pessimistic view. “KG still 50/50 for Monday…KG will wait to test self again at shootaround before deciding if he’s a go Monday.”

Doc Rivers said Garnett looked great in practice. But his recuperation from today’s activity will determine his availability for tomorrow night. (Boston Globe)

“He was great,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “He went through the whole practice. I think Kevin will go tomorrow. But then again we went through practice to see if he could go tomorrow. If he feels good, he’ll go. If there’s anything (wrong), he won’t.”