The Morning Walkthrough is a set of links to Boston Celtics articles throughout the internet, designed to get your day started the right way.

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe – “It’s doubtful there were any past or present NBA players sitting at home tweeting that Perkins isn’t tough enough to satisfy them. … ‘We have kind of been, I don’t know what words to use, but less than ourselves over the three or four months that we have been together, just waiting,’ said Allen. ‘We have had great success with the guys we’ve been using, but we haven’t had the lineup that has been consistent in the past 3 1/2 years where we have won some big games, including a championship. It was great to see him back on the floor.’ Kendrick Perkins wasn’t supposed to be back until after the All-Star Game, remember? That’s all he had to hear.”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “Kendrick Perkins couldn’t sleep Monday night. After seven months away from the game and just a little over six months removed from anterior cruciate ligament surgery, Perkins was just hours away from making his long-awaited return. So, he went to the gym around 10 p.m. and stayed there until Monday became Tuesday. So much had gone into this. All the long, lonely miles he spent wearing out the treadmill, watching his teammates practice. All the laps he swam in the pool trying to strengthen his knee for what lies ahead. He could barely contain his smile when reporters pestered him before the game after word leaked out that he was playing against the Cleveland Cavaliers, a full 10 days before his ambitious target date of Feb. 4. When the moment arrived and Perkins checked into his first game of the 2010-11 season, the crowd at TD Garden gave him a standing ovation that lasted from the time he stood up on the bench through the two free throws that Ramon Sessions had lined up. He was trying not to get emotional because while Perkins wears his on his sleeve, he’s the last person to break down while he’s on the court. ‘They showed a lot of love,’ he said. ‘It was a great feeling.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “Paul Pierce left the Celtics [team stats] bench and headed to the locker room with approximately 3:40 remaining in last night’s 112-95 blowout of the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Garden. Such an exit can signal many things. In this case, Pierce was heading back to receive some early treatment on his right ankle. ‘I just tweaked it a little bit,’ Pierce, who planned to have the injury reevaluated this morning, said. ‘That’s why I came back early just to get a little treatment. I don’t think it was nothing serious. I should be fine.’”

Rich Levine, CSNNE – “It’s not like you want the Cavs contending every season, but nobody deserves to go down the way they have. It’s like, imagine if your worst enemy — just some guy you really hate — went on The Bachelorette. Except for this season, the twist is that the Bacherloette was the guy’s actual wife. It was him, a bunch of other single guys, and his wife. Totally embarrassing, but this guy loved his wife THAT much. He was willing to do anything, just to get her back. Now imagine he goes through the whole thing, all the ups and downs, and makes it to the Final 2. Then on the last show, the wife/bachelorette invites his entire family to the set, kneels down before him on national TV, and picks the other dude. Admit it, you’d feel bad. And if not then, you’d definitely feel bad when you ran into the guy six months later and learned that since the divorce he’d been fired for appearing on the show, gained 50 pounds and now spends his lunch at Centerfold’s All-You-Can-Eat Buffet. Now that’s sad. Whoever it is. And anyway, you start talking and realize that since his wife left, the guy’s not even that big of a jerk. Turns out she was always the worst thing about him.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “As Perkins emphatically stomped around the perimeter, congratulating every other member of a reunited starting five, Allen took a minute to savor what was happening as Perkins’ return brought the Boston Celtics one monster step closer to being whole again since letting a world title slip away last season. ‘We have kind of been, I don’t know what words to use, but less than ourselves over the three or four months that we haven’t been together — just waiting,’ Allen said of a Perkins-less start to the 2010-11 season. ‘We have had great success with the guys that we’ve been using, but we haven’t had the lineup that has been consistent over the past 3 1/2 years, where we have won some big games, including a championship.’ And in the Celtics’ minds, it should have been two championships. But when Perkins’ knee gave out while battling Andrew Bynum for a first-quarter rebound during Game 6, so too did Boston’s ability to close out the series. The Lakers won the final two games, dominating a thin and depleted frontcourt, leaving the Celtics wondering what could have been if not for Perkins’ ill-timed injury.”

Jessica Camerato, CSNNE – “‘Perk has a stubbornness about playing defense the right way,’ Allen said. ‘He’s the one guy that he’s so stubborn about locking his guy down that he’s going in there and getting the job done. He’s going to get mad at you if you don’t help him out defensively, if he goes and puts his hard work and somebody else gets a rebound or somebody else scores or somebody’s matching his energy. You see guys in the league that get mad because somebody didn’t pass him the ball; you see guys that get mad because somebody missed a shot. Perk gets mad on the defensive end and he’s probably one of the few guys that gets that way.’ He added, ‘I know that with Kevin [Garnett], those two guys they have such a rapport with each other defensively, they always know and they always have each other’s back. People talk about offense, but they haven’t seen chemistry like that with anybody defensively ever between big guys. You always know that we’re going get the rebound or we’re going to block out or we’re going to get a blocked shot.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “No, it wasn’t until he stood in front of the Boston bench fuming at referee Scott Twardoski, displaying his familiar scowl while barking about the lack of an over-the-back call on a putback by J.J. Hickson early in the third quarter that Perkins was officially back. ‘He almost ran after the guy that one time,’ Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers recalled. ‘And I was thinking, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. Perk’s back.’ When he did it, the whole bench started laughing, saying, ‘Perk’s back.’ He’s going to get a tech soon. I think because he started so late he can’t get to the [technical foul limit]. So I think we’re safe there because at the end of the day Perk’s going to be Perk.’ Perkins admitted after the game he was actually gunning for a technical. The seven points on 3-of-5 shooting, the six rebounds and the three assists over 17 minutes, 10 seconds of action were all nice. But Perkins knew getting T’d up, especially in a lopsided game that saw the Celtics emerge with a 112-95 triumph over the Cleveland Cavaliers, would serve as the unofficial welcome mat for the 2010-11 campaign. ‘I was trying to get a tech to show everybody I was back,’ Perkins said. ‘But it’s cool.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Kendrick Perkins is one of those high adrenaline overachievers, one who only needs an hour of sleep each night. Or that, anyway, was the beast he saw in the mirror several times Monday night. ‘I didn’t sleep,’ the Celtics center said of the angst from knowing, before his coach and just about anyone else, that he was going to make his season debut last night against the Cavaliers. He couldn’t sleep, probably because he spent three hours boosting his endorphin level at the gym — from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. — before returning home. He tried to sleep on the couch, and his neck stiffened.”

Mike Petraglia, WEEI – “But the best compliment Rivers paid Perk was about his work ethic, the one trait that explains his remarkable return – like Wes Welker – just seven months after blowing out his ACL. ‘That was awesome,’ Rivers said of the 20-second standing ovation as Perkins made his way to the scorer’s table for the first time. ‘Listen, there’s people in the crowd that work hard every day, blue collar, and Perk identifies with all those people. If you are a guy that works 9-5, you’ve got to love Perk because that’s who he is.’ And no, there were no references to feet by Perk in his post-game address to reporters. Well, at least he’s off on the right foot.”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Perkins had not played since the Lakers’ Andrew Bynum came crashing down on him as both went for a rebound and Perkins’s right knee buckled. Now, the Celtics get another solid defender for their four-game West Coast trip — which includes a return to Staples Center to play the Lakers Sunday. ‘It’s great,’ Rivers said. ‘I don’t know how much he’ll help us, just his presence on the floor. We’re activating him more because they say he’s ready to play. The more games he plays, the better he’ll be by the time it hits the playoffs. That’s good for us.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald – “The Cavs led 23-21 with 2:37 remaining in the first quarter when the teams headed to their benches for a timeout. On the way, Graham and Pierce met at the free throw line and exchanged a few heated words. Clearly inspired by the trash talk, Pierce went on a tear. The Celtics captain scored 13 points in the final 2:37, with no teammate even attempting a shot during the stretch. There was no need.”

Jessica Camerato, CSNNE – “Marquis Daniels (family issue) is likely to return to the team for their game against the Trail Blazers on Thursday.”

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