It's Sheed's time. This is why we signed him.

Game 7. On the road. Against the Lakers. And Rasheed Wallace will be the Celtics’ starting center.

But that isn’t even the most worrisome part of Kendrick Perkins’ ill-timed injury. The real question is: what happens if Sheed gets in foul trouble, or ejected, or injured? What then?

Sheed will be ready, folks. This is what he lives for. 0-7 shooting the other night be damned, Sheed has been playing great basketball. His length bothers Pau’s game. His toughness bother Pau’s psyche. Sheed’s played like a warrior, ever since the Cleveland series. He’ll be ready tonight. He’ll play hard, and — I suspect — he’ll play well.

But what if he has to sit on the bench for awhile? What if he does get in foul trouble? Do the Celtics use Shelden Williams again? Scal?

That’s the problem for the Celtics frontcourt that now resembles Calista Flockhart: Foul trouble could be devastating. I trust Sheed now, I trust Shrek, and I certainly trust KG. But Shelden? He’s not ready for the moment. He looks lost out there. Scared, even. If he has to play any minutes tonight, the Celtics might be screwed. And Scal? I have more faith in Scal than Shelden, but Señor Firebush hasn’t played in months. He’d be solid, I think, but against the Lakers’ length and athleticism up front? Scal’s not the answer either.

And so the Celtics need Sheed. They don’t need him to be a superstar and they don’t need him to score points. They simply need him to rebound, contest shots, work his ass off and keep himself as far away from foul trouble as humanly possible. Is that too much to ask?

Things don't look good for Perk.

Kendrick Perkins suffered sprained ligaments in his knee and will be out for Game 7, if reports from Yahoo! and ESPN are correct. Perkins, who suffered the injury in last night’s first quarter when he came down awkwardly and his knee buckled beneath him, was seen walking out of the Staples Center by himself, albeit with a limp.

Adrian Wojnarowski reported Perkins is “out for Game 7 with sprained ligaments in his right knee,” while Chris Sheridan reported “a well-placed Celtics mole” as saying “he’s done.”

The Globe reported Doc Rivers and the Celtics were unaware of Perkins’ status for Game 7, but that they seemed to be pessimistic. The Herald reported “the evidence doesn’t sound good to [Perk's] teammates,” and that Ray Allen “sounded like he was saying goodbye last night.”

Perkins himself said, “We’ll see what’s up tomorrow” and “I’m going to try to give it a go.”

If Perkins is unable to go, it makes the Lakers frontcourt seem that much longer than it already is and would force Sheed into an absolutely pivotal role in Game 7. Two months ago, if I told you the season was going to come down to trusting Sheed to play a great game in a Game 7 to decide the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, you would have done two things: 1) Rejoice that the Celtics were in the Finals after playing such shitty basketball all year, and 2) Bet your house and life savings on the Lakers winning the game. Now Sheed is playing better than he has all season long, but he’ll have to keep it up in Game 7.

Goddamn, I’m excited for tomorrow. Let’s hope Perk makes a miraculous recovery.

The walking wounded.

Glen Davis is feeling better, but Rasheed Wallace can’t even sit down to watch film. Neither is a definite for tonight’s Game Six. (Boston Globe)

“Baby looks good,’’ Rivers said. “He was talking. He looked fine. He still has to go through a couple of tests this evening with our doctors to get clearance. He didn’t have any headaches today. He had some last night, which was a big step, I guess.’’

Wallace, who scored 21 points off the bench in Game 5 but fouled out in the fourth quarter, was still bothered by a sore back yesterday.

“We watched some film before we got on the plane as a group, and he couldn’t sit down,’’ Rivers said. “So he just stretched the whole time. He’s feeling better. He’ll be a game-time decision as well.’’

Davis, who looked like a whale out of water during his initial wooziness, said he wouldn’t be stopped by the concussion.

“‘I’m all right. I’ll be back next game. That’s all you need to print.’’’

Still, he’ll need the doctor’s permission to play.

The Celtics need at least one of the two to play. They can survive with Shelden Williams taking over for either Davis or Wallace, but can they survive with their only two backup big men being Shelden and Scal? I say no.

After all, they’re playing Dwight Howard. Even when his razor-sharp elbows aren’t knocking out Celtics left and right, Dwight will get the C’s big guys into foul trouble. They need a deep stable of their best and biggest men, not two bums off the bench with no size whatsoever.

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.

The Celtics could probably use Eddie House right about now. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Henry Abbott, ESPN – “Boston Celtics guard Nate Robinson was benched for two games near the end of the regular season, and it cost him $1 million, while saving the team twice that amount. A clause in Robinson’s contract calls for him to make a $1 million bonus if he both played in at least 58 games and made the playoffs this season. Robinson’s Celtics are in the postseason but he played in 56 games. As a result, the Celtics saved the $1 million they would have paid Robinson — equivalent to a quarter of his reported annual salary — and an additional $1 million they would have owed in luxury tax to the NBA (most of which would have been distributed to teams with payrolls below the luxury tax threshold).”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “Rivers was asked if Wallace was mentally into it during the season. ‘I don’t know,’ Rivers said. ‘I guess. With his play, you can say not. To me, I’m not going to go there. How does that benefit me? I’m into (tomorrow night’s) Game 3. So you can answer it any way you want to. Did he play as well as we wanted him to? No. But can he do anything about that? No. All he can do is what the next game gives him.’”

Brian Windhorst, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “The news on the Cavs Wednesday was positive. Varejao’s back spasms improved after two days rest and there is a good chance he’ll be able to take part in practice Thursday. Also, despite the initial plans for James to have another MRI on his sore right elbow, he hasn’t needed the test yet. Despite contrary reports, James has only had one MRI on his elbow to this point, though team doctors may perform another one to check on the healing process.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Said his coach, Doc Rivers: ‘He deserves it. He’s worked at it and it’s a great honor for him. He took it in stride. I love the way he took it, because you could tell he’s far more focused on the playoffs. Listen, when you’re in the first team in our league on anything, it’s a hell of an honor. He’s doing better than scratching (the surface). He’s so much better. It’s so rare when a point guard can affect a game, and Rondo has the ability defensively to do that.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Garnett reported to practice yesterday and wanted to partici pate, telling Rivers he felt better, but that did not convince the coach. Perkins suited up but did not participate in drills and eventually left for treatment. He returned to the court following the team’s workout and said he will be ready for Game 3 tomorrow. ‘After the game Monday it was hurting, and even more when I woke up the next morning,’ Perkins said. ‘It’s still a little sore in my hamstring area. I am glad we had a few days to rest and hopefully I’ll practice tomorrow. I’ll be ready for Friday. I am glad we have a few days to rest.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘(Garnett) said he felt way better today than he did yesterday,’ Rivers added. ‘I think time’s on our side. I think he’ll be OK.’ At this stage, though, a little gallows humor is in order. ‘As a coaching staff, we (joked) when (trainer Eddie Lacerte) walked in that he’s the Grim Reaper,’ Rivers said. ‘That’s what we call him whenever he walks in because he doesn’t come to my office to tell me any good news. Right when he walked in, we were like, ‘Oh, gosh.’ He told us and I said this is just like a normal practice, not enough guys. That’s the way it’s been all year for us.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Especially now that Perkins has a sore knee. But after some momentary brooding in the first round over an inability to finish, the Celtics center once again has come around to who he is, and who he isn’t. ‘If I’m not scoring one bucket I’m going to be effective in the game, whether it’s rebounding, having a presence in the defensive end, whatever it may be I’m going to have an impact,’ he said. ‘There’s different ways to affect a game than just scoring.’ How long did Perkins allow his first-round offensive struggles to affect his spirit? ‘For a minute,’ Perkins said. ‘But after that, you know, it happens.’”

Tony Massarotti, Boston Globe – “Add it all up and you’ll determine that Rondo has had a direct hand in 112 of the 197 points the Celtics have scored in this series. And that is a safe, conservative estimate. Undoubtedly, there have been occasions in this series where Rondo’s wizardry has produced free throws or additional passes that produced hoops. Somewhere in the middle of this, Danny Ainge is undoubtedly smiling, and not solely because Rondo was selected after such luminaries as Patrick O’Bryant, Mouhamed Sene, Thabo Sefolosha and, for that matter, Shelden Williams in the 2006 NBA Draft. Even in the last year, Rondo’s stock has continued to soar, making that five-year, $55 million contract signed by Rondo last summer look like the biggest steal the Celtics have executed since Bird suckered Isiah in May 1987. The best part? Rondo has yet to even start that deal, which begins next season. Meanwhile, during a season in which he has displaced Bob Cousy from the Celtics record book, he continues to develop as a dynamic and dominating force that will guide the Celtics for years to come.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Wednesday that he regretted tossing a towel into the air to try to distract Cavaliers forward J.J. Hickson’s free throw attempt in Boston’s victory in Monday’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series. ‘I regret that. That was very unprofessional,’ Ainge said during an interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI. ‘I was having fun with the hecklers and the crowd that was sitting around me. … There’s just no excuse. It was unprofessional. I regret doing it. The biggest reason I regret it is you guys should be talking about the great play of the Celtics and not talking about a towel incident. I’m shocked that it’s become this big a deal.’ [...] Celtics coach Doc Rivers and his players simply laughed off the attention being given to the situation. ‘Comical,’ said Rivers. ‘I didn’t know about it, honestly. I was up in my bedroom doing my work and my cell phone kept ringing, over and over again… When I saw it, I got a good laugh and giggle out of it. Danny’s going back to his playing days. It’s pretty comical.’”

Marla Ridenour, Akron Beacon Journal – “And while there seem to be woes aplenty on the Cavs’ side, including James’ sore right elbow and Anderson Varejao’s back spasms, [Shaquille] O’Neal cannot escape scrutiny. The 15-time All-Star has played nearly 39 minutes against the Celtics and has 20 points, eight rebounds and no blocked shots to show for it. Those combined totals would be barely above his single-game playoff averages as recently as three years ago, when O’Neal scored 18.8 points and pulled in 8.5 rebounds in four games for the Miami Heat. ‘We know, he knows he can shoot better,’ Cavs coach Mike Brown said Tuesday. ‘He hasn’t had a ton of opportunity. But we’re going to keep going to the big fella, because he’s going to have to be able to score some points down there to loosen it up for the rest of our guys. We need to establish a post game against Boston, and he’s one of the guys who can do it for us.’”

Steve Aschburner, NBA.com – “Telfair agrees that the ultimate goal is playing for a ring, at which the Cavaliers have a tremendous shot. Thing is, he’d like to play for that ring. ‘This is the first time in my career I’m being inactive. So there’s an adjustment to that,’ he said. ‘But y’know, I’m in the playoffs. I could have been home. So I’m excited about that.’ Telfair did get healthy in time to participate in four games for Cleveland near the end of the regular season. He scored 21 points against Indiana in the final week as the regulars mostly rested. In practice, he has been able to push Mo Williams, Delonte West and Daniel Gibson, and even has tried to play the Derrick Rose-Rajon Rondo role in the team’s prep work. Cavs big man Leon Powe, Telfair’s teammate in Boston, said: ‘Bassy’s looked real good in practice. Great floor general. He reads the defense well. Knows where everybody’s supposed to be at, like a good point guard should. Makes real good passes, right on target, and can get in the paint and cause trouble. And his shot got a lot better. I knew him from way back in the day and now he’s hitting the three, hitting the mid-range jumper. Y’know, he’s just been working. I was really impressed when I played with him in practice.’”

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

If you’re a Boston Celtics fan, you undoubtedly, inevitably, absolutely hate Rasheed Wallace.  Either that, or you despise him.  Sheed has become the bane of Celtics fans’ existence, taking over the spot vacated by Tony Allen in the fans’ doghouse.

Superman that, Shelden.

Sheed told us he would flip the switch come playoff time, and has arguably gotten worse since then.  The disgrace of Sheed’s play has left Boston fans wondering how Shelden Williams could possibly play any worse if given the opportunity.

Doc Rivers says Williams could soon be given the opportunity, but seems unwilling to close the door on Sheed. (ESPNBoston)

“[Williams] enters the discussion every day,” said Rivers. “He’s definitely in the discussion, there’s no doubt about that.” [...]

Asked if Wallace’s minutes could be on the decline, after already slipping in the first round, Rivers said simply: “It could be. The bottom line is he has to play better. And we’ll give him every opportunity to play well.”

Every opportunity to play well?  As if 85 games (79 regular season, 6 playoffs) isn’t enough opportunity? After all that time coaching Sheed, here’s what Doc has to say about his play:

“[Wallace] has to play better, bottom line,” said Rivers, who has given Wallace plenty of rope this season. “He has to play better defense — the offense will come — but he has to be a better defender. And we can’t wait for him. He has to be a better defender for us.”

I agree with everything Doc said except, well, that offense?  It might not ever come.  As I said before, he’s played 85 games.  I’m no mathematician, but that seems like a pretty damn large sample size suggesting that Rasheed won’t provide anything — anything at all — on either side of the court.

And oh yeah, Celtics fans: Sheed’s signed for two more seasons.  FML.

It's time for Rasheed to get some splinters on that fat rump of his. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

Rasheed Wallace did not save anything for the playoffs — it has become abundantly clear that there is nothing left in those old, lazy legs of his. Despite his promises of possessing a gear saved specifically for the playoffs, Sheed has — if anything — down-shifted in the postseason. As the general level of play gets tougher, Sheed stays the same; old, lumpy, and useless.

He’s gotten so bad I’m begging Doc Rivers to play Shelden Williams. Shelden, a 6’8″ center with hands made of bricks, is a better option off the bench than Sheed, and it isn’t even close. Not only did Sheed brick four of his five shots last night, racking up more personal fouls than points, but he was helpless defensively. This is a guy who has been lauded time and again for his high basketball IQ, but he can’t guard a simple pick-and-roll.

When Sheed was in the game Mo Williams ran several pick-and-rolls in a row with Sheed’s man, and Williams started killing. All us scribes, after the game, gave credit for Williams’ quick scoring outburst to his crowd-pleasing and energy-inducing dunk, and I’m sure that played a part in it. But there was something else that went largely unnoticed; after the timeout that came after Williams’ dunk and a following Williams jumper, Rasheed Wallace checked into the game. From that point Williams picked on Wallace, toying with him on the pick-and-roll. Sheed simply doesn’t possess the foot speed to keep up, and Williams scored on three straight possessions as Wallace failed to properly defend a simple screen-and-roll.

Notice how I am advocating for Shelden Williams to play Sheed’s minutes but have yet to offer a single thing Williams brings to the table. To be honest, I don’t HAVE TO offer anything Williams can do but simply have to explain what he WON’T do. Shelden Williams WON’T brick ill-advised three-pointers. He WON’T get a rebound snatched straight out of his hands by Anderson Varejao. He WON’T get outworked every single possession he’s on the floor. He WON’T fail for lack of effort. He WON’T give anything less than a true playoff resolve.

At this point, that’s all I want from my backup center. I don’t care if Shelden Williams scores a single point the rest of the series, I’m still going with him to play Sheed’s minutes. Sheed has been given his opportunity all season and, besides an odd ability to murder the Toronto Raptors, has earned approximately $0 of his contract.

It’s time for Sheed to sit and, though Shelden Williams isn’t an ideal replacement, at least Williams will try.