WALTHAM, Mass. — Kendrick Perkins ran into a minor stumbling block Tuesday on his road to recovery from offseason ACL injury, as he wasn't able to join in on full-contact practice with his Celtics teammates as expected.
Perkins said Friday before the Celtics' win over the Raptors that he expected to return to practice within one week, and games within three. So when the Celtics took the practice court in Waltham on Tuesday afternoon, it was expected that Perkins would be on the floor ready to play the full session.
It didn't exactly work out that way. Perkins was kept out of all contact drills, per orders by team physician Brian McKeon. He was able to practice some, but coach Doc Rivers described his afternoon as a lot of "running up and down." The center participated in skeleton offense but did little more.
"I thought I was going to go full contact, but they told me I had to wait another week," Perkins said. "I don't know why. I just went hard today — I was able to go full speed a little bit. I didn't really get to do contact, but they said another week and they'll be able to put me in. I know it's for my own best interest, so if they say one week, I can wait one more week."
Adding to Perkins' setbacks: He was sick Monday. He said he wasn't sure if it was food poisoning or something flu-like, but he was ill earlier this week, and that may also have impeded his progress a little bit.
The good news for the Celtics is that Perkins isn't wavering from his original target return date — he said three weeks from last Friday, Jan. 7, and that hasn't changed.
"It's still around the same time," he said. "I only need like two weeks of practice, so I think I'll be all right."
