Anytime he goes up against one of the top centers in the league, Kendrick Perkins treats the matchup as a personal test.
Facing off with Dwight Howard last night, Perkins passed with flying colors. Though Howard finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds, he had to work for everything and didn't make enough of an impact to help the Orlando Magic in a 107-88 loss to the Celtics at the Garden.
``I always take it personal,'' said Perkins, who picked up his ninth technical of the season late in the game. ``I take pride in playing defense. He's going to have an effect on the game because he's an MVP candidate, but I just want to make sure I maintain and make him work.''
Though foul trouble limited him to 29 minutes, Perkins nearly matched Howard's output with eight points and 13 rebounds. The fact the stat lines were even close was a victory for the Celts. Before the game, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy went through the difficult matchups facing his lineup, and mentioned every position but center.
``The one thing about Perk is that he understands his position on this team and he plays his role to the best,'' C's forward Kevin Garnett said. ``We make it our business to try to get him easy buckets. He's one of these people we ask night in, night out to go out and have the difficult task of guarding the best post guys.''
Perkins, as well as Glen Davis off the bench, was up to the challenge, holding Howard well below his season average of 21.8 points. The physical defense seemed to get under the skin of the affable Howard, as he picked up a double technical (along with Garnett) with 2:47 remaining. Howard complimented the Celtics' team defense, but seemed to make a point not to single out the efforts of Perkins.
``Their whole team plays great defense, it's not just him,'' Howard said. ``They're one of the best defensive teams, if not the best defensive team, in the league.'' Though pleased with his work, Perkins wisely wasn't letting it go to his head. ``He's a great challenge, but I know we have to see him three more times,'' Perkins said. ``I'm not just happy with this one.''
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