Celtics Break Up Their Fantastic Five by Sending Perkins to the Thunder
When the Celtics lost to the Orlando Magic two seasons ago in the Eastern Conference semifinals, their coach, Doc Rivers took comfort in a convenient yet accurate statement: no team had beaten Boston in the playoffs when its starting five — Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins — was healthy. Garnett missed that series with a knee injury. The previous year, the Celtics won their 17th N.B.A. title. Rivers said the same thing last year when Perkins blew out his right knee in Game 6 of the finals and the Lakers prevailed in Game 7. Now, the Celtics will try to win a championship without the familiar five. On Thursday,supra store the Celtics’ director of basketball operations, Danny Ainge, traded Perkins to the Oklahoma City, along with the reserve guard Nate Robinson, for the young forward Jeff Green and the veteran center Nenad Krstic. “They go down as never having lost a playoff series,” a tongue-in-cheek Phil Jackson said Thursday. The trade was the most significant deal engineered before Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline. It was first reported by Yahoo Sports and confirmed by two executives briefed on the trade. Many league executives took a cautious approach in the days leading to the deadline, with the uncertainty of the league’s expiring labor agreement and how consummated trades would affect payrolls. Some teams sought financial flexibility while others tried to strengthen themselves for the playoffs. The Houston Rockets were among the most active teams. They made a point-guard switch — dealing Aaron Brooks for Phoenix’s Goran Dragic — and traded the defensive specialist Shane Battier to the Memphis Grizzlies for a former second overall pick, Hasheem Thabeet, and a first-round draft pick, The Houston Chronicle reported. Brooks will play behind the All-Star point guard Steve Nash. Some had speculated that Phoenix, struggling to integrate new players, might trade Nash before the deadline. “I’ll wait in line,” Brooks told The Chronicle. “That dude is a legend, M.V.P and a Hall of Famer. I’m ready to go be behind him and learn from him, just come in and help team. It offers me a fresh start. I’m ready to go.”