The Globe has announced that Perk is officially out of the Celtics lineup for 3 weeks. He has been sitting out practices and playing in the games up until now, but the time has come for him to sit and heal.

No one can question Perk's toughness or willingness to play in pain. He has been battling plantar fasciitis for weeks and has rarely complained about what must be some pretty severe pain. But plantar fasciitis requires rest to heal and Perk's condition just keeps getting worse.

With Ratliff and Kandi still out, the Celtics will have no choice but to go small. Al will probably start at center with Scal or Powe backing him up. I would like to see Powe backing up Al at center because with his toughness and long arms, I think he would be much more effective there than Scal would be.