Boston’s Rasheed Wallace goes out on a positive performance
The Celtics signed Rasheed Wallace for games like Thursday, Celtics Coach Doc Rivers noted earlier this week. Wallace would be vital to their playoff run, a key veteran cog, and doubts about his productivity or injuries woes didn’t worry Rivers at all.
In Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Wallace proved Rivers right. The 35-year-old forward-center came to the Celtics’ aid in their 83-79 loss to the Lakers, filling in capably for starting center Kendrick Perkins, who was out after tearing ligaments in his right knee in Game 6.
Wallace scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished two assists and blocked two shots, surprising many with his play in 35 minutes and 36 seconds of floor time that helped keep the Celtics ahead for nearly the entire game. (Wallace came in averaging 16.3 minutes in these playoffs.) But not long after the final buzzer sounded, Rivers said it may have been the Wallace’s final game after 15 NBA seasons.
“I don’t know if Rasheed will ever play again,” Rivers said. “I think he took that out on the floor with him. I think he is thinking about retiring and I thought you could see that in his play. He was dying out there. When he got the cramps and the strains, he was just trying to figure out a way of staying on the floor.”
It was perhaps fitting that Wallace, well known for his confrontational attitude with officials, fouled out of the game with 25.7 seconds left. He reportedly tried to speak with the referees after the game by waiting outside of their locker room, but he was ushered away.
Wallace, who signed a three-year, $19-million contract last off-season, didn’t speak to reporters after the game, instead putting on his sunglasses and walking away.
Lakers Coach Phil Jackson praised Wallace’s play Thursday.
“I thought he befuddled Pau (Gasol) in the first half,” Jackson said. “I thought his length, his ability to change a shot, block a couple shots, help them out – his offense was effective as a post-up player.”
Jackson added: “He’s been a very good competitor over the years, and I don’t know if he’s going to give the game up or not, but it’s certainly a very fitting way to go out of the season.”
How did Kevin Garnett, perhaps the Celtics player Wallace is closest to, see the situation with his teammates now that Wallace has played perhaps his last game?
“Not a good one.…I see a lot of myself in him and we have a lot of the same ties and a lot of the same characteristics,” Garnett said. “Both class of ’95 . . . so for him to come in and give his thanks and his regards after a loss like this. . . . It was a difficult night.”
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