Doc Rivers on Kendrick Perkins and His Technical Fouls: 'He's Got to Grow Up'

[NJNJ]

PHOENIX -- Playing without Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett on Wednesday against the Suns, the Celtics knew they were in line for a tougher-than-usual night at the office. They certainly didn't need one of the few healthy players who were left making things any more difficult than they already were, but that's exactly what Kendrick Perkins did late in the second quarter.

 

Perkins picked up a technical foul for arguing with officials, after his team had worked hard to cut a 15-point Phoenix lead down to nine with just over three minutes left in the first half. It killed any momentum that Boston had going at the time, and while it likely had nothing to do with this particular game's ultimate result -- a 116-98 defeat -- it's not something that Doc Rivers let go unnoticed during his post-game remarks.

 

"He's just got to get better, and I told him that at halftime," Rivers said. "You know, we cut it to nine points, and then he gets a tech -- I have no idea over what. He's got to grow up. He's got to get better, there's no doubt about it."

 

The technical foul that Perkins picked up in Phoenix was his tenth of the season, which ties him for the league lead -- with teammate Rasheed Wallace. The fact that Boston has two players that are on the referees' radar, along with plenty of other vocal veterans such as Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, is one of the reasons that Rivers is looking to Perkins to clean up his act.

 

"[The officials] are going to listen to Kevin, they're going to listen to Ray a little bit, they're going to listen to Paul," Rivers said. "They have to listen to Rasheed. They're not going to listen to anyone else -- that's enough. Hell, I find myself sitting more than I've ever sat in my career, because of the verbal stuff."

 

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