Before Wednesday night’s game against the New Jersey Nets, Kendrick Perkins broke a sweat working on his post moves. He banked shots over Patrick O’Bryant and then sprinted down the court at the orders of Sam Cassell. This would seem like just another night, except Perkins is injured. That isn’t stopping the big man, though, from keeping his rhythm.

“I’m just trying to stay on top of my conditioning,” Perkins said prior to the game. “I don’t want to lose my rhythm so I’m working on my post moves, doing a lot of shots, I did some jump roping, and a lot of court running, and stuff like that. I don’t want to be too far off.”

Perkins will miss at least a week with a reoccurring shoulder injury. It has plagued him since a Christmas Day game against the Los Angeles Lakers, according to Celtics head coach Doc Rivers, and is the explanation behind his recent inconsistency on the glass. As a precaution, Perkins is avoiding physical contact. Other than that, he’s following the same routine.

“I just [can't] play basketball, contact, that’s it,” he said. “I hit the weights earlier today so it’s getting better by the day … You’ve got to scale back but it never really fell off. I’m pretty much on the same page, I’m just doing different type of exercises now to work different parts of the muscle, so that’s really what I’m concentrating on.”

Perkins hopes to play next Monday against the Phoenix Suns, but said he is not going to rush his return. As for Brian Scalabrine, who has been filling in for Perkins, his return against Shaquille O’Neal would be perfect timing.

“Wow,” said a wide-eyed Scalabrine, unaware of the upcoming match up. “I’d like the opportunity to start but Perk is the guy who should be on the Diesel.”

In the latest edition of his Yardbarker.com blog, Rajon Rondo said he is happy to be back on the winning side of things. Back-to-back victories over the Toronto Raptors have the Boston Celtics point guard feeling good again.

I’m glad to say that we have won the last two games (knock on wood). I don’t want to jinx anything, but these past two wins have felt great. It is extremely tough to beat the same team back to back, but I’m glad that we did. Our defense was better and we were able to make shots-two things that we needed. We have another game tomorrow. Hopefully, we will be able to get the W.

Rondo averaged 11.5 points, 9.5 assists, and 5.5 rebounds in the last two wins. He will be tested tonight against the New Jersey Nets standout PG Devin Harris.

Up 30-18, the Celtics started the second quarter with an undersized lineup of Gabe Pruitt, Eddie House, Tony Allen, Glen Davis, and Leon Powe. Powe, playing the five spot,  quickly earned his share of bruises by single-handedly taking on the Nets under the basket on two consecutive possessions.

Rivers subbed Bill Walker in for Pruitt around the seven-minute mark. The PG got his first rest after playing 16 minutes (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists). House shifted to the one and and Allen to the two, giving the Celtics more size on the perimeter.

There’s no question that Rajon Rondo and Devin Harris are poised to become two of the league’s best point guards in years to come. The question is, would Rondo get schooled like Harris did?

Check out the video to see Harris, dressed in New Jersey Nets gear, get shown up by UK streetballer Stuart Tanner, who took a page out of KG’s v-neck sweater collection, while the Nets were overseas for preseason basketball.

Harris got Tanner’d last week. Will he get Rondo’d tonight when the Celtics face off against the Nets?