Kendrick Perkins knew there was a possibility he might be suspended from Game 5 against the Atlanta Hawks tonight.
The Boston Celtics center, who appeared to step on the court in front of the bench area during an altercation Monday night, was going to do whatever he could to avoid a punishment.
Apparently, Perkins� prayers were answered as the NBA decided not to suspend either him or Hawks forward Marvin Williams, who put a foot on the court in front of the Atlanta bench.
The league also did not punish Celtics forward Kevin Garnett or Hawks forward Zaza Pachulia, who were involved in the on-court skirmish during the second quarter of Game 4 in Atlanta.
League rules prohibit players on the bench from going onto the court, and the possibility existed that Perkins and Williams would get suspended like members of the Phoenix Suns were for a similar incident in last season�s playoffs.
�I thought I was on the court before all the fighting started,� said Perkins. �I was cheering on my teammates before it all started when they were getting an offensive rebound. If they look at the replay, they�ll see that.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers said his players are reminded numerous times about stepping on the floor when something happens on the court.
Garnett hit Pachulia with a forearm, and then appeared to make some incidental contact with referee Eddie F. Rush when the altercation was being broken up.
There have been several incidents during the series, and Rivers understands how tense things get during the postseason.
�I can give all the speeches I want to,� he said. �You can show film of fights and how to react and how not to react. The game�s emotional.
�I think for everyone outside the game, it�s so easy to say, �Just step away.� Well, you�re not playing and you probably never played. It�s very difficult in that situation.
�I think I�m excitable, but I�ve got a decent calm. I�ve been in three or four of them as a player and right afterwards, I felt like a dunce,� Rivers said. �But at that time, there�s nothing in me that thought it wasn�t the right thing to do.
Rivers placed second to Byron Scott of the New Orleans Hornets in the voting for the NBA�s Coach of the Year award.
Rivers had 23 first-place votes and 242 points to Scott�s 70 first-place votes and 458 points.
�I don�t care about that,� said Rivers. �I think he should have won.
Rivers was Coach of the Year with the Orlando Magic in 1999-2000.
The last Celtics� coach to win the award was Bill Fitch in 1979-80.
The Celtics were impressed with the noise generated by the crowds in Atlanta in games 3 and 4. The Hawks usually draw less-than-capacity crowds that aren�t boisterous.
�Obviously, we�ve been in the league a long time and played in Atlanta numerous times,� said Garnett. �That�s the first time I�ve ever seen an atmosphere like that. Atlanta�s atmosphere is usually not like that.
�That tells you about home-court advantage and what it brings, and the opportunity it brings. That crowd was into it like our crowd was into it.