BOSTON — Who does the best center in the NBA, Orlando’s Dwight Howard, hate facing more than anyone else?

Boston center Kendrick Perkins, who held Howard to just 13.1 points per game in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season.

Howard says that nobody guards him as well as Perkins. The Magic center credits Boston assistant coach Clifford Ray for making Perkins into one of the best defensive centers in the game.

“He’s very smart, and I worked with Cliff from the time I got into the league until the time he left to come to Boston,” said Howard. “He was a big help for me and he’s really helped Kendrick’s game. I’m real happy to see the progress that Kendrick has made, not just defensively, but offensively, since he came into the league.”

“With Perk, we want him to be a deep-post guy,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “Perk gets a lot of his post action after he sets a pick for Paul [Pierce] or Ray [Allen] and that allows him to establish himself in the paint. When he catches it outside of the paint, he struggles a little bit. But when he gets it in the paint, he’s very difficult to [defend].”

Rivers said that in Perkins’ first three years in the league, he wanted to be an offensive player. But after the Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett and Allen, Perkins decided to become the best defensive player he could be.

“Perk has accepted his role and he is trying to master that role to make him a great player,” Rivers said. “He’s a defensive player and he knows that.”

Wallace as role model

There are many facets to Rasheed Wallace that fans don’t get to see, and one of them is the way he’s become a role model to younger players.

Howard is one player whom Wallace has mentored through the years.

“We talk a lot both on and off the court just about situations, about life and how to grow on the court,” Howard said. “He’s been a good veteran. Even though he’s not on my team, he’s always giving me some words of advice just to take my game to another level.

“There are a lot of guys who do that, especially when you try to reach out to them and try to pick their brains…. It just feels good to have guys like that around the league who just don’t care about themselves but care about the younger generation as well.”

Garnett struggling

Rivers said Garnett’s surgically repaired right knee is “100-percent healthy, but his game is just not there yet. It’s coming.

“He’s got a lot of things that are there. His jump shot is back for sure. His timing is still off a little bit. One day his quickness is there, and the next day it’s not, and that’s typical with injuries. It takes a while. We are in no hurry with it. We’ve kept his minutes down. It’s been good.”

Rondo the speedster

Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy believes that Boston guard Rajon Rondo is the speediest point guard in the NBA.

“I don’t know if there is anybody in the league faster [than Rondo],” Van Gundy said. “[Rondo] and Derrick Rose are pretty quick, and we saw them matched up in the playoff last year. It’s tough keeping him out of the paint with his speed, and defensively he can disrupt you with his speed, too.”

roblee@projo.com