BOSTON - When the Celtics added P.J. Brown on Feb. 27 as a free agent, they weren't really sure what they were getting. On the floor, anyway.

"I don't know if I had expectations because, you know, of his age, of the fact that he was in New Orleans at home. When we were getting him, I didn't know what we were getting," said coach Doc Rivers. "The way we looked at it when we decided to go after him and he decided to come, was worst-case scenario that we were adding a quality guy in our locker room. As far as the basketball part of it, I didn't know."

Within days, Rivers knew he'd found a key contributor. Brown eventually passed rookie Glen Davis and undersized forward Leon Powe as the key big man off the bench.

"Obviously with our defensive system, he's played under Pat Riley and you can see that he had picked it up in some ways better than some of the guys who had been here all year," Rivers said.

Brown was an important backup plan entering Game Two, just in case Kendrick Perkins' sprained ankle proved to be a major stumbling block. Brown has stepped in throughout the playoffs and played big. His key jumper in Game Seven of the Cleveland series helped close out the Cavaliers.

"He's played like a veteran, and I think that's probably the secret. He's been through them before, and that's how he's playing," said Rivers.

Pierce, Perkins endure pain

Perkins, who sprained his left ankle in Game One, didn't practice Friday or Saturday, and didn't participate in yesterday morning's shoot-around.

But none of that meant he couldn't play last night. And play he did, as he was in the starting lineup.

"I feel all right," Perkins said before the game. "It's not all the way healed, but it's the Finals so you have to suck it up. It's not [so bad] that I can't play. It's all right."

Perkins admitted he can't slide and change directions, but would feed off his adrenaline once the game starts.

"I'm going to be fired up so I really probably won't even feel it," he said.

Perkins said when he's on the court, his main focus is to rebound, play solid defense, and score underneath the basket when the opportunity presents itself.

"If I do that, we'll have a real good chance of winning," Perkins said.

Trading compliments

Perkins and his opposite number, Lakers center Pau Gasol, traded compliments last night.

"He's definitely a force in there and he does a good job of being physical and using his body well," Gasol said of Perkins. "That's been a big plus for them all playoff long."

Perkins returned the compliments to Gasol, the big man from Spain who has been labeled 'soft' through his NBA career.

"I think Gasol doesn't get credit for being physical. I think he's all right," said Perkins. "He's not soft, in my opinion. A lot of people say he's not that physical but I think he played pretty physical."

Lighthearted Jackson

As for the more talked-about Celtic injury -- that to Pierce - Lakers coach Phil Jackson continued poking fun at it yesterday.

Asked before the game whether the Laker coaching staff had had any discussion about the Celtics' injury situation, Jackson replied, "None. We haven't discussed it at all. We discussed the wheelchair a little bit but that's the only thing I think that was discussed."

And what did the coaches say about the appearance of the wheelchair that popped up out of nowhere and whisked Pierce and his injured knee to the Celtics' locker room?

"First time I think we've ever seen it. I think that was the comment that was made," Jackson said.

Jackson made headlines Friday when he questioned how seriously Pierce's knee could have been hurt if was able to return to action less than five minutes after being taken off the court in a wheelchair.

On the scouting trail

The Boston Globe reported yesterday that Danny Ainge will remain a busy general manager when the Finals shift to the West Coast. Ainge and his scouting staff don't want to lose preparation time for the upcoming draft so they're lining up workouts with college stars in the Los Angeles area.

The Celtics pick last in both the first and second rounds (Nos. 30 and 60) and are rumored to be heavily interested in foreign players who may not be ready to join the team for next year but could become good additions in a year or two.

Off to L.A.

The Celtics will fly to Los Angeles this morning at 10:30. The teams will play Games Three, Four and Five there.

No more bullying

One of the historic plays of the 1984 Boston-Los Angeles Finals came when Kevin McHale clotheslined Kurt Rambis as the Laker forward was cruising in for a layup. The foul typified the Celtics' physical play and clearly shook the Lakers. Boston went on to win the series in seven games.

Today, McHale's foul would've warranted a suspension due to a league emphasis to cut down on hard fouls.

"I think there might have been some games lost by the player involved," said commissioner David Stern. "We have, over the years, made a determination that the sport is really quite beautiful and quite graceful and quite extraordinary, and that our players are capable of inflicting great harm on each other if we don't regulate it.

"If you throw a punch whether you connect or not, through the rules that suspend players for coming off the bench, for the rules that have Flagrant Fouls 1 and 2, those represent our determination that we would not be responsible for either allowing or condoning or generally sort of turning a blind eye to an increase in violence in our game."