"It is perhaps most fitting that an NBA Finals sponsored by Sigmund Freud has come to this. In their Game 7 hours of need, a (Celtics) nation turns its lonely eyes to Rasheed Wallace and Glen (Big Baby, Uno-Uno, etc.) Davis.

With Kendrick Perkins out, the Celtics must rely on two players who are running neck and neck with the nearby San Andreas Fault when it comes to stability.

Every person dressed in green tonight at Staples Center will be counted on for a contribution - Maria Menounos included. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo need to have the games of their lives if the Celtics are to overcome the Los Angeles Lakers on their home floor.

But the tears in Perkins' right knee mean a far greater role for two guys often accused of hanging their hats in a padded locker room.

Yesterday before practice, they said they were ready - in their inimitable ways.

"Here it's either you're going to take that next step to be the champion, or you're going to trip up the steps and fall short," Wallace said.

"I'm just going to have to pull all the stops out," Davis said. "You might see a showing of the Ticket Stub. You never know."

Sheed and Baby are indeed like boxes of chocolates. The Celts don't know from night to night what they're going to get. But Wallace is falling back on his experience."