WALTHAM -- Kendrick Perkins is not the only big man the Celtics plan on using to stop Dwight Howard in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Rasheed Wallace has a successful track record against Howard, and his ability to contain him played a large role in the Celtics push to sign him last summer. 

“Oh it was huge,” Doc Rivers told WEEI.com following practice on Saturday. “This summer we were thinking about how can we beat Orlando, not Cleveland, because Orlando won the East. So it was a big factor.”

Last season Howard averaged over 16 points and shot nearly 55 percent from the field in the Magic’s Eastern Conference Semifinals elimination of the Celtics. Even though Howard posted these numbers without Kevin Garnett on the court, the Celtics wanted reinforcements to stop him this time around.  

“[Rasheed’s] equally as big because you have two guys who are capable of matching with Howard one-on-one,” said Paul Pierce. “A lot of times you see teams go down and double him to where it frees up their shooters. We have the advantage to point where we don’t have to double with these guys guarding him. He’s going to be key, too, and if eventually, if Kevin has to guard him, we have another guy who can guard him.”

There is good reason why Wallace has played an average 27.8 minutes in four games against the Magic, five minutes more than his regular season average. Howard is averaging just 3.8 field goals per games this season against the Celtics, down from 6.5 last season. He has only made five field goals with Wallace on the floor (a total of 15 against the C’s). 

But Howard has been scoring at-will in the first two rounds of the playoffs. He is averaging 15.4 points per game and is coming off a sweep of the Hawks in which he averaged 21 points off of 84 percent field goal shooting. Wallace has a plan to stop that from happening against the Celtics. 

“Try to body him up,” he explained. “Try to keep your body on him as much as you can. He’s already big, strong, and athletic, you’ve just got to try to keep that body on him.”

Wallace continued, “[It’s] just hoopin.’ Try not to give him easy buckets, make him fight for all the buckets he gets. He’s the pretty much main focal point of the offense. Try not to let him get easy buckets.”

Not only can Wallace combat Howard’s 6-11, 265-pound frame with a 6-11, 235-pound body of his own, he can do so with proven know-how.

Wallace already has two years of postseason experience against Howard as a member of the Pistons. In 2007, the Pistons swept the Magic in the first round of the playoffs. The following year, they eliminated the Magic from the Eastern Conference Semifinals in five games. In each series, Howard had a game in which he made just three field goals. 

“He has size and experience,” Rivers said of Wallace. “He’s seen all the moves that anyone’s going to do and so that’s probably why he does well.” 

It also helps that Wallace has firsthand insight into Howard’s game. He has a close relationship with Howard and has helped him improve some of the moves he uses today. Wallace sees Howard as a “cool young fella” who works hard and stays grounded amid his success. 

“[I told him] to remain himself, for him to remain in a team game, to know that the team is bigger than the individual,” Wallace said.

Now it’s up to Wallace to help his team stop the individual performance of Howard.