After the Celtics got run off the court by the Phoenix Suns, Kendrick Perkins went to Rasheed Wallace and told the veteran big man that now was the time for him to be a leader. Kevin Garnett was out. Paul Pierce was, too, and soon Rajon Rondo would be added to the list.

Those three players have accounted for 41 percent of the team’s points, 37 percent of the rebounds and 61 percent of the assists, not to mention an unquantifiable amount of responsibility. On the floor, Garnett runs the defense, Rondo runs the offense and Pierce runs everything else that needs to be run. You can’t replace all of that, of course, but you have to start somewhere.

The next time the Celtics took the floor, Wallace had one of his best and most complete games of the season, totaling 16 points, six rebounds and four assists in a win over the Raptors on Saturday.

On offense he deftly mixed his inside and outside games. His early 3-pointers helped open up the lane, and down the stretch he scored the game’s biggest basket out of the post, spinning Andrea Bargnani around like a top and going baseline for a huge dunk. On defense he took Chris Bosh at times and Bargnani at others, helping provide some of the versatility that Garnett brings on a nightly basis. 

“I went to him after the Phoenix game and told him we need him to be the leader right now,” Perkins said. “Obviously he did it last game [against Toronto]. We just need him to do it every game. Talking, getting guys under control when things are going bad.”

Things have been going bad for the Celtics lately. Not truly bad. Not New Jersey Nets bad or Gilbert Arenas what-the-hell-just-happened bad, but in the Celtics universe losing three straight games and failing to close out should-be wins against teams such as the Clippers and Warriors constitutes bad.

Along with the losses, the injuries are piling up just like everyone expected them to at some point this season. It was only a matter of time before the 30-something players started getting hurt, and while nobody thought they would happen en masse like they have now, it was still an expected part of the 82-game process. For that, you need insurance and that’s why they went out and got Rasheed Wallace.

This is the reason they gave him three years at the full mid-level exception. Sure, they got him to help the second unit and to make them a deeper and more complete team. But the reason the Celtics targeted him and put on the ceremonial full-court press with all of the Big Three serving as recruiting coordinators was for moments like this, when Garnett can’t play.

“I looked at that earlier in the summer when Boston was one of the teams I was thinking about,” Wallace said. “I knew Kevin wasn’t going to come back 100 percent. If he was playing good, and he was on a roll and his leg was feeling better, then I knew my minutes would be limited. But on the other hand I knew that if he did go down I’d be ready to step into a role.”

The only thing that is certain about Garnett is that he is not 100 percent right now. He was at the team’s practice facility Monday, but he wasn’t on the court and he wasn’t around to talk about it afterward. He’s out for something like 10 days. Maybe it will wind up being more, maybe it will wind up being less. No one really knows, and all anyone can really do is guess and wait. So, it’s Rasheed’s time.

Since arriving in Boston he has been everything everyone said he would be. He is at times maddening on the court and at others subtly brilliant. (“He gets away with murder out there” an admiring Pierce joked after the Indiana game.)

Refreshingly candid, brutally honest and hilariously profane, he has not been one iota different here than anywhere else. That is why getting mad at him for racking up technicals and shooting 3's is like cursing the rain for being wet. It’s part of who he is, and it’s not going to change.

All of that is part of the package, but he also has been billed as a reasonable facsimile of Garnett, and that’s what everyone wants to see now.

This was Perkins’ assessment of the two players:

“They play the same type of defense as far as post defense. They’re two different players. Rasheed is more physical. Kevin’s physical, but he’s kind of more finesse, outsmart you a little bit. Rasheed is kind of physical with you. Ticket’s thing is he plays with a lot more energy, intensity. Rasheed does, but that’s one of Ticket’s strong points. Rasheed stretches the floor to the 3(-point line). Rasheed is more active with his hands on the defensive end. He knows how to use his hands. They’re both great post-up players. They’re both great passers and they both know the game.”

Considering how truly unorthodox both Garnett and Wallace are as individual players, it’s a little bizarre that they are so similar, but there are differences, and Perkins said that he and Wallace are in the process of working through their on-court relationship. Interestingly, Doc Rivers hadn’t played them together all that much this season. He preferred to keep each of them in the center spot and have Wallace team with Garnett or Shelden Williams.

“I’m still working that out, but I think we’re getting better,” Perkins said. “It’s all communicating and playing together. I think it’s going to help [us] in the long term for when the playoffs start. You never know. Kevin could get in foul trouble or anything can happen.”

This is the "anything" happening right now. This is when the Celtics need Rasheed Wallace.