I was at last night's game for FanHouse, and I was in Boston's locker room when Kendrick Perkins explained his headhunting hard foul:
"I was just trying to foul him from getting a layup," Perkins said. "I was really trying to come across and hit his arms, but he stuck his neck down. So after I grabbed his head, I was already coming down in motion. I was just trying to grab his arms, I was really trying to foul and hit him across his arms. He end up sticking his neck down, I end up catching his neck. I wasn't nothing like I wanted to hit him in his head, because I ain't never tried to hurt nobody."
Looking at the replay, it's hard to believe he didn't know what he was doing. After Maxiell grabbed the rebound, Perkins raised his hand and waited for Maxiell to make his move. Once Maxiell started to jump, Perkins came down over the top of his head. Perkins was never in position to make a play on the ball, especially considering he never even tried to get between Maxiell and the basket.
The more reporters pressed Perkins on the foul (and in particular, his apparent follow-through, which sent Maxiell to the ground) the more his story began to shift. "I was trying to just give him a hard foul anyway," Perkins said. "The follow-through wasn't [because] I had his head, because I really didn't even know what part of the body I hit. I really closed my eyes, so I don't even know what part of the body I hit."