Published: Saturday, February 05, 2011, 12:16 AM     Updated: Saturday, February 05, 2011, 12:24 AM APBoston Celtics center Jermaine O’Neal had surgery on his left knee Friday with the hope of returning in 6-8 weeks.

BOSTON – Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge announced that center Jermaine O’Neal underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to alleviate the symptoms that have plagued him throughout the season.

Ainge said that the surgery was a success and they are hoping O’Neal is ready to return to game action in 6-8 weeks.

The operation, performed by Dr. Brian McKeon, was suggested several weeks ago, but O’Neal instead opted to try to rehabilitate on his own.

When the center realized progress wasn’t being made and swelling in the joint wasn’t subsiding even during times of rest, he decided to have the operation with hopes of being ready for postseason play.

“I thought it was the right decision,” coach Doc Rivers said. “I wish he had moved a little earlier on it but I think JO had to make sure he wanted to do it.”

Ainge said that the operation revealed damage from arthritis in the joint and that they are hoping the procedure alleviates the swelling that occurs during prolonged activity.

However, the team anticipates more problems down the road.

“whenever you have arthritis in your knee and there’s bone on bone, there’s a long-term issue there and this surgery was not anything to fix him long term,” Ainge said.

In the interim, Kendrick Perkins will continue to start at center with Semih Erden serving as his backup until Shaquille O’Neal is healthy enough to return.

“We have plenty of big men,” Ainge said. “the fact that Perk is back playing and playing well, and seems to be handling the minutes. Semih, I don’t know how many minutes Semih played tonight, not a lot, 7 minutes, he’s certainly capable of picking up some extra minutes there. [Glen Davis] played 20, so we’re OK the way we are now.”