Wallace was one of the catalysts in the fourth-quarter charge that helped the Celtics tie the NBA Finals at 2-2 with a 96-89 win over the Lakers last night, but he walked away from the win with his sixth technical foul of the playoffs, leaving him one shy of an automatic one-game suspension.

He picked up the technical with 7:25 to go in the fourth, exaggeratedly shocked at being called for a foul on Kobe Bryant under the basket. There have been times in the Finals when Wallace was so shocked by calls that his face lit up in equal parts surprise and outrage, high-stepping and dancing away from both the play and the officials.

After being called for the foul on Bryant by Scott Foster, Wallace did the same dance from the basket almost to halfcourt, but this time the officials had apparently had enough, leading to the technical.

The Celtics came into the series having to deal with Perkins on the technical foul bubble after having one technical from the Eastern Conference finals against Orlando rescinded. Now, they’ll have another one of their big men walking on eggshells.

“I hope they rescind that one because I thought he did a dance but he ran away,’’ said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “I didn’t think he said anything. The dance was funny, and so I could see it, but I don’t know. I just wish they hadn’t given it to him. It is a concern.’’

Perkins has made it through three games without drawing a technical but did receive a warning in Game 2 after a mix-up with Pau Gasol. The two got tangled up again last night and Rivers was concerned Perkins and Gasol might receive double technicals. For the second straight game, Perkins sat the entire fourth quarter, mostly so Rivers could keep him out of jeopardy.

“The Lakers know [about our technical situation],’’ Rivers said. “Somehow we’re going to have to keep our composure. I was concerned when Gasol and Perk kept going back and forth, and that was actually one of the reasons I said we’ve got to get him out, because you could see it, the double technicals, it was about to come.

“But listen, we’ve put ourselves in this situation, and we’re going to have to play ourselves out of it.’’

“I haven’t seen what’s going on, but a little chirping is OK,’’ said commissioner David Stern. “It shows that they’re human. It’s the howling that’s misdirected, and I haven’t heard them howling.’’

Stern, meanwhile, said he was aware of the incident between Tony Allen and Bryant in the fourth quarter of Game 3. Allen took a foot to the neck as Bryant kicked his leg out on a 3-pointer. Allen hit the floor, saying he lost his breath briefly, and had to leave the game.

“This is a game of centimeters, and you do the best you can under the circumstances,’’ Stern said. “There are players that have certain styles and we have to do our best to make sure we shave those styles a bit if in fact they cause harm to other players, and that’s a continual process.’’

Bryant was suspended twice in 2007 for elbowing opponents as he followed through on jumpers.