Kendrick Perkins A Game Time Decision For Game 2

News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY – Although Oklahoma City took a step forward in defeating the Lakers on Monday night, Kendrick Perkins took a step backward.

After starting Monday's game, Perkins is back to being qualified as "day-to-day" again after re-aggravating a hip strain during a dunk in the third quarter of OKC's 119-90 win.

Coach Scott Brooks said they will just have to see how Perkins feels before the game, which tips at 8:30 on Wednesday.

"He definitely did not participate in practice today," Brooks said. "He didn't too much. He shot free throws. We'll see how he feels tomorrow. He'll have treatment today, tomorrow and tomorrow night it will be a game time decision."

After going straight to the locker room following his re-aggravation of the injury, Perkins was then cleared to come back into the game if necessary. But by that time, Oklahoma City already had the game well in hand and Perkins sat the rest of the game.

Brooks said Perkins was fully ready to go prior to last night's tipoff and the team would never rush an injured player back into playing.

"We wouldn't put any of our players out there that they aren't ready to play an NBA basketball game," he said. "We put a lot of time into our guys and have a great medical team.

"Perk has done a good job of putting himself in position to play last night. It's one of those things where you can't predict what's going to happen, he just re-aggravated it."

If there is one thing that is evident about Perkins, it's that he has no problem playing through some pain if it will help the team. During Perkins' first year in Oklahoma City, he came back from a major knee surgery and said he was playing at around 65 percent most of the time.

Brooks said he wouldn't want to rush his starting center back into participation but knows that Perkins won't hesitate to try to play if he feels he can.

"Perk is as tough as they come," Brooks said. "If they were to do an Avengers 2, he would be one of the characters. Thor, Captain America, Hulk and Perk."

The Thunder will host Game 2 against the Lakers Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m.