vs. 
TV: TNT (Cox 31, HD 730)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 8:30 CT
Series tied 0-0
View from the enemy: Forum Blue and Gold
Tip at 8:30 CT. Go Justice.
Kendrick Perkins will be in his normal spot starting Game 1 for the Thunder against the Lakers.
He was listed as a gametime decision.
Perkins suffered a strained right hip injury in Game 4 against the Mavericks, leaving the game in the first quarter and not returning. He was listed as day to day following the injury, but with the Thunder having nine days off while the Lakers went to seven games with the Nuggets, Perkins was able to heal.
Scott Brooks said Perkins won’t have any minute restrictions or limits, instead playing in his normal rotation.
Perkins is a vital part to the series for the Thunder as the Lakers have Andrew Bynum at center, a player the Perkins has defended extremely well in the past both during his time in Oklahoma City and with the Boston Celtics.
Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images
There storylines are aplenty. Elbows, trash talk, revenge, vendettas, old vs. new, Derek Fisher vs. the Lakers, legacies and on and on and on. But forget the angles, the hooks, the sidebars. All of that is just noise to what really matters — winning.
The Thunder have been sitting and waiting for the second round for some time while their opponent had to scratch its way here. What that means? Who knows. But the Thunder are where they need to be, well rested and (hopefully) healthy. They dispatched the Mavericks as planned, looked to restore some of their former power in doing so and should roll well into the second round to face the very formidable Lakers.
What scares me most is how good I feel. I hate that. The Thunder have been in the postseason three times now and this is far and away the best I’ve felt about a playoff series. That could be irrational overconfidence. That could just be delusion built up over nine days of over-thinking and boredom. But from everything I can see, the Thunder have a clear edge against the Lakers. Though again, that type of feeling is what scares me. Then again, it’s the playoffs and virtually anything scares me. Nothing feels right at this point. Read more…
Scott Brooks said at shootaround today that Kendrick Perkins is a gametime decision for Game 1 against the Lakers.
Perkins injured his right hip in the first quarter of Game 4 against the Mavericks and sat the rest of the game. He’s been listed as day to day since the injury.
Chris Palmer of ESPN.com on the Lakers defending Westbrook: “If Westbrook torches Sessions and Blake, the blame cannot lie solely on their shoulders. One individual defender — no matter how tenacious — just can’t handle the speed of today’s elite guards. The Lakers must employ a total team approach and throw as many long-armed defenders at Westbrook as possible. No less than their survival in these playoffs depends on it.”
David Stern: “I think it’s time to look at (flopping) in a more serious way,” Stern said, “because it’s only designed to fool the referee. It’s not a legitimate play in my judgment. I recognize if there’s contact (you) move a little bit, but some of this is acting. We should give out Oscars rather than MVP trophies.” Read more…
Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images
As if there wasn’t already enough drama built around the Thunder and Lakers second round matchup, Metta World Peace is throwing a little gas on a burning bonfire.
Clearly, the atmosphere in Oklahoma City will be intense, largely focused around getting some kind of revenge on World Peace for his devastating elbow on James Harden. But instead of staying low key about it, World Peace seems to be relishing this, trying to incite and escalate things.
He almost proudly declared a week ago on Conan that he had not spoken to Harden since the elbow and defiantly defended himself for the act. He said he deserved the suspension, but then mentioned Kevin Love stepping Luis Scola as if to try and draw a comparison. Read more…
Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images
It’s official: Lakers versus Thunder in the second round.
It took seven games, but the Lakers finally finished off the Nuggets 96-87 to move on. And now they have to take on the waiting Thunder just two days later, after Oklahoma City has been resting for nine days.
Obviously the fact that the older Lakers had to press so much to advance should benefit the Thunder, but then again, I remember OKC waiting on a Memphis team last season that didn’t have much time off and the Thunder dropping a clunker in Game 1 while the Grizzlies didn’t miss a beat. Read more…
Here’s Oklahoma City’s full second round schedule, which yes, includes a back-to-back. All times Central.
Game 1 – Monday May 14 – Lakers at Oklahoma City – 8:30PM – TNT
Game 2 – Wednesday May 16 – Lakers at Oklahoma City – 8:30PM – TNT
Game 3 – Friday May 18 – Oklahoma City at Lakers – TBD – ESPN
Game 4 – Saturday May 19 – Oklahoma City at Lakers – TBD – TNT
Game 5 * – Monday May 21 – Lakers at Oklahoma City – TBD – TNT
Game 6 * – Wednesday May 23 – Oklahoma City at Lakers – TBD – ESPN
Game 7 * – Sunday May 27 – Lakers at Oklahoma City – TBD – TNT
Isaac Baldizon/NBAE/Getty Images
KEVIN DURANT
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On finishing runner-up to LeBron: “LeBron, that’s like unheard of for a guy to get three out of four MVPs the last four years. He’s a good friend of mine. I’m happy for him. Of course I would’ve loved to have the MVP but at the same time I’ve just got to keep improving, keep getting better and hopefully I have one soon.”
On any competition with LeBron: “I’m always motivated. Me not winning MVP doesn’t make me more motivated than I already was. It’s a great opportunity for us to have a chance to compete for a world championship, I just want to go out there an be me. I can’t think about it too much because I didn’t win it. Just go out there and be me and live with the results.” Read more…
Officially, LeBron James won his third MVP Saturday, making him one of eight players to do it. Kevin Durant finished second grabbing 24 first-place votes with Russell Westbrook finishing 12th with a fourth and fifth place vote.
This is the second time in three years that KD has finished second to LeBron for the MVP.
Happy weekend. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. Who’s next?
Reader Shawn sent me this video of a beer pong table he built and I must say, wow. That’s some real craftsmanship and handiwork right there. As for the inspiration behind it, here’s what Shawn said: “I few months ago Sports Illustrated Hot Clicks featured a video of a different table called “Chi Pledge Class Beer Pong Table” and once I looked at the write up that was on their site, the wheels in my head started turning.” Turning enough to make an incredibly elaborate beer pong table. Good job?
The team has made arrangements for a new PA announcer for the playoffs, naming Mario Nanni to the role for the postseason.
Nanni spent seven seasons (1996-2003) in that role for the Houston Rockets.
The Thunder have had to scramble for a new PA for Game 1 Monday in light of former announcer Jim Miller being named in a criminal case and therefore relieved of his duties.
The team said this about Nanni in a statement: “The priority for us was finding someone with significant NBA experience who can step in on short notice and assist for the remainder of the Playoffs. Mario is well-versed in league rules and regulations and brings the necessary talent, background and experience to handle the job.”
Nanni will handle the job for the postseason. The team says after that it will determine what to do with the position after the season.
According to multiple reports, LeBron James will win his third MVP award Saturday. Not a big shock by any means, but there was a glimmer of hope that Kevin Durant might sneak in and win it.
Durant will almost assuredly finish second in the voting, the second time he’s been runner-up to LeBron for the award. LeBron joins a group of only eight players all-time with three MVPs. None of those other seven have not won an NBA championship.
You may have notice a few changes around these parts. One in particular I’m most excited about is the addition of headlines over there on the right sidebar. That will house all the stuff I used to pass on because I didn’t want to clog up the main page. Minor events, press releases, rumors, news stories, smaller items — all that stuff. Just more stuff for you to click on while you’re either wasting time at work or putting off starting that research paper.
Rob Mahoney of Bleacher Report on Harden winning Sixth Man: “Harden is a wonderful example of player-coach cooperation and, at worst, a third man. Yet because the notion persists that the starters sit on one side of the line and the rest on the other, he’s been made into a symbol of stigmatized exclusion. Harden can’t simply be one of the best in the business. Because he was willing to subscribe to Scott Brooks’ lineup ideals, he’s the best of the rest—an accomplishment that, while impressive, reeks of an odor that only serves to reinforce the idea that bench players are of a different set.” Read more…
The Nuggets pummeled the Lakers 113-96 in Game 6 forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 in Los Angeles Saturday.
What’s that mean for the Thunder? Oklahoma City gets the winner of that game Monday, meaning the Thunder will have gone nine days without playing since completing their sweep over Dallas. That’s nine days of rest for Kendrick Perkins who strained his right hip flexor in Game 4, an injury that typically takes 10-14 days to recover from, depending on severity.
It also means Metta World Peace will return for the Lakers in Game 7. But it’s no guarantee that the Thunder will be taking on the Lakers in round two. Not with the way things have gone recently in this series. The Lakers led 3-1, but even that third win felt like a giveaway from the Nuggets. Denver then took Game 5 after holding a pretty solid fourth quarter lead and then Game 6 by 17.
Game 7 is Saturday, so the Thunder will finally know their next opponent then. And by the way things look, there’s no telling who it might be.
