Hey Thunder fans! You all are known for being some of the most knowledgeable and dedicated fans in the NBA, so it's no surprise that you are interested in receiving as much information and insight about the team as possible. With the flurry of activity surrounding the Thunder throughout the NBA Playoffs, thunder.nba.com will be hitting you with some unique and interesting sights and sounds from practice, shoot-arounds and media sessions.
Below are the Fast Break Points from Saturday's shootaround as the Thunder prepared for Game One of the opening round series against the Dallas Mavericks.
· Kendrick Perkins said that Game One is especially important when you fight so hard to get it on your home court. It will set the tone of the series.
· When asked what the ideal scenario would be after one quarter tonight, besides leading, Perkins said he wants the Thunder to be winning the rebounding battle, have a low number of turnovers and be holding Dallas to below 40 percent shooting from the field.
· Being physical against Dirk Nowitzki will be key. Perkins wouldn’t give away whether or not he’ll be defending Nowitzki, but with the way the Thunder rotates, switches and can be versatile, don’t be surprised to see multiple different players defending him.
· Every day after practice Thunder players spend quite a while getting up extra shots, working on ball handling and defending. After they got done with all their bonus work today, three Thunder players showed off some of their athletic gifts. While sitting down against the stanchion beneath one hoop, Russell Westbrook fed a one-handed bounce pass as an alley-oop to James Harden for a slam dunk. On the other end of the court, Lazar Hayward lobbed himself a pass and off one-bounce caught it and brought the ball up for a windmill jam.
· Westbrook was asked about the hectic pace of the season, and he said it felt like, “I just kind of woke up and played a game every day.” In the playoffs, he said, there will be more time for practices and scouting.
· Speaking of scouting, Westbrook said that the Thunder will be ready if the Mavericks decide to play a zone defense against them. “If they go to it, we’ll be ready to attack it and be ready to make and take good shots,” Westbrook said.