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We haven't heard much from Kendrick Perkins since the morning of May 5. Later that day, he suffered a right hip muscle strain in the first quarter of Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks. Since then, Perkins has received daily treatment to stay in the starting lineup and has uttered nary a word. Players are made available every practice day and game day during the postseason, but injured players are excused in order to receive treatment. Perkins was available after Game 1 and Game 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Trouble is, Perkins and veteran guard Derek Fisher often soak in a cold tub and chat about what just transpired on the court. They routinely don't return to their lockers and meet with reporters until roughly an hour after the game. With ridiculous 8:45 p.m. tipoffs, that means Perkins (and Fisher) don't start fielding questions until 12:15-12:30 a.m. Such was the case after Game 2 when Perkins chatted around 12:30 a.m. With Perkins likely to receive treatment every day until this season is over, media availability will continue to be limited, which is unfortunate because Perk is such a terrific, insightful interview. Thunder coach Scott Brooks said he didn't know until roughly 5:30 p.m. Wednesday that Perkins would be able to play in Game 2 against the Lakers. Not only did Perkins perform admirably in the Thunder's 77-75 comeback victory, he played 31 minutes, 45 seconds with injury. "His toughness, what our players saw, inspired them also," Brooks said of Perkins. "They saw how he was at shootaround (Wednesday morning). We didn't know (if he would be able to play). That's what he does. When you see that from a teammate, you understand what the game is about." We would have loved to share Perkins' insight after Game 2, but he didn't finish talking until 30 minutes past our newspaper's deadline, and such will continue to be the case at least through Game 6, of the series goes that long. There's a chance Perkins could be made available at this morning's shoot-around at Santa Monica High School (10-10:45 a.m. PT). Below, compliments of Nick Gallo at thunder.com, is a transcription of what Perkins said after Game 2: On defending Andrew Bynum: "He’s a load down there. He is the biggest guy in the NBA and he’s skilled, so he can play. We just try to fight him, make all his catches tough, try not to let him catch it deep. His percentages are night and day when he catches it in the deep post in the paint and when he catches it off the block. So we just try to fight him, try to limit his touches. Overall we're just doing a great job of team defense. Our guards are sinking in, digging, helping and I feel like we’re doing a great job of trying to make other guys try to beat us." On closing the game on a 9-0 run: "Being at home helped also, I think. Our fans pull us through a lot of games. We just kept pushing. We got a bucket, we were down five, we just kept getting stops, came up with some big plays.

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