Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

The Miami Heat won the NBA championship this season despite not having Dwyane Wade at full strength.

LeBron James took over as the clear “alpha dog” of the team and it all worked out in the end.

After a grueling lockout, 66-game season and four rounds of playoff basketball, Wade is considering not playing in the London Summer Olympics.

“I’ve got to make a decision on what my knee needs and what’s best, because my career and finishing my career strong is what’s important to me,” Wade said. “And I know, yeah, the Olympics are coming up. It’s something I really want to do. But at the same time, if I have to make a big decision, if something has to happen surgery-wise, that will have to be a step I have to take. My loyalty and my commitment to Miami Heat basketball is the No. 1 thing.”

There was some controversy surrounding Wade earlier in the season when he said that he thought NBA players should be compensated for playing in the Olympics.

It’s not a real surprise that Wade would opt out from the team this summer. He is 30 years old, isn’t in perfect health and being healthy for the Heat is his number one priority.

If Wade doesn’t play, that will mean three shoe-ins for the team will now not be playing because Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard will also miss the games with injuries.

That opens up more potential spots for Thunder guards Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

Westbrook has more of a chance than Harden of making the team even before his impressive performance in the playoffs. Harden is pretty much made for international play though. He is a great shooter and even an expert at the “euro-step.”

We know Kevin Durant is a lock for the team so the Thunder have the potential to send three players to represent their country, not to mention Serge Ibaka who will be playing for Spain.

With all of these big names for the Olympics dropping like flies, I think we can now put to rest any chance of 2012 Team USA Basketball beating the 1992 Dream Team.

Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

Kendrick Perkins has been a valuable asset for the Thunder all season. He gave them toughness, set great screens, got under the opponents’ skin.

In the NBA Finals, Perkins was not a factor. Actually, he was a factor only in the negative sense for Oklahoma City.

The Miami Heat and their small ball lineup was not the ideal matchup for Perkins. He clogged up the spacing on offense as the Thunder basically played four on five and on defense he also struggled keeping up with Miami’s pick-and-roll.

All series Thunder fans were calling for more Nick Collison or more small lineup without Perkins. Scott Brooks stuck with him and it might have cost the Thunder the championship.

Now we are learning that Perkins, who injured his groin in Game 4 of the first round against Dallas, was playing the final three rounds of the playoffs with a partially torn groin, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

What could be more frustrating for Thunder fans? As if it wasn’t enough that Perkins was actually playing and hurting the Thunder while doing so. He was also hurt (and thinking back on the series it kind of showed) and the excuse to play him less and possibly take him out of the starting lineup would have been something totally rational.

You can’t blame Perkins for this. Of course he wanted to play and he’s not one to let on about an injury. He played hard and had his moments. The series just wasn’t for him.

He played 23.4 minutes per game in the Finals, scored 4.8 points per game and grabbed 6.8 rebounds per game.

Nick Collison played 15.8 minutes per game, scored 3.6 points per game and averaged 4.2 rebounds per game.

Playing Collison instead of Perkins could have easily shifted the momentum in OKC’s favor enough for them to pull out the series.

The Thunder traded for Perkins last year to help them get by the Los Angeles Lakers. I guess he helped with that some but there’s no question he did more harm than good in the final two rounds of the playoffs for the Thunder.

He has been a great guy to have on the team. He has value on a basketball court. But right now for this Thunder team, tying his name to the word “amnesty” doesn’t seem like a bad idea.

Bosh is likely the miss the rest of this series even if it goes seven games and may even miss some of the Eastern Conference Finals if the Heat make it there.

“I’m just hoping that everyone can keep doing what they’re doing and extend the season,” Bosh told ESPN.com. “I do have a chance to play again. That’s the light at the end of the tunnel for me. That keeps me going every day.”

The Heat are up 3-2 in their series against the Pacers winning the last two in very convincing fashion.

The Heat will likely win the series but those words from Bosh have to be concerning. If the Heat don’t get him back near full strength and have to play Boston in the next round, it will be a very tough series for them to win.

The Heat still have not put a timetable on a return for Bosh although it is anticipated he would at least try to return in the next round.

Miami looked like the easy favorites in the Eastern Conference to make it to the NBA Finals and possibly win it when Bosh was healthy in these playoffs. Without him, they certainly would not be considered favorites against San Antonio or Oklahoma City.

The one silver-lining from the Bosh injury is that it has pushed LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to step up their games which they have been doing.

LeBron last night became the only player to have two straight games of 30 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists or more since Oscar Robertson and Dolph Schayes.

LeBron James commented today on the Pacers’ attempt to play physical with the Heat and get in their faces.

“Whatever he’s trying, it is not working,” LeBron said of Danny Granger. “He’s said he’s not scared of LeBron, I want to let (James) know. I guess he’s doing it for his own psyche. It’s stupid.”

Granger has picked up technical fouls in each of the last three games and gotten into LeBron’s face as well.

In Game 4, the strategy by the Pacers to do this did not seem to work as it seemed to awaken Dwyane Wade and LeBron who went off in the second half as the Heat came back to beat the Pacers in Indiana and tie the series.

“I think there is a line and I’m tip-toeing it,” Granger said. “That’s a product of the chip on my shoulder and we have on our shoulder as a team of not being respected. That goes not just for this series, but all year. We had the fourth or fifth best record in the NBA and I think we only had one televised game. Three or four teams that didn’t make the playoffs had more televised games than us. It was just a matter of being disrespected nationally.”

Granger can feel this way and that’s ok but it might not be the greatest idea to get LeBron and Wade riled up.

Despite losing Game 4, the Pacers are still confident they can win this series and they should be. They beat the Heat in Game 2 in Miami and both of their wins have come when All-Star center Roy Hibbert has had big games.

In Game 4, Hibbert and David West were in foul trouble and it helped allow LeBron and Wade to get going and attack the paint which they did very efficiently.

Hibbert and West will have to play big for Indiana to have a chance as Chris Bosh is still out with his injury and inside is where the Pacers have their biggest advantage.

Granger too will need to step up as he hasn’t played very well at all this series while he’s mostly been matched up with LeBron.

The Heat shot terribly from three in the first two games at home and that was a big reason why Indiana kept those games close and won one of them. The role players for Miami picked up their shooting somewhat in Game 4 and one would expect them to be better for Game 5.

LeBron played 44 minutes in the game and had to play that well as the Heat were again without Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade was not himself until the second half.

Wade would come around with a huge second half and finish the game with 30 points, six assists and nine rebounds.

The Pacers didn’t have their usually advantage over the Heat yesterday as Miami outrebounded Indiana 47-38 and had more offensive rebounds as well (14-8).

The Heat shot 47.5 percent from the field while Indiana shot just 41.8 percent.

Roy Hibbert and David West combined for just 18 points and 15 rebounds and only played 60 total minutes as both were in foul trouble a lot.

The Heat will go back to Miami for Game 5 to try and take a 3-2 series lead Tuesday.

Russell Westbrook went down with an injury after slipping while running down the court just before the end of the first half of Game 4 vs. the Lakers.

A lot of players have been slipping in this game and it may have something to do with the fact that there is ice beneath the court because of the NHL Playoffs.

Westbrook looked to possibly hurt his groin or hip but this guy hasn’t missed a game since before high school, Thunder fans shouldn’t be too worried.

The Lakers lead 56-46 at the half. They are again getting a few more calls than the Thunder and doing a better job getting the 50-50 balls, something that the Thunder usually holds the edge in.

The style of the game again is favoring the Lakers but the Thunder have all year long played in games like this where it feels like they shouldn’t win and then they find a way to pull the game out. See Game 2.

Russell Westbrook is fine. It was his hip. He got manual treatment at the half and will return.

— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) May 20, 2012

Perkins re-aggravated his strained right hip that he suffered against Dallas in the last round when he went up for a dunk in the third quarter of Game 1 against the Lakes.

Scott Brooks said in practice yesterday that Perkins would be a game-time decision tonight.

Perkins is very valuable for Oklahoma City especially against the Lakers in this series. Andrew Bynum was one of the only bright sports for the Lakers in Game 1 and Perkins is the man assigned to cover him.

Nazr Mohammed did play well in Game 1 however and will be getting the minutes Perkins does if he doesn’t play.

Bosh was going to need to step up against the Pacers after playing below his averages in Round 1 against the Knicks. The Pacers’ greatest strength against the Heat is a size advantage down low and Bosh was going to be matched up with Pacer’s All-Star center Roy Hibbert.

Bosh was doing his job in Game 1 taking Hibbert away from the paint and then driving on him when he would get the ball.

Without Bosh in the second half, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade had to step up their games and they did just that. LeBron scored 32 points and Wade scored 29 as both players logged over 40 minutes.

The Heat team we saw in the second half is now the one we will likely see for the rest of the series. Miami is still favored to win the series but it just got a lot tougher.

We can now expect huge numbers from LeBron and Wade and they should continue to be efficient in doing so as Indiana’s wings really match up poorly with them.

The biggest concern for Miami will be Bosh’s health moving forward past this series. They are going to need him to contribute to win a championship this season and if he’s not the same when he comes back the Heat might end up having to wait another year for that first title.

Perkins strained his right hip in Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks on May 5 – an injury that would normally have a player out for 10-14 days. It is nine days later now and the Thunder are finally going to play again, with or without their starting center.

“He went through some of the drills (Sunday) in practice,” Brooks told The Oklahoman. “He’s taken a step in that direction (starting on Monday). We’ll see how he responds after the day’s work tomorrow morning. We can assess that better. He did participate in some of the work today.”

Perkins is the definition of tough so if there is any chance that he can play, he probably will. At his position too he may be alright at 75-80 percent because the Thunder don’t ask too much from him aside from banging bodies down low.

Perkins will be needed in this series against the Lakers maybe more than against any other team. The Thunder traded Jeff Green to the Celtics last season for Perkins for this specific matchup against L.A.

Nick Collison thinks Perkins will be “good to go” and said he “looked good” in practice yesterday.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Kendrick Perkins has been a crucial part of the Oklahoma City Thunder all season. His value doesn’t always show up in the stat sheet but it’s definitely there.

Perkins injured his right hip in the first quarter of Game 4 vs. Dallas on May 5 and did not return in the game. The injury would normally keep a player out 10-14 days.

The Thunder will play the Lakers in Game 1 of the conference semifinals tomorrow night at 9:30 p.m. EST, Monday, May 14. That’s nine days since the injury making it seem unlikely that Perkins will be at 100 percent tomorrow night.

He could still play though if he’s not at 100 percent as it is playoff basketball. He was last seen Friday afternoon at the Thunder practice walking without crutches and with no noticeable limp. This type of injury would not necessarily make you walk different but when you are in the game running, getting into a defensive stance and banging is when it would be noticeable.

The Thunder made a tough decision last season to trade Jeff Green to Boston to acquire Perkins. They did it for this specific matchup with the Lakers. They lost to Los Angeles the year before in the first round and it was clear that they needed to get bigger to compete with the then two-time defending champs.

In Game 7 against Denver, the Lakers flexed their sizable advantage as Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum combined for 39 points, 35 rebounds (20 offensive) and 10 blocks. Denver doesn’t have the size that Oklahoma City would have even without Perkins but Gasol and Bynum are going to be quite a load to handle either way.

Perkins averaged 26.8 minutes per game this season but against the Lakers three times he averaged 36.0 minutes. He played well against L.A. averaging 6.3 points, 9.0 rebounds (3.3 offensive) and shot .571 percent from the floor.

Bynum averaged 16.3 points, 11.0 rebounds (3.7 offensive) and shot .444 percent from the field against the Thunder this season. Gasol averaged 18.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and shot .465 percent from the field.

The Lakers’ big men produced against the Thunder this season and needed to partly because of Kobe Bryant’s struggles. Kobe averaged 24.3 points against OKC and shot .307 percent from the field.

The Thunder won two of the three meetings this season against the Lakers and nearly swept them falling in double overtime in the final meeting. The shooting percentages of the Lakers big three were all considerably lower than their averages against the Thunder.

Without Perkins, the Thunder would likely start Nazr Mohammed and continue with their rotation bringing Nick Collison off the bench. Expect the Thunder to go small as much as possible too. Gasol usually starts the fourth quarter without Bynum on the floor so expect Scott Brooks to try and take advantage of that lineup by starting Kevin Durant in that quarter as well.

The Thunder will have a much tougher time matching up with the Lakers if they are without Perkins or he is playing much less than 100 percent. They should still be favored to win the series and win it without question.

The Lakers have much bigger issues in terms of matching up with Oklahoma City’s big three and that advantage for the Thunder should be enough for them to win the series.

The Lakers led 3-1 in the series after four games then played very poorly in games 5 and 6 losing each to Denver. The Lakers returned to form in Game 7 and did what they were supposed to do closing out Denver in Staples Center.

The Lakers took advantage of their greatest advantage which was size in Game 7. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum really showed up after essentially no-showing the last two games.

Gasol and Bynum combined for 33 points and 35 rebounds in Game 7 including 20 offensive boards.

Kobe Bryant was relatively quiet in the game scoring 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting but did also have eight assists.

The Thunder have been waiting awhile for this series to start. Oklahoma City beat Dallas in four games and that series ended last Saturday, May 5. The greatest concern for the Thunder is the health of starting center Kendrick Perkins who is still day-to-day and it is unknown if he will play in Game 1.

Game 1 will be Monday night at 9:30 p.m. EST.

The Thunder swept the Dallas Mavericks last Saturday and haven’t played since as they await the winner of the Lakers-Nuggets series.

The Lakers and Nuggets will play Game 6 Thursday night with the Lakers leading that series 3-2. If the Lakers win then Game 1 of the second round will be played Saturday in Oklahoma City.

If they lose then Game 7 of that series will be Saturday and the second round for the Thunder wouldn’t begin until Monday or Tuesday.

The Lakers went into Game 5 at home up 3-1 with a chance to shut the door on the Nuggets but Denver came out strong and survived a close one despite 43 points from Kobe Bryant.

The way that Denver played Game 5 on the road controlling the style of play and getting a big night from JaVale McGee they might as well be favored to win at home for Game 6 and force a Game 7.

The Thunder are fine with waiting as long as possible for the second round to begin because of the injury to Kendrick Perkins in Game 4 against Dallas. Perkins is still listed as day-to-day and may not play in the first few games of the next series.

Perkins was traded for last year specifically so that the Thunder could matchup better with the Lakers and not having them would make life a lot tougher.

Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced Sunday that Kendrick Perkins had suffered a right hip muscle strain in the first quarter of Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks and is now listed as day-to-day.

Perkins likely would not have been able to play in any more of the Dallas series and may even miss some of the next round. That just adds to the importance of the Thunder’s 13-point fourth quarter comeback in Game 4.

Perkins had been the primary defender Oklahoma City used on Dirk Nowitzki in the series and Perkins’ value as a post defender may be in even higher demand if the Thunder play the Lakers in the second round, and it looks like they will.

Perkins’ return to play will be based on his progress and recovery in the coming days. Recovery time would normally take a week or longer for this type of injury but you’d have to assume that is he is close to being able to go then he will even if it’s a little too soon.

Day-to-day is not very telling of the injury as Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha missed over a month while being listed day-to-day.

The Thunder would have to play next as early as this coming Saturday (7 days after the injury) or as late as next Monday or Tuesday (9 or 10 days).

The Thunder will have home court no matter what but dealing with the Lakers’ frontline of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum won’t be easy without Perkins. The Lakers have the best 4-5 combo in the NBA and part of Oklahoma City’s success against Los Angeles has been their ability to contain the duo with Perkins and Serge Ibaka.

In the second half of Game 4 against Dallas, Brooks started Nazr Mohammed to stick with the usual rotation of bringing Nick Collison off the bench. If Perkins is not ready to play by Game 1 you would expect Brooks to do the same because you wouldn’t want to sacrifice the chemistry Collison and James Harden have with the second unit.

The Thunder should still be favored in a series with the Lakers even without Perkins but remember last year Oklahoma City traded Jeff Green for Perkins for this exact matchup with the Lakers.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder announced today that starting center Kendrick Perkins suffered a right hip muscle strain in the Thunder’s Game 4 victory in Dallas Saturday night, as confirmed by an MRI.

Perkins was injured during the first quarter of Game 4 and did not return to the game. He is currently listed as day-to-day.

With the Thunder sweeping Dallas they will have as much time off as possible before their second round series begins.

The Thunder will await the winner of the Lakers-Nuggets series. The Lakers lead the series 2-1 and will play in Denver for Game 4 Sunday night.

Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

The New York Knicks will not be swept by the Miami Heat in the first round of these playoffs. The Knicks won Game 4 89-87 to send the series back to Miami.

Carmelo Anthony scored 41 points in the game and was 15-for-29 from the field.

LeBron James led Miami with 27 but went 9-for-21 from the floor.

Amare Stoudemire returned to the Knicks starting lineup after missing Game 3 because of the fire extinguisher incident. He looked good despite wearing a pretty large bandage on his left hand and scored 20 points to go with 10 rebounds in the game.

The Heat haven’t looked their best in the last two games in New York in this series and that’s kind of been their thing this year playing much worse on the road.

You can’t imagine the Heat losing a Game 5 at home but if they do and they have to go back to Madison Square Garden the series will become interesting if nothing else.

Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

The Chicago Bulls are missing Derrick Rose. A lot.

The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Bulls 89-82 in Game 4 Sunday to take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the team with the best regular season record in the conference. After losing Game 1 in which Rose played, the 76ers have gone on to win the next three games.

They’re doing it with defense too. The Bulls scored 103 points in Game 1 but scored just 92 in the Game 2 blowout, then 74 and 82 in Games 3 and 4 in Philadelphia.

Luol Deng was the player who needed to step up the most in Rose’s absence but has scored just 24 total points in the last three games of the series.

Rose’s greatest value that he brings to this Chicago team is being able to create his own offense and in the regular season that’s not as important but it evidently is huge in the postseason for this team.

Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder are so far the only team to sweep their opponent in the first round this year as they did so last night in Dallas behind a huge fourth quarter from James Harden.

The Thunder are certainly playing excellent basketball right now and look as much like title contenders right now as they ever have.

Harden has really taken his game to another level and that’s what was going to need to happen for the Thunder to take that next step as a team.

The Spurs are up 3-0 in their series against the Jazz and look like they will sweep Utah by all accounts. The Spurs still seem to pose the greatest threat to the Thunder in the Western Conference.

The Lakers are up 2-1 against the Nuggets and lost Game 3 in Denver. Los Angeles should still win the series and if they do so, Metta World Peace will be returning to the lineup in Oklahoma City.

That should be interesting.

Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins suffered a right hip strain in the first quarter of Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks and will not return to the game.

The Thunder lead Dallas 26-24 after one quarter. Perkins had two assists and two rebounds in the quarter and has been the player assigned to cover Dirk Nowitzki the most this series.

Perkins has done a nice job on Dirk but Nick Collison traditionally does the best job on Dirk and certainly will play more minutes with Perkins out.

The Thunder have gone small a lot in this series playing Kevin Durant at the four and inserting Derek Fisher into the lineup. Expect to see that again tonight.

Oklahoma City is looking to sweep Dallas tonight and the Mavericks have come out tonight a lot better than they did in Game 3. The defending champs obviously won’t go down without a fight.