According to multiple sources, the Heat are hoping to activate Chris Bosh for Tuesday’s Game 5 if he doesn’t suffer a setback in workouts over the next two days. Bosh declined to discuss his status following the Heat’s 93-91 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday, which tied the series at 2-2.

via ESPN’s Brian Windhorst

After losing their first two games without Bosh to Indiana, Miami went on to win their next five.

LeBron James took his game to another level playing a lot more of the power forward position during that time.

The Heat have looked vulnerable without Bosh in the two games in Boston with Rajon Rondo attacking the paint with ease and Kevin Garnett having big games as well.

The Heat will certainly need a healthy Bosh to win a title this year. We will see what Bosh looks like for Game 5. If he is back to looking 100 percent, people might start talking about the Heat as the team to beat again.

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.

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.

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.