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Kendrick Perkins: Haywood not himself

DALLAS -- Scowling Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins has seen very little of heavyweight counterpart Brendan Haywood in this series. Whether that's Perkins taking Haywood out of the game or Haywood taking himself out is a point of debate, perhaps.

But Perkins said he thinks something is not right with the Dallas Mavericks big man who has played a total of 36 minutes in the first three games of the series.

"Brendan’s a good player, man. I remember when he was with the Wizards he was averaging a double-double, so you just never know," Perkins said. "Could be body aching, it could be a mental thing. But I know he’s not himself lately, so I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I know he’s not himself. But, you know, you got times where you go through stretches like that."

Haywood has averaged just 3.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in the limited time he's been on the floor. He started Game 3 with a bit of a flurry, being active on the offensive boards and slamming in a putback. But then came some butterfingers, and Haywood's night quickly came to end. In the series he's made just 3-of-11 shots.

The problem for Dallas is it just doesn't have much beef behind him. Ian Mahinmi has played well but doesn't provide much muscle, and Brandan Wright has been a virtual no-show when he's been on the floor.

Perhaps Haywood is not fully healthy. He twisted his left ankle on March 5 and then upon his return he sprained his right knee March 15 and was out until March 30. He's worn a brace ever since.

"I don’t know," Perkins said. "I see like two knee braces on, two knee things on, and I don’t know what’s wrong with him. We’re just out there trying to win and I know that he’s capable of doing more than he’s been giving, so it only takes one game to really get your confidence going."