kendrick perkins

Perhaps the best part of the time between games has been added recovery time for starting center Kendrick Perkins, who left in the first quarter of Saturday’s game with a strained muscle in his right hip. He has missed both practice sessions while getting treatment and is still considered day to day.

Brooks planned a lighter session Thursday to let his players recover.

”It’s always good to get some time off because you can rest and everybody has aches and pains when you go through a season - any season, not just this short season this year,” Brooks said. ”Just any season, it’s always a physical grind on your body.”

It’s not just keeping his team’s bodies in the right shape, though. Brooks also wants to keep his players mentally engaged, and he’s figured out a simple way to get the most out of them.

”Any time we put a scoreboard into the game, it raises up the competition. We do that with a lot of things,” he said, listing off everything from full scrimmages to free throws.

– Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press