Kendrick Perkins to miss 2 games; Steven Adams to start vs Clippers and Warriors

News broke this afternoon that the Oklahoma City Thunder's starting center Kendrick Perkins will miss the next two games on the team's current road trip due to the death of his grandfather.

Per The Oklahoman:

Perkins will miss the team’s next two games, which will be played Wednesday against the Clippers and Thursday at Golden State. He could rejoin the team for Saturday’s game at Milwaukee.

Rookie center Steven Adams will start in place of Perkins.

"Nothing is going to change," Adams said Wednesday. "It's just now it's kind of like going out there and setting the tone; being with the starting five and making sure we set the bar."

The Thunder still have Hasheem Thabeet acting as their 3rd center, and they also have Nick Collison, who can shift into the center position as needed. However, Thabeet has yet to see the court his year and Collison is getting over a hip injury, so Brooks appears to be going with the most experienced healthy player at center tonight. The rookie will have to contend with one of the most athletic front courts in the league, which features All-Star Blake Griffin and last year's FG percentage leader, DeAndre Jordan.

Brooks said:

"He's been with that lineup a few times during games and sometimes in practice...But no matter who we have out there, guys have confidence in executing what we work on every day. I think it's going to be a great opportunity for him."

Tipoff tonight is at 9:30 CDT and the game will be aired on ESPN.