Marreese Speights had a big game off the bench for the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, and he might have Kendrick Perkins to thank for it.
The Warriors’ usually dominant offense was rather quiet in their 91-86 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the big man scored a season-high 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting in 25 minutes on the court. After game, Speights said that OKC’s center was fueling his fire.
“(Perkins) thinks he’s a tough guy, but at the end of the day, his game is terrible,” Speights told the Bay Area News Group. “He always has got something to say to me every time we play against each other.
“Always getting me going, so shout-out to Perkins again, who made me get this good game.”
Yahoo! Sports did the math, and it turns out that Speights’ statistics actually have been better when he’s faced Perkins’ teams. Those statistics should be taken with a grain of salt, however, as that doesn’t mean that Speights and Perk were matched up every time.
Still, it sounds as though it wouldn’t hurt if Warriors coach Steve Kerr added some Kendrick Perkins trash-talk footage to his game film, just for Speights.
Photo via Mark D. Smith/USA TODAY Sports Images
