Celtics coach Doc Rivers believes Kendrick Perkins has changed the culture of the Thunder.

“You can see, he’s put work in his game,” Rivers said. “He has every year I’ve known him. His influence on that team is dramatic to me. You can see it, you can feel it. You can see it with the bigs, with [Serge Ibaka], they’re all defensive players now. Perk has completely changed the culture of that team, you can just see it on the floor. That’s terrific for him.”

Rivers said Perkins took defensive communication and leadership cues right out of Kevin Garnett's playbook.

“It’s very similar, and he used Kevin’s playbook,” Rivers said. “He did it by example. They say he’s hard on guys if they miss a rotation. There’s one on the floor today. He was screaming at [Kevin Durant], but Durant took it, though. Good for Perk, he deserves it.”