Adams, not Perkins, will start for Thunder

It turns out Kendrick Perkins had good reason to worry about his playing time.

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks announced on Tuesday that Steven Adams would be the team's starting center when they open their regular season against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.

Russell Westbrook, Andre Roberson, Perry Jones and Serge Ibaka round out the Thunder's starting five.

Perkins has been far below a starting caliber player for a number of years now, but Brooks has stubbornly kept him in the starting five until now.

Wednesday will mark the first time in Perkins' 290-game Thunder career that he's not on the floor to start the game, although his playing time was dialed back last season.