The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Perk was unafraid to assign blame to his own team. Thirty bucks says he did it with a scowl, too.

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “While some Celtics complained, Kendrick Perkins, the team’s conscience, calmly voiced the truth. ‘I thought we played bad on the defensive end tonight,’ Perkins said. ‘Guys missed assignments. We were supposed to be there. Those missed assignments add up and we lost.’ When it was pointed out that the Celtics shot 59.5 percent, Perkins said, “We didn’t play no defense, though. They got to the line whenever. We just fouled. We were late on rotations. They were being aggressive. Durant is a crafty player. He’s a scorer in this league. There’s a reason he’s averaging almost 30. He gets to the line. He did what we had to do and everybody else fed off of him. We weren’t talking on the floor, just worrying about scoring more than the defensive end.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Free throws played a major factor in Wednesday’s loss, especially when you consider Kevin Durant was 15-for-15 by himself while the entire Celtics’ team was 13-for-17. While Durant is used to spending a good chunk of time at the line, Wednesday’s 15 free throw attempts was about five more than he usually gets. ‘I thought we were playing Michael (beep) Jordan tonight the way he was getting the whistle,’ said Boston’s Kevin Garnett. ‘Durant damn near shot more free throws than our whole team.’”

Rich Levine, CSNNE – “The referees may have been a factor, but let’s be honest, when’s the last time you watched an NBA Playoff game in which the refs weren’t a factor? Today, they called the game too tight. Tomorrow, they might call it too loose. But regardless of the excuse, big time playoff teams win big time games, especially at home, especially when, like tonight, that home team has a lead with less than three minutes left. Thankfully, after Wednesday’s loss, the C’s can still afford to bitch about free throws, cry disrespect and go on with their lives. But in less than a month, they won’t have that luxury. In less than a month the C’s will either win or go home. Regardless of whether they’re playing the Thunder, the Bucks, the Heat or even Michael ‘f-cking’ Jordan himself.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘It’s a human game,’ said Rivers. ‘Sometimes you’re just going to play poorly. It happens. You’re disappointed both ways, but it’s tougher for you when you know you were in the game and you had it, and you still lost it. That’s a tough one. That doesn’t happen very often — when we play well we usually win.’ Despite the recent stumbles at home — and a grander pattern of struggles against quality competition at TD Garden — Rivers remains optimistic about his squad. And he doesn’t particularly care if anyone else is on board the bandwagon. ‘You don’t have to be — I am,’ said Rivers. ‘I don’t care what you guys are. I really don’t. I look at our team and you know, we played one bad night. We were playing great up until two games ago. Were you optimists three games ago? Either you’re on the bandwagon or you’re off. I tell guys that all the time. That’s the way I think. And that’s how our team should think. I’m not going to spend time trying to convince you to dislike us or like us. That’s up to you guys. Our team has to just keep working. We can’t stay in the past.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Jeff Green, often the forgotten man on this young and upcoming Thunder roster, nailed a 3-pointer that gave Oklahoma City a 105-101 lead with 1:56 to play. Boston countered with a 3-point play from Ray Allen. Green, only had six points after three quarters, delivered yet another 3-pointer that would prove to be the game-sealer for the Thunder. Garnett, who was attempting to defend Green down the stretch, admitted he was surprised when Green took those shots. ‘Until those two 3s, I don’t think he was even that much of a factor to be honest,’ Garnett said. ‘We were helping off of him and he hit two big 3′s.’”

Gary Dzen, Boston Globe – [Doc Rivers said] “When you shoot 60% from the field, or 59.5 – you guys would say 59% because you’re pessimists; I say 60% because I’m an optimist, but anyway, so, but – It’s a tough one to swallow. A team shoots 34 free throws to our 17 on our home floor. That’s a tough one. I thought we were aggressive, too. I thought we were attacking, and we just didn’t get to the line… But there’s nothing you can do about it and it’s tough, obviously. You know, we gave up 109 points and we have a benchmark all the time and you’ve got to keep teams under 25 points per quarter. And we gave up 30, 27, 26, and 26. And I think fouls had something to do with that, but they still earned that number.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘I know this won’t happen again with us shooting 60 percent and we still lose,’ said a befuddled Wallace, whose efficient 18-point, 7-for-8 shooting performance was a testament to just how good wasn’t good enough in the Celtics’ 109-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder last night at TD Garden. ‘That’s just crazy right there. That’s just crazy.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “It was the kind of game in which numbers defied logic. The Celtics shot lights-out and somehow still lost. They put six players in double digits, got 36 points from their bench, and saw Rasheed Wallace (team-high 18 points) submit the type of scoring performance they hadn’t seen in months. But in the end, a defensive-minded team found itself playing a game of last shot wins against a team with arguably the best scorer in the league. ‘It’s tough,’ said Paul Pierce, who shook off the effects of two shoulder stingers in a three-day span to score 15 points. ‘You look at it, shooting so good and it not paying dividends in the win column. It’s tough to swallow.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘I see (Nowitzki and Durant) as completely different,’ said Rivers. ‘I know because of their size you have to make the comparison, but I think Durant does more with the ball. He plays more like a 2 (guard), and Dirk plays more like a 3-4 (forward). I can see that,’ Rivers said of Gervin. ‘Durant is bigger and longer. I think Durant is better with the ball. If you see him on film in the open court, he looks like a point guard coming at you. He’s a freak of nature. It’s unusual to see a player that big handle the ball, and then pull up on a dime to hit the jump shot. Gervin is closer, but I just think he’s a Durant. There is no other. He’s an original.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.