For myriad reasons, the Thunder just can’t handle the Heat.

But in each of the defeats, there has been a common denominator, a disturbing factor that has defined Oklahoma City’s futility against the team that without question has become its most frustrating foe.

The Thunder has been obsessed on playing its big lineup.

Miami’s most used lineup this season, according to 82games.com, includes Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, Shane Battier, James and Chris Bosh. That unit is the Heat’s most successful and also is the same one that shredded the Thunder last season — when Ibaka was sucked away from the basket and out to the 3-point line to defend Battier.

“To be honest, we like guarding smalls,” Perkins said of himself and Ibaka. “We like switching out on smalls. We work on it every day in practice. And I thought, as far as myself and Serge, we did a great job of just keeping them out of the paint. They hit some contested 2s over our hand. They were some bombers. But at the end of the day I feel like we had pretty good switch-outs and we did a pretty good job.”

via Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman