Kiwi Steve in the NBA #18: Books and Box Outs
BOX SCORES
at SACRAMENTO KINGS (W 110-107):
39 MINS | 18 PTS (9/12 FG, 0/2 FT) | 11 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 4 BLK | 1 TO | 3 PF
at GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (L 112-80):
34 MINS | 14 PTS (6/9 FG, 2/5 FT) | 7 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PF
vs ORLANDO MAGIC (W 112-105):
34 MINS | 16 PTS (6/8 FG, 4/6 FT) | 8 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 3 TO | 1 PF
NEXT WEEK
at DALLAS MAVERICKS, Thursday at 2.30pm (NZT)
at PHOENIX SUNS, Saturday at 3.00pm (NZT)
at PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS, Sunday at 4.00pm (NZT)
at SACRAMENTO KINGS
Paul George bottled it at the three-point contest during All Stars. Steven Adams wasn’t invited. Russell Westbrook thought he’d been picked last for the AS game (until he realised the list was in alphabetical order). Carmelo Anthony missed selection for the first time since 2009. Everybody had a point to prove as the Thunder tipped off their first game of the rest of the season, away to the lowly Sacramento Kings.
Fast forward 12 minutes and OKC were up 44-21, the second best scoring quarter in Thunder history. There were 14 assists in the frame and the team shot 70%, it was incredible stuff. Everyone was doing their bit, particularly Melo and PG with that magic three-pointer touch. Pretty mean beginnings but then they swiftly took the foot of the gas and were outscored 69-41 over the middle two quarters to trail by five going into the final dozen mins.
How exactly does that happen? Umm, Zach Randolph’s 29 points had a lot to do with it. Plus they just weren’t getting the first step on defence any longer, which allowed the Kings to attack with pace and get themselves into the paint where Randolph was ready to feast. As Paul George said afterwards, they needed to slow the game down and they didn’t, getting caught in the flow. A 16-0 Kings run in the third quarter gave Sacramento their first lead and were still up by three with four and half mins to play.
OKC tightened up and competed in that fourth. Steven Adams gave them the lead again, tidying up from a George miss, before Russ consolidated that from the free throw line. Then Justin Jackson tied it up and the game looked set for overtime when Russell Westbrook finally hit a damn three. He was 0/5 from deep until that final play but he came up with the winner when it mattered. Plus, gotta say, OKC were able to force some missed shots down the stretch as well. Almost a devastating loss but they managed to save it.
39 long minutes for Steven Adams out there. He shot 9/12 for 18 points and 11 rebounds in a busy one for him while Paul George topped for OKC with 26 points and Melo made seven threes for 23p. Russ logged a chunky 17p/15r/11a with 8 turnovers. Other than Zach Randolph, Sac’s best was Buddy Hield with an impressive 19p/9r/4a off the bench. 41 year old Vince Carter scored 13 as well.
Here’s that game-winner, as set to the Titanic theme music…
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS (B+)
“Much like Paul George, Adams was quietly good. He finished with 18-11. A solid outing for the Big Kiwi. He too was a victim of Zach Randolph’s big night, but otherwise his defense was solid, finishing with three blocks and two steals.”
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At GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Hey now, OKC up against the Champs. A team they’ve already beaten twice this season. A team that they have a pretty feisty rivalry with and a team that they’ll have to face in the playoffs if they’re going to go anywhere in the postseason. You know, Kevin Durant’s team.
The last time OKC beat the Dubs, they kicked it off with a 43 point first quarter and a Paul George masterclass. The time before that was down to some great defence and timely Westbrook magnificence. They proved over that double that they can foot it with the best team in the competition… but it depended on the Thunder playing close to their maximum potential each time. That’s not the easiest thing to repeat and so when it takes more than three minutes to make a field goal (shots to Steven Adams) then you soon get the idea that this might not go the same way.
OKC were struggling to stay afloat. Can’t fault the effort and once more they managed to limit Klay Thompson to something dead average – he shot 1/11 from deep. In three games so far against the Thunder (they play one more time in April), Klay Thompson has shot 13/41 (6/25 from 3pt) for 10.7 points per game. His uncharacteristic woes being the one consistent across the three contests. Problem was, on this occasion, Paul George was even worse.
PG13 was scoreless through the first half and started 0/9. Russell Westbrook shot close to 30% himself and Carmelo Anthony was 6/17. Lucky for them they got a solid 14 points from their kiwi centre and some badass contributions from the bench by Ray Felton… but anything Ray could do, Nick Young stepped in and did better. The game was tight up until the fateful third quarter - which is always when the Warriors prefer to do the damage. Next thing a 37-11 scoring run blew it apart and she was all over, rover.
Kevin Durant topped with 28 points (4/6 3pt) with 8 assists. Steph Curry was close behind with five triples on his way to 21 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. And Swaggy P had 16 off the bench, 4/5 from deep. For the Thunder it was 15p/12r/7a for Russ but only 4/15 from the field while Carmel Anthony and Steven Adams each scored 14 (Melo on 17 shots, Steve on nine). Felton had 11 off the bench. While the Warriors shot 47.2% from the field and 44.7% from range, the Thunder lingered at 33.0% and 26.5%. Paul George shot 1/14 for 5 points.
Against the Warriors, it’s honestly that simple. You drop your standard and they blitz you into dust. And it so happened that GSW had a point to prove after getting done twice by OKC already and that led to some resurgent defence (a reminder of one more thing you have to deal with against this side). Klay Thompson may have shot crap but he defended like an All Star and Andre Iguodala was close behind. They also, sad to say, limited Steven Adams to only two offensive boards. He’d started great in the first half same as he always seems to play great against these guys and to his credit even if he wasn’t bagging those boards himself, he was boxing out so others could and OKC had 11 Orebs in the first half. The difference? Zaza Pachulia. Steve Kerr chucked him in earlier than his usual rotation and suddenly that big scoring run was underway.
Mercury News: “But against Adams, Pachulia held his own, and it showed up on the stat sheet — the Thunder had 11 second-chance opportunities in the first half, but only two in the third quarter (and they didn’t score off those two chances). Take away the Thunders’ second-chance points and you take away a major component of their offense. Simply put, the OKC offense that isn’t efficient enough to beat the Warriors without those second-chance opportunities.”
This was OKC vs GSW though, there was always going to be some scuffling. Try Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant getting into some heated words and the odd shove. In came Steven Adams to break them up (as Russell Westbrook watched from distance with hands on knees). Melo got into it again with Draymond Green later on, Melo slamming his headband down in anger.
Oh but that was not the piece de resistance. Nah, that was when Zaza Pachulia put on his high-diving costume and casually fell on Russell Westbrook’s legs under the basket. It’s not like the two don’t have history either, Zaza once famously standing over a hurt Westbrook after a foul in the midcourt. Russ said the flop was deliberate. Even Kyrie Irving suggested the same on Instagram. He’s right too, his is comically ridiculous.
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS (A-)
“Adams had a pretty good game tonight, posting a 14-7-3-2-2 statline while shooting 66.7 percent from the field. He made quite a few hustle plays and was pretty solid defensively. In my personal opinion he was the only starter that even bothered showing up tonight.”
vs ORLANDO MAGIC
Steven Adams: “You can’t look ahead because you’ll put unnecessary pressure and you’re worried about the wrong stuff. We’re taking it game by game and just working on the small things, being in the moment, as they say.”
Great mindful advice from Funaki there. Gotta appreciate a bit of living in the moment and in this case it’s also got a specific lesson about taking it one game at a time and not dwelling on a blowout loss like against the Warriors a few days earlier. The NBA moves fast and the Magic were in town to bring a bit of Vucevic and Gordon to proceedings. Looks like he took his own advice…
Exactly the way that Oklahoma City wanted it. They’d slipped to seventh on the Western Conference standings, which as it stands would give them the Warriors in the first round. Gotta whip off another winning streak. And early on they were dominating the paint thanks to the lad from Rotorua. Sweet as… although they might wanna do something about that perimeter defence. As Steve was having his way inside, Nikola Vucevic adjusted swiftly and started lobbing them up from the outside. He was 3/3 from deep in the first quarter (3/5 overall) and the Magic shot 6/8 from deep in the first quarter on the way to a 38-31 lead.
Interestingly it was the bench that pulled it back. Westbrook and Anthony were dropping pies all over so Alex Abrines stepped it up with a flurry of buckets. He hit a triple to cap an 8-0 run in the mid-second, started with a couple Adams free throws, which got OKC back into this thing. Evan Fournier made a couple threes to close the half and keep the Magic up one, 62-61,
Steven Adams had 10 points in the first quarter, 15 at half-time. He made a free throw early in the third and then that was it. No more scoring for the hombre. Only one more shot attempt (and it was blocked). We’ve seen that trend many times with Steve where his complete lack of ego when it comes to scoring means his shots dry up later on in games as the All Stars get their shots up instead. The Thunder coulda done much better offensively if they’d shared it around more… but damn that defence was decent. Kept the Magic to 15 in the third and leaped out in front.
With a little over two minutes left in the third, OKC were down by two with the bench in there alongside Paul George. What followed was an 11-0 run into the start of the fourth. They mostly held on from there. Hardly a clinical performance but a W is a W.
The Thunder got heaps off the bench, 13 points for Ray Felton, 12 for Abrines, 11 for Patterson and 10 for Grant. Don’t often see all four of those guys firing at once and it was crucial in getting the victory here. Particularly while Westbrook’s shooting 3/12 for 8 points (with 12 reb and 11 ast, tbf) and Anthony’s popping them at 4/14 for 9 points. PG13 was a lot better with 26 points and Kiwi Steve added 16 of the best. Every Magic starter scored in double figs, led by Jonathan Simmons and Evan Fournier (who made five triples) with 19 apiece. Aaron Gordon added 18 but was 1/7 from deep.
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS (A-)
“It may be the benefit of being a “role player,” but I don’t blame Adams one bit for scoring 10 points in the first quarter and only six the rest of the way. Adams will never demand the ball. I’m not sure if it’s the players’ or the coach’s fault that the ball stops finding the Big Kiwi as the games go on, but it’s not the Big Kiwi’s.”
SLAM DUNKS
Erik Horne/The Oklahoman: “At the Thunder’s first practice after the All-Star break, center Steven Adams sat down in a chair next to the team’s practice court and was delivered news about a new way to measure his game. NBA.com created a new stat to chart “box outs.” Adams’s response was immediate, prompted by a chuckle. “Why?”
… The game has moved beyond the standard box score measure of rebounds. Yes, Adams is tied for 14th in the NBA in rebounds per game (9.1), but it’s rebound rate that tells you more. What percentage of a team’s rebounds is a player securing? What percentage of total rebounds is a team securing with a specific player in the game? It should come as no surprise that Adams is No. 1 in offensive rebounding percentage (17.3), but his defensive rebounding percentage of 17.7 ranks him 140th out of 270 qualified players.
This is despite the Thunder being tied for second in total rebound percentage (52). He leads the league with 623 box outs, 102 more than his former Thunder teammate Enes Kanter. If Adams isn’t getting the defensive rebound, he’s putting a body on his man to ensure that another teammate can swoop in, a la Russell Westbrook, who leads the Thunder in rebounds per game (9.4).
Steven Adams: “I started to notice I’d be getting a lot of them, but the team itself … the other team would still get a lot of offensive rebounds because I’m not boxing out and they still have a chance to move around. I might as well start to box out more so the team can secure the rebound, which is better for the outcome of the game rather than just say ‘Oh, you got 10 defensive rebounds. Their team got 10 offensive rebounds.’ That doesn’t make sense.”
Fred Katz/Norman Transcript: “[Steven] Adams is pacing to become only the 10th player since the NBA started tracking offensive and defensive rebounds in the mid-1970s to average five offensive boards a game. The list includes Hall of Famers Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Moses Malone and Dennis Rodman and historic glass gluttons Michael Cage, Andre Drummond, Larry Smith, Kevin Willis and Jayson Williams. “It means that we miss a lot of shots, to be honest,” Adams said. But surely, Adams is being modest, not honest. He still leads the NBA in offensive rebound rate, the percentage of his team’s misses he pulls down while he’s on the floor.”
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