Kiwi Steve in the NBA #20: Australopithecus Afarensis
BOX SCORES
vs PHOENIX SUNS (W 115-87):
30 MINS | 16 PTS (7/8 FG, 2/5 FT) | 12 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 3 BLK | 3 TO | 3 PF
vs SAN ANTONIO SPURS (W 104-94):
17 MINS | 8 PTS (4/8 FG) | 1 REB | 1 STL | 2 TO | 4 PF
vs SACRAMENTO KINGS (W 106-101):
23 MINS | 6 PTS (3/5 FG) | 6 REB | 2 AST | 2 BLK | 2 PF
at ATLANTA HAWKS (W 119-107):
DNP – Hip Contusion
NEXT WEEK
vs LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS, Saturday at 1.00pm (NZT)
at TORONTO RAPTORS, Monday at 6.00am (NZT)
at BOSTON CELTICS, Wednesday at 1.00pm (NZT)
vs PHOENIX SUNS
After a mostly trash performance against the Suns in Phoenix six days earlier, in which they gave up 99 points in the first three quarters to a team that’s heavy in the tanking class this season, you’ll be pleased to know that OKC were much more effective when they played the Suns on their own court.
They started a little slow, down 10-4 after three minutes before a couple Steven Adams buckets closed that back up, and then after being down 17-10 they scored the next 13 straight and never looked back. Ray Felton hit a three early in the second when Phoenix got within one. Tyson Chandler, playing after missing the game vs OKC the previous week, made a couple free throws to put the Suns up by three and then it was the same old story, the Thunder closing the half on an 18-4 run. They scored 39 points in the third and she was all over, rover.
Adams was restricted to a single offensive rebound when the Thunder last played the Suns. This time out he had four in the first half and six altogether. Instead of crowding him with bodies, the Suns let Tyson Chandler go to work on him and Kiwi Steve largely got the better of that task. Chandler’s a player with a lot of similarities in his game (at least a few years back at his peak) to what Steven Adams does, by the way.
In fact Adams got the best of every task on this day. Not the toughest opponent but he was completely dominant at both ends, just look at how stacked that box score of his was. This was only the fifth game in Adams’ career in which he’s had a scoring/rebounding double-double with at least two assists, steals and blocks. The only blip was three missed free throws. Oh and he did all this without even playing in the fourth quarter, such was the hiding laid down. Which meant that Nick Collison got to play some basketball at the end, adding a couple hoops, and you know who’s always down to see Mr Thunder getting points…
There was one scary moment in there. Terrance Ferguson was chasing his marker across the court late in the third when Steven Adams stepped across to challenge the bounce pass inside and Fergo ran straight into his shoulder, taking a ruthless Sonny Bill and leaving the game to enter the NBA’s concussion protocol. Very wisely, based on the footage. Nobody was more concerned for him than Stevie as you’d expect.
Devin Booker was quality again, scoring 30 points for the Suns after dropping 39 on OKC three games earlier. TJ Warren (19 pts), Josh Jackson (19 pts) and Elfrid Payton (18 pts) also got on the scoring wagon in that game but here in Oklahoma only one other bloke got to double figures and that was Tyson Chandler with 10. Warren didn’t play and Payton and Jackson combined for 12 points on 4/21 shooting.
For OKC it was all about the starters. Corey Brewer was elevated to the main five for the first time and responded with 17 points. You already saw what Adams did. Westbrook was also wonderful with 27p/8r/9a on 11/14 shooting while Paul George added 21 pts and Carmelo Anthony 11 pts. That starting five played only 17 minutes together under the circumstances but they outscored Phoenix by 26 points in that time. Brewer’s a busy player and a reliable veteran. He knows Billy Donovan from his college days and he knows what he wants him to do: moving around, generating space and activating defenders. Gotta be careful making judgements on a small sample size but he was really good here. Player of the day burgers go to Kiwi Steve, though.
Daily Thunder: “Adams was the best player on the floor for OKC tonight. 16 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 2 assists — just did a little bit of absolutely everything. He doesn’t get the recognition of his superstar teammates but Big Kiwi is a boss, plain and simple. Great game on both ends of the floor.”
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS (A-)
“This was one of those games where Steven Adams looked like a McDonald’s All-American playing in the first round of the state tournament. Nobody, not even Tyson Chandler, could contain Adams from scoring 16 points on 8 shots while also grabbing 12 rebounds (6 offensive). The Big Kiwi came up big on the defensive end too, finishing with three blocks and two steals. Minus points come for knocking Terrance Ferguson out of the game after a head-on-head collision. Of course, Adams did not feel anything and remained in the game.”
vs SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Nice way to begin things, someone oughta work the stats on what OKC’s win record is like when Steven Adams scores the first bucket – it always feels like a positive sign of intent. Up against Pau Gasol that was going to be an outlet all game long… supposing they kept passing to him. Supposing they needed to.
Adams scored six in the first and left with a one-point lead, which OKC were able to pad out with an 8-2 run to close the opening frame. The second was similarly edgy, with Rudy Gay making buckets, but Oklahoma City were able to eek it out to double figures most of the way and were up 54-45 a minute and a half into the third when something disturbing happened. Steven Adams goes up to contest the shot and clashes with Dejounte Murray, coming down awkwardly on his ankle. This is a gasp-inducer, folks…
Funaki wasn’t exactly shredding it up, he only had one rebound and had just lost consecutive turnovers on offence (one foul and one travel), but the Thunder were playing well as a team while he was out there. LaMarcus Aldridge in particular was a non-factor and that was more to do with Stevie than anyone else. But as soon as Adams came off the Spurs went on a little run. Westbrook held them at arm’s length with a monster jam and a few other buckets but suddenly SAS were within four points again.
Don’t panic, the Thunder had a hero hiding in plain sight: Mr Thunder. First of all Westbrook, George and Grant all combined for OKC’s last 13 points of the third to get them some buffer space and then in came Nick Collison in the fourth with a couple roof-raising layups. The Spurs got within seven and that was that. OKC took it 104-94 in the end.
Russell Westbrook had 21 points on 7/15 shooting and he added 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the TD. Shout out to him, if he can up those numbers over the rest of the season then he can come close to averaging another triple-double – which means a guaranteed MVP, right? Hmm, that ship might have sailed. Anyway, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony were crap. Melo only scored 2 points on 1/8 shooting (time for another rest?) while PG13 scored 11 on 4/16 shooting. Some nice moments with 10 rebounds and 5 assists but he also had 4 turnovers. Both had negative on-court numbers. Adams had his 8 points in limited minutes but it was the bench that really cashed in. 15p/8r for Jerami Grant, 11 points with 3/4 from deep for Alex Abrines and 10 points for Patty Patterson. Nick Collison scored 7.
Jerami Grant: “Steven brings so much to the table. It's definitely an adjustment, being put in there at the five, (in) late-game situations. But I think our system is built to work a multitude of different ways. Our coaches did a great job of preparing us to figure things out.”
Over on the Spurs side it was quite ugly. Rudy Gay and Davis Bertans each scored 14 and that was the best of it. LaMarcus Aldridge was limited to 5/16 shooting for 11 points and Manu Ginobili didn’t even take a shot in 19 minutes out there. They played from behind the whole way and never managed the run they needed to bridge the gap. Also Kyle Anderson will never be the same…
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS (A-)
“Although Adams missed a few bunnies, again, the work he did on Aldridge early was nothing short of spectacular. Hard to assess him the full A or A+ when he couldn’t compete the entire match and he needs to figure out how to be dominate on both ends in the same game. Still, if Adams is lost for any timeframe it is concerning. It’s one thing trying to win games without Roberson, not having Adams for any length of time is a frightening prospect.”
vs SACRAMENTO KINGS
Oh well that’s cool then.
The Kings came to town for what was an expected OKC win, against a tank team and all, but those tend not to go quite as planned with this Thunder side. So it was again on this occasion, the whole thing way more feisty than it had any right to be. Steven Adams, for example. The ankle didn’t keep him out (he’s played through worse) but it did limit him. You could see that for sure, he was a little more hesitant on his feet than usual. Not that he had to do much to watch Carmelo Anthony drill two threes to start the game. OKC got out to a small but sustained lead and Adams was at the Gatorade table within eight minutes.
Sacramento are tricky buggers sometimes and there isn’t a team in the NBA that you can get away with not defending properly. However it was on offence that OKC was killing themselves. Halfway down the second the score was still only a pitiful 24-all. That made for a good time for Carmelo Anthony and Paul George to find some shooting form, which they did, but only for a 46-40 HT lead.
Those guys continued to sink them in the third but suddenly that defence became imaginary. The Kings got quality from the likes of Zach Randolph and Justin Jackson to stay in touch and then they boosted it down the stretch to actually take the lead after 3Qs with a Garrett Temple two-for with a shade under six seconds left. By that time we’d been introduced to another panic moment. His ankle might have been okay but Steven Adams took a tumble earlier in the quarter that saw him land hard on his side. He stayed in the game for a couple more minutes, adding another dunk from a Westbrook assist, but not for long and once he left the game he didn’t come back.
Note that his old adversary Zach Randolph was involved.
Gotta be in part precautionary given the previous ankle injury but a bruised hip can do some damage when you’re a guy whose game is so much about the rough stuff, banging against bodies and all that. One more thing to worry about.
The bench got OKC back in front and they held on to win 106-101 but this was not a game that’d be memorable for the right reasons. Westbrook had a 17 point triple-double and George and Anthony each scored 21 with plenty of smaller contributions scattered around. Bogdan Bogdanovic led the way for the Kings with 19 points. The Thunder escaped with a third consecutive win but only just… plus Steven Adams got injured, dammit.
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS (A+)
“Adams played a great game until he had to leave the third quarter with a hip contusion. I’m not going to dive too deep into his game because I’m more concerned with the injury then explaining to you the typical Big Kiwi game. He dominated the paint on both ends, hit his shots when given the ball and even moved the ball out of the post en route to 2 assists. Get better Stevie – they need you out there.”
at ATLANTA HAWKS
The very next night saw an away game against Eastern Conference cellar dwellers the Atlanta Hawks which meant a very short window for Kiwi Steve to recover. He turned up ready to go but after going through some exercises in warm-ups and with a few days off coming up, it was decided that he’d sit the game out with that hip contusion. Oh no wait… not a hip contusion…
‘Australopithecus afarensis’, of course. Except that when you do your research (as Steven Adams suggests) then you’re taken to a wiki article that reads: “Australopithecus afarensis (Latin: "Southern ape from Afar") is an extinct hominin that lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago in Africa and possibly Europe.”
He sent everyone to a pre-homosapien species instead of some variety of bruised hip. Which means that Steven Adams just pulled off one of the deepest-dive, most esoteric media trolls in the history of sports. Bravo, big fella. Bravo.
It made sense not to risk him against the Hawks. He’s too important to this team to risk when ten of their next eleven games after this are against playoff-challenging teams. Dakari Johnson got the start in Steve’s absence although he got picked on hard by John Collins and would only play seven minutes all up with Jerami Grant replacing him in the lineup that came out for the second half.
Paul George scored OKC’s first 8 points but the Hawks knew exactly where to target and they were pounding the paint, as they say, with dunks and close twos all first half. OKC still led the whole way through the first quarter but once Dennis Schroder joined the party that changed. The Hawks took the lead mid-2Q on a 9-0 run and went on to bag 38 points in the frame. The Thunder’s defence has been average without Andre Roberson but take Steven Adams out as well and the bottom team in the East was up by 12 points at the big break.
Those worries got even worse when Paul George left the game with an apparent groin injury mid-3Q. That’s the last thing they need now, PG13 was kept scoreless in the second and only ended with 12pts, unable to return for the last frame. Went down under contact drawing a foul whilst trying to win a rebound and the diagnosis isn’t clear yet. We’ll know more in a day or two.
However Billy Donovan’s promoting of Grant did make a big difference, he ended up playing 33 minutes and scoring 20 points off the bench, credit to that jerry. Grant’s been flaunting some quality offence lately and he’s earned those extra minutes. Carmelo Anthony also made a bundle of threes to start the third but with 5:15 remaining the score was 103-all thanks to a Taurean Prince triple. So Russell Westbrook took over and inspired a 16-0 fourth quarter run that got the Thunder the win. Rusty Buckets had 32p/12r/12a for his 100th career triple-double. Not too shabby, amigo.
Carmelo Anthony also scored a solid 21 points with 6/11 three-point shooting while Patrick Patterson had 12 off the bench. Taurean Prince led the way for ATL with 28p & 8r while Schroder had 18 points and Collins 10 of them, kept scoreless outside the first 15 mins of the contest.
The Oklahoman: “Thunder coach Billy Donovan said Adams' left ankle he sprained against the Spurs on Saturday was fine, but it was the hip that was bothering the 7-footer. Adams has a day to rest before the Clippers come to Oklahoma City on Friday. He'll be needed, because the Thunder's interior defense was in tatters without Adams in the first half against Atlanta.
The Hawks shot 57.7 percent in the paint in the first half before Donovan elected to start Jerami Grant in the second half, when the Thunder's interior defense tightened up. Grant responded in a huge way, scoring 15 of his 20 points in the second half to go with five rebounds and two drawn charges, taking his tally to 17 on the season.”
SLAM DUNKS
1,980 Likes, 33 Comments - Perspective_7A | Nanae Yamano (@perspective_7a) on Instagram: "vs SAC 106-101 (68/82) #nanaethundergamelog"
ESPN Ranked their ‘25 best NBA players under 25’ this week, with Steven Adams sneaking in at #17. Scribes Kevin Pelton, Bobby Marks and Chris Herring compiled the list ‘based on future potential’, whatever that means, and they had Kiwi Steve ahead of the likes of Lonzo Ball, Aaron Gordon and Lauri Markanen. Marks had him ranked up at 11 on his personal list.
ESPN/Bobby Marks: “Give credit to Adams and the player development staff in Oklahoma City. If you scouted Adams at the University of Pittsburgh, the last place you think you would see the center would be on this list. Like Capela, Adams was deemed more of a project when he entered the NBA in 2013. Four years later, he has developed into OKC's interior cornerstone and the top offensive rebounder in the NBA. -- Marks”
The top five read:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Anthony Davis
- Joel Embiid
- Karl-Anthony Towns
- Nikola Jokic
Fred Katz/Reddit AMA: [on Steven Adams’ Ceiling & Shooting Potential] “I don't think he'll ever be a ball dominant guy. It's just not, like you said, in his personality. And given the way the NBA is trending, I couldn't ever see him becoming a major post-up scorer, considering those just don't exist anymore. (I could, however, see a day when the Thunder run cross screens against teams that like to switch and then try to post him up to create 3s.)
As for shooting: it's possible. I see him all the time in practice, and though he's inconsistent and probably not ready now, he looks comfortable shooting jumpers. There are definitely times when he gets hot and is hitting a bunch of them. I don't think he'll ever take mid-range shots. He sees the game extremely analytically and finds them too inefficient to try — and Steven won't implement something into his game until he's totally and completely confident in it. If he ever takes them, it could be one of those things where Adams is just the dunk/layup/floater guy he is now and then, all of a sudden, he shows up in September of 2024, and he's draining 3s. It's not my prediction. But it also wouldn't surprise me.”
Hey Harrison Barnes, now of the Dallas Mavericks but once of the Golden State Warriors, went on the Road Trippin’ podcast and said some things about the 2016 OKC Thunder team that almost toppled GSW in the Western Conference Finals…
“I don’t mean this in any type of offense to RJ or anything like that, but my opinion is that OKC was probably the best team in the playoffs that year. I mean they were rollin’. We didn’t have an answer for them. If Klay doesn’t have that crazy Game 6, they’re going to the Finals. That team, the way they were built—rebounding, scoring, they were doing it all.”
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