Kiwi Steve in the NBA #21: That Old Familiar Pain
BOX SCORES
vs LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (W 121-113):
38 MINS | 18 PTS (8/15 FG, 2/4 FT) | 14 REB | 1 AST | 3 STL | 5 BLK | 4 TO | 2 PF
at TORONTO RAPTORS (W 132-125):
33 MINS | 25 PTS (10/13 FG, 5/9 FT) | 8 REB | 4 AST | 1 STL | 2 TO | 3 PF
at BOSTON CELTICS (L 100-99):
37 MINS | 14 PTS (4/7 FG, 6/10 FT) | 7 REB | 2 AST | 1 TO | 1 PF
NEXT WEEK
vs MIAMI HEAT, Saturday at 1.00pm (NZT)
vs PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS, Monday at 12.00pm (NZT)
at SAN ANTONIO SPURS, Friday at 1.00pm (NZT)
vs DENVER NUGGETS, Saturday at 1.00pm (NZT)
vs LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Hands up who thought Corey Brewer was gonna be the answer when he signed for his old college coach Billy Donovan to bring a little extra depth to the Thunder? Yeah… not many hands. Brewer’s signing got snarled at by a few people expecting too much from Sam Presti’s front office mid-season but even at the most optimistic he was only meant to bring some energy and a little jab of scoring. Instead he’s surged into the starting five and made a massive impact, helping OKC win six straight until Brewer had a poor one against the Celtics (we’ll get to that later).
And Brewer was at his best against the Clippers. LAC are slowly slipping out of the playoff picture having stunned the league in remaining relevant so deep into the season, even after they traded Blake Griffin, so shout outs to Doc Rivers. Same to Austin Rivers as well because he grabbed the first couple buckets of this contest, LAC sprinting to an 8-0 lead to tip things off. A Rivers three soon after made it 13-4, as it turned out the Clippers would never have a bigger lead.
Paul George played despite being questionable with a pelvic strain. No sign of any lingering damage on Steven Adams’ left hip either. That extinct hominin hanging off it must’ve taken the shake. George was a little quiet in those early moments and OKC were certainly sluggish to begin with… which meant it was up to the energy players to solve this mini-crisis. Don’t even worry about it, Steven Adams and Corey Brewer were here to play. Between them they combined for 28 points in the first half as the Thunder got back within three after 1Q and then from 38-all in the second they never again trailed. Adams came back in and immediately joined the dunk brigade twice.
There were certainly some sloppy moments in the second half and the entire third quarter wasn’t OKC at their best. However Terrance Ferguson’s three in the initial stages of the fourth bought them some breathing room and they were able to trade buckets from there for a 121-113 win. Adams had six rebounds in the final frame and came up with crucial late blocks on both DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams.
A strangely well-balance offensive night for OKC in which all ten players took at least four shots and all five starters at least 11. Brewer led the way with 22 points and 6 steals. George had 19p/7r/7a and Westbrook had a 16-point triple-double. Massive box score from Adams too with his 18 points, 14 rebounds (TEN of them O-Boards), 3 steals and 5 blocks. On the other end it was 24 points from Tobias Harris and 23 from Austin Rivers doing the heavy loading. Adams wasn’t quite able to deny DeAndre Jordan as he had 11 points and a monster haul of 21 rebounds (7 Off) but he at least stopped him from cashing those boards in for much cash. Hell of a battle between those two.
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS (A)
“I can’t say enough about Steven Adams. There could be article upon article dedicated to how important he is to this team’s success. He does so many little things, offensively and defensively that just matter so much. Deflections, screens and communication on defense are unsung things that Adams does so well. The Big Kiwi scored 18 points and snagged 14 rebounds tonight. A matchup with DeAndre Jordan and Boban is not ideal when it comes to centers in the NBA but Adams played admirably, as he always does.”
at TORONTO RAPTORS
These Toronto Raptors are a superb team. They’re the top seed in the East and with the best home record in the league. Plus they came into this game against the Thunder with 11 straight wins and 18 wins from their last 19. This is the real deal that OKC needed to test themselves against on their own current upswing, not to mention that every win is vital for playoff seedings in a hugely competitive scrap for the 3-8 spots in the Western Conference. Safe to say that this game lived up to all the hype.
Serge Ibaka hit from three on the opening possession going up against his old team. It was his ex-teammate Steve who got OKC on the board in response and he’d play all but the final minute of the first quarter. For good reason too, the bloke was unstoppable (although he did seem to hurt his ankle again, briefly). It was dunks and layups on the menu as Funaki feasted for 14 points in the frame. His career best is 27 in a game, set earlier this season, so that’s an indication right there. But he wasn’t alone, everyone was making shots as OKC led 40-34 after 1Q.
DeMar DeRozan was predictably leading the way for the home side while OKC also had Carmelo Anthony making some shots. But it all cooled off in the second as Toronto threw a few combinations at ‘em on a 20-4 run that put them up double figures. This was a quarter of two halves (do the math) because then Paul George got in on the action to have OKC up 66-64 at the break. Adams rested for most of the Raptors run after his heavy workload in the first and despite only adding four points to his 1Q total (and missing two free throws at the end) the Thunder outscored the Raps by 22-15 after he checked back in.
Not sure what to make of this effort, the free throw or the header…
… and yet Adams was bloody marvellous in that third frame. Came out and made a couple FTs, he was rebounding and stealing, he was assisting and scoring… a couple missed shots in there but enough to keep things ticking over in what became a massively intense back and forth game in the second half – the lead was never again above five for either team until the last few seconds of the contest. Plus in an age where player-ref relations are getting stretched, this level of polite self-awareness is always appreciated from the folks with the whistle…
It must have been appreciated because OKC certainly got on the right end of a couple dud whistles, which would come to a boil later on.
Adams had 25 points already, one shot shy of his PB. The Raptors couldn’t stop him. It was a physical game and Jonas Valanciunas got into some foul trouble trying to deny the NZer. Serge Ibaka had his issues too, he shot just 2/11 for the game and his team were blitzed for -23 while he was on the court. Dwayne Casey was frustrated with some of the calls and his players were no different. Perhaps that’s what led to the deadly assault that clouded this game in shame. Somebody say a prayer for Steven Adams’ testicles (be careful how you word it tho) because yet again they were on the wrong end of a trailing limb. Serge Ibaka… how could you!?
Ouch.
Ouchouchouchouchouchouch.
Why does this keep happening?
Billy Donovan: “That did not look very comfortable, what happened to him.”
Hey but at least he was in good spirits about it. No grudges. And you know what? He limped off to the locker room only to return in the fourth quarter in his usual rotation and he played the final 7:44 of this one. Didn’t take another shot so that personal best was left out on the table but he grabbed a couple more rebounds and did what needed to be done.
The Oklahoman: “It was rare for the Raptors to get Adams out of his comfort zone. He made 10 of 13 shots in the game, scored 14 points in the first quarter and ran the pick and roll to perfection with Russell Westbrook. “His success rate is very, very high when he gets the ball where he wants it, and he can get to any spot, move anybody,” Westbrook said. “I'm just lucky and happy he's on our team.””
Kyle Lowry fouled out with 3:18 to play and the game tied at 119-all. Russell Westbrook then scored the next couple and free throws became the chef’s special. This was Westbrook at his peak, he scored 16 of 18 points for the Thunder down the stretch before Paul George killed it off with some technicals. Why the techs? Yeah, that was some drama. DeRozan wanted a call on a Brewer foul that never came (the refs office later confirmed it was a good no-call) and coupled with such a brutal game and so many whistles… it all just popped the top. DeRozan was ejected and so were Ibaka and Casey all in the final minute. The Thunder kept their composure for a 132-125 win, one of their best of the season.
Big ups to Steven Adams on 25 pts, 8 rebs & 4 stls. This game was all his in the first three quarters but it was Russell Westbrook’s at the end, he surged to 37 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists. 22 points for Paul George and 15 for Melo too. For Toronto they were led by 24 for DeRozan and 22p/10a from Lowry. CJ Miles and Delon Wright each had 15 off the bench. There were 49 fouls and 37 total turnovers in this game.
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS (A+)
“The Toronto Raptors had no answer for the Big Kiwi today. Dwayne Casey threw every body he had on his bench to try and deal with Adams, but it was to no avail. OKC’s bruiser of a centre scored 25 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. If it were not for an unfortunate hit to his groin area in the 3rd quarter, Adams may have had an even gaudier stat line.”
at BOSTON CELTICS
Obviously the Celtics are right up there with the Raptors and (probably) Cavs in the East – obviously because it’s Boston so if they’re winning then they’re letting us all know about it – but the C’s sure didn’t hit this game up in the same form as the Raps two nights prior. Three losses from their past four and the common denominator has been Kyrie Irving missing all four with a knee injury. He didn’t play against OKC either. Marcus Smart had surgery as well, likely not to return until the playoffs. Then chuck in Jaylen Brown in the concussion protocol and it’s easy to forget that Gordon Hayward was their big free agent signing supposed to score 20+ a night for the Celts too.
Brad Stevens had a bunch of nice things to say about the Thunder pregame, including calling Russell Westbrook the best athlete he’s ever seen. However Stevens is also a pretty decent coach so this shaped as a banana-peel game for OKC. Then again, this team has been a different beast since Corey Brewer hit that starting five and after Boston scored the first two buckets it was the Thunder who responded with an 8-0 run including a couple pops from Kiwi Steve.
Adams threw down another one on the offensive regather before making back to back free throws (yuss!) to give OKC a 16-12 lead which Westbrook quickly added to. It was 26-18 after 1Q. Offense was tougher to come by in the second but what really hurt Oklahoma City was giving up so many extra shots on the defensive end. The quarter began with three straight off-boards for the Celtics before Greg Monroe finally threw one in and that was a trend that continued, even after Steven Adams checked back in. Yet quality still stepped up in the guise of Russell Westbrook and Paul George.
We now cut live to Caron Butler on the sideline (Players Only on TNT!) with his former teammate Steven Adams…
And then a quick jaunt back to the studio where Shaquille O’Neal is waiting to take jabs at how soft the league has gotten these days, although he did single out Steven Adams as the only dude out there who could rock with the old dudes back in the day. Retired players trashing the modern game is pretty tiresome but that’s some high praise for Stevie to break down that barrier. Anyway, OKC were up by three at the break despite getting out-rebounded by nine and getting basically nothing from their bench so far.
Quiet from Steve in the third. He missed his only shot, an off-balance one-hander which he tried to whip up as he fell away on the spin, receiving the ball in a tricky position under the rim. Probably shoulda made it count though and the same goes for three missed FTs early in the frame. He also didn’t add a single rebound in that quarter although he did dish a couple assists to PG & RW. That was a little more his task here as OKC looked to test a strong Boston defence (but which was missing a couple of its better exterior guys) by pushing the ball inside then chucking it back out against the compacted defence. Thunder still led by nine with a minute left but Boston then closed on a 7-0 run, Shane Larkin with a running three at the buzzer.
In other news, add this to the highlight reel:
Missed shots were the theme of the early fourth as defence well and truly took over, the main talking points being a bollocks call of an illegal screen on Adams and then Paul George turning it over trying the bounce pass to his kiwi teammate, giving away a foul in the aftermath. His fifth personal with almost eight minutes left.
It was Russell Westbrook who took over the previous game, it was a few of his mates who did so this time. The Celtics were up by one with five mins left but that was in the midst of a stretch of four minutes without a point. Both teams started launching threes… and Corey Brewer and Carmelo Anthony (twice) made ‘em count despite starting 0/9 between them from deep, complimented by Paul George who was hot from deep all night. Some sharp handles from Jayson Tatum gave Boston life but some sharp hands and heavy shoulders from Kiwi Steve got him to the line late on and he made 3/4 in the clutch.
And it woulda been an impressive victory had Carmelo Anthony followed Adams’ lead and made some free throws. Terry Rosier hit a triple at the death before Melo was intentionally fouled… and missed both. Which gave Marcus Morris the chance to drill a deep one and Westbrook couldn’t hit from the inbounds with 1.2 seconds left. Celtics with a steal, 100-99.
Steven Adams didn’t score from the field outside the first quarter and only took two more shots. Westbrook was good with 27p/85/7a but he did have 5 turnovers and only shot 9/21 – missing his last four attempts and also missing a crucial late free throw. 24p & 13r for Paul George with 5 triples. Tatum had 23p/11r/4a for the Celtics in a fantastic performances and he got big help from Morris with 21 points and Greg Monroe’s 17.
Whatcha reckon, Steve?
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS (B+)
“We can always count on Steven Adams to play his heart out. A common storyline from the season played out again tonight: the Thunder sought him out on the offensive end in the first quarter then proceeded to rarely feed him again. 3 of his 7 shots came in the first 12 minutes; so did 8 of his 14 points. Oklahoma City won’t unlock their true potential until Adams is consistently utilized on that end of the floor. The problem is they only have nine more games to press that point home.”
SLAM DUNKS
Berry Tramel/The Oklahoman: “Steven Adams had a monster first quarter Sunday against Toronto: 7-of-7 shooting, 14 points. Adams finished with excellent numbers: 10-of-13 shooting, 25 points. The first-quarter explosion was out of the ordinary for Adams. He averages 5.2 points in the first quarter this season. But the first-quarter disparity was not out of the ordinary. Adams’ production goes down significantly after the first quarter.
This season, Adams’ points per quarter are 5.2, 3.3, 3.4, 2.2. His shots per quarter go down significantly, too – 3.7, 2.2, 2.2, 1.5. And his usage rate – the amount of possessions a player ends, either with a shot, a turnover or foul shots – is much heavier in the first quarter. Per minute, Adams’ usage rate by quarter is .488, .409, .353 and .273.”
Fred Katz/Norman Transcript: “Each official throws a jump ball a little differently — even if most have general fundamentals. No other NBA referee, however, lobs them quite like veteran ref Ken Mauer… When he first came into the NBA, [Adams] watched film not just of players but also of officials.
“Ken Mauer, you just remember how he throws the ball. Most of them bring it up. Some just toss it up,” Adams told The Transcript. “But he steps back and then he tosses the ball.”
The Thunder center can reel off the intricacies of each referee’s tossing form. And it’s helped. He’s won just over 71 percent of jump balls this year, fourth in the NBA among qualifying centers, according to tracking by analytics site Nylon Calculus. The rate is up from last year’s 66 percent, which ranked seventh among qualifying centers.
“All I’m looking for is just how they mask it, really, because it’s the first one to the ball,” Adams said. “You don’t have to jump super high. You just have to get there before anyone.”
Kevin O’Connor/The Ringer: “No player has logged more screen assists this season than Adams, per NBA.com/Stats, and he led the league in box outs at the All-Star break.Westbrook devastates defenses with his ferocious drives and athletic rebounds, but Adams helps make his life easier. “My whole mind-set is just to hit them as hard as I can,” Adams told NBC Sports in February. “It’s more just a psyche thing. Because no one likes getting hit.”
It’s so easy to forget that Adams is only 24 and getting better every season on both ends of the floor. He’s developed great chemistry with Westbrook and, in a different context, perhaps he’d get more touches in the post, where he’s reliable from either block as a scorer or passer. Adams is a supporting actor, but a very important one who offers hope for the Thunder’s future.”
Flashback to the trade that got the Thunder the pick that became Steven Adams…
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