Kiwi Steve in the NBA Playoffs: Round One vs Utah Jazz, Games 3 & 4
BOX SCORES
at UTAH JAZZ (L 115-102):
26 MINS | 8 PTS (4/6 FG) | 2 REB | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PF
at UTAH JAZZ (L 113-96):
35 MINS | 9 PTS (4/9 FG, 1/2 FT) | 7 REB | 1 AST | 2 BLK
NEXT WEEK
GAME FIVE vs UTAH JAZZ, Thursday at 1.30pm (NZT)
GAME THREE
The first clash of the series saw the Thunder take an impressively comfortable W. The second did not. This Utah Jazz team were always going to be too good to lie down and they upped the physicality, getting Steven Adams into foul trouble and allowing them to have their way off the boards. Donovan Mitchell then did that thing he does where he dominates fourth quarters and bingo, that’s an even series at 1-1.
Which meant the ball was now on Billy Donovan’s side of the court. Quinn Snyder did what he needed to do to get his lads back in the series and now Billy D had to figure something out in response.
Steven Adams got into the scoring nice and quick. He was on call from five feet with that little one-hander of his, dropping off on the drive for enough space for Russell Westbrook to pick him out. Chuck in threes for Carmelo Anthony and Paul George and sweet as.
But then Steve got copped for his first foul leaving a hand on Rudy Gobert’s shoulder as he grabbed an offensive board but lost it again to the ref’s whistle and curiously Donovan immediately took him out of the game. Next thing Utah went on a 12-2 run. Don’t worry though, it was all part of the plan. In came Patrick Patterson and he made a couple long ones as Westbrook also got sparking before Adams checked back in with a few minutes left in the quarter to cap off a 13-0 run in response.
Pretty clever from Donovan. The Adams vs Gobert thing was always a sneakily definitive matchup and thanks to all them fouls last time, a few of them controversial but it’ll always be that way, Gobert was able to take old mate out of the game for all but 22 minutes. Even when Rudy wasn’t out there, Derrick Favors was stronger than anyone else out there. So in staggering his usual minutes, Donovan was able to keep Adams fresher to attack Gobert late in the quarter and, helpfully, do a little damage against the second unit too. 30-22 at the end of 1Q, OKC closing it on an 18-2 run.
The result was a cheeky 6 points for Adams, getting his hands dirty, but he wasn’t able to avoid the fouls and he took a seat with his third personal with 9:20 to go in the second. And, ah, it didn’t go so well from there. Ricky Rubio isn’t usually known as a scorer and his 1/6 shooting from deep in the first half didn’t do much to say otherwise but Rubio was outstanding down the stretch of that quarter. Those pull-ups and the passing… he had 19 points at the half to lead Utah from 11 points down when Adams committed his third PF to be five up at the half, 58-53. Once the Jazz got on a roll, the crowd surged them on and OKC were at a loss to drag back that momentum, doing well just to hang in there.
Kiwi Steve got his hand in the way of a Rubio shot from close but Gobert grabbed the rebound for the first points of the third frame. Next thing, bang, Westbrook from three, then boom, Corey Brewer with the clear path free throws after Melo snatched one from Joe Ingles, then kapow with the two pointer from Adams, and kablam as Melo hits from three for the lead. 11-0 run for OKC.
Then the Big Kiwi got caught for his fourth foul. Yikes. Some slick passing from Utah put Gobert on the step and Adams couldn’t get out of the way. Sit it down, amigo. But Donovan couldn’t leave him out for too long as Joe Ingles got loose and the Jazz fought back into the lead. Every single Jazz starter was getting it done and none better than Rubio, who sunk one from 28-feet right on the buzzer for an 89-75 lead after the 3Q.
The foul trouble turned out to be all good. Adams played through it for the last three minutes of the third and most of the fourth without adding to that tally. Without hardly adding to any tally, getting only one more rebound with one blocked shot. Not really the dude you go to when the game is slipping away, to be fair. Ray Felton was on fire to keep the heart beating for OKC but they just couldn’t close it in. They got within seven and then Utah went splash with the next 13 points.
Russell Westbrook may be the master of the triple double but it was Ricky Rubio who TD’d up in game three. 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Contrast that with Westbrook’s numbers of 14 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists and 8 turnovers. Not really in the script, that one.
Nor was Joe Ingles going 5/10 from deep for 21 points while Paul George hit 3/8 for 23 points. You’d expect George to top Ingles in scoring every game but Aussie Jingles went and had more impact in this game than the first two combined, that added punch giving Utah the pace to run away with it. 115-102 was the final score.
Ray Felton added 14 points with 4/5 3pt shooting. Melo scored 14 as well. OKC shot 47.4% from the field and 50% from deep but 17 turnovers didn’t help ‘em. Along with Rubio and Ingles, Donovan Mitchell added 22 points and 11 rebounds and Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 12 rebounds… compared to Steven Adams scoring 8 points and a pitiful 2 rebounds.
Here’s the thing: Steven Adams? He simply hasn’t been good enough. He’s got to rein in those fouls and stay on the court because he’s bugger all use off of it watching his team get torched off the boards. It ain’t fun to criticise the reason for this column but, you know, gotta call it straight.
The Sports Animal: “Steven Adams has been a non-factor in this series thus far, especially in Games 2 and 3 due to foul trouble. The Thunder can’t afford to have him off the floor. Adams scored just eight points and grabbed a laughable two rebounds. Meanwhile, when Adams is off the floor the Jazz are going super big with Gobert and Derrick Favors. OKC is being roasted on the glass when he is out. Adams must stay out of foul trouble. Billy had a great adjustment with Patrick Patterson coming in early at center for Adams. Favors typically goes out earlier and Utah will go small. So OKC went small and Gobert had to come out on Patterson, which allowed Westbrook or PG to get to the rim or kick out to Patterson from 3. Then Adams reentered the game when Favors came back in to combat his rebounding over OKC’s second unit. However, Adams nullified this adjustment when he got into foul trouble and had to sit the rest of the opening half after he got his third foul with just over eight minutes left in the half. Adams has to be in for OKC and he can’t continue to be a non-factor.”
Daily Thunder: “Steven Adams finished with 8 points and 2 rebounds, shooting 4-of-6 from the floor and posting a -2 in 26 minutes. He spent most of the night in foul trouble and watched as Rudy Gobert continued to impact the series in ways the Thunder’s big man just hasn’t thus far.”
GAME FOUR
Russell Westbrook had a good answer for adjustments on Rubio at the game three press conference. Asked about the Spaniard’s shooting spree, this is how he responded:
“He made some shots. Too comfortable. But I'm gonna shut that shit off next game though. Guarantee that.”
Rudy Gobert had some stuff to say as well, writing in the Player’s Tribune:
“I’ll leave you with one last number. 19,911. That’s the maximum attendance at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Any team that wants a piece of us is gonna have to come to Salt Lake City and deal with all 19,911 of you. Maybe nobody else believes in us, but that’s their problem. We know we’re still being overlooked. In Utah, people have seen that before. Now is the time to take what we know we deserve. Now is the time we make sure they hear us. And we’re going to need all of you. Every single one.”
Basically this was now the biggest game of the Thunder’s season. Everyone and their dog had an idea of how to fix things, what adjustments needed to be made… Steven Adams’ performance was one of them but that fourth quarter offence was another issue. As was Russell Westbrook, who was arguably trying a little too hard to facilitate others, not finding that Pure Russ balance.
Paul George was still draining jump shots, that didn’t need to change, but it was bloody reassuring to see Adams and Westbrook really look for the pick and roll early on in G4, which led to three quick buckets for Kiwi Steve.
Similarly Rusty was all about getting that shot off. He missed a few, naturally, but the important thing was that the offence was running through him not past him… although while Steven Adams thankfully avoided a first quarter foul (granted he did whack Westbrook accidentally for a foul that was called on Royce O’Neale), Westbrook picked up a couple and had to signal to Billy Donovan not to take him out early.
Best of all was that Westbrook had that chip on his shoulder and was guarding Rubio like it was the last possession of a tied game right from the opening tip. Then chuck in that PG and Adams were able to be a tad more efficient than Mitchell and Gobert and OKC were able to ride a 52% shooting quarter for a six-point lead after one.
Also helping was Joe Ingles, who’d been on fire in game three, missed his first four shots. Neither team was really shooting well in the second, to be fair, Melo started 1/6 himself as free throws kept the score ticking over at both ends. Quinn Snyder was called for a technical. Steven Adams got called for one too after reacting to a shove in the back from Gobert by swinging a bit of an arm. At this point in the series it feels redundant to say it was a soft call.
But at least it was another chapter in a fierce dual between the two international centres. Not that Rudy was having much of it, the stoic bastard.
Good, positive start… except it didn’t last. Adams posted up on Gobert a few feet from the rim and flipped in a gorgeous left handed bucket after the Jazz had tied it up a couple times but now the crowd was getting frantic and Utah was getting rolling, Ricky Rubio hitting the pull-up before Ingles finally made a three, sinking one from his favourite spot in the corner to give the Jazz the lead. It was all part of a horrible last 120 seconds of the half in which Westbrook got called for a charge, his fourth personal, and Ingles drained two more quick threes before Mitchell closed it out with one of his trademark driving layups. There was also a bit of beef between Paul George and Joe Ingles after PG had fumbled a pass, leading to a backcourt violation. Ingles copped a tech for it. Utah up 58-52 at HT, closing on a 20-10 run.
Westbrook still started the 3Q but the 3Q started with Derrick Favors scoring on a lob from Rubio before the Spaniard sunk one from three. After being held to one missed field goal without an assist in the first frame, Ricky had picked it up significantly and when he threw another up to Gobert it capped a 9-0 run to start the second half.
One thing the Jazz have consistently done this series is defend in transition. Those downhill Westbrook runs to the hoop, the Steven Adams clean up and dunks on the missed ones… might as well be imaginary. Also irrelevant in game four was OKC’s three-point shooting. Melo had some looks and missed time after time. His first five were no good. OKC as a team was 3/16 from deep after three, the lead getting as high as 21 points. It was 90-73 going into the final twelve. Utah outscored ‘em 66-43 in the middle Qs. Hmm.
The OKC bench slowed it down a bit but they still found it too hard to score and Donovan Mitchell, that guy, kept on doing stuff. The signs were not good. They were down 20 without the ball when Adams and Westbrook checked back in for Last Chance Saloon, eight minutes left. Adams popped a couple more rebounds in the stat line but he wasn’t gonna be much use on offence as long as these bricks kept flying from three. This Thunder team has never done it in half measures. By now we were up to 3/20 from deep.
Among the things Adams is best at, he’s only been able to rely on a couple of them in these four games. Even his offensive rebounding was nowhere to be seen in G4. But at least he still got to break up fights like always. There was another in a long line of feisty moments in the fourth as Westbrook and Crowder clashed, Adams stepping in as Melo also raced in, the kiwi getting smacked in the face by Crowder’s elbow as he did.
The refs took a long look and it might have been an accident but they still ejected Crowder for lifting the arm. Bit rough. But then for Adams to stand there like this never even hurt… that’s some Grade A indestructible supervillain work from the lad.
Quick tweak and, yeah nah, she’s all good mate.
OKC took a timeout with 2:30 left, down by 15, to try get Mitchell to stop scoring on them. When they came out of it Steven Adams was at the line, making the first then missing on purpose only for his team not to get the rebound. Then Mitchell made a three. It felt like it was all over… but that was exactly when the Thunder all of a sudden turned it round to pull off one of the all time great playoff comeback wins in the history of basketball, nay, the history of mankind…
Just jokes. They got completely fustigated.
We’re back to OKC for game five and then, if necessary, it’ll be Utah for G6 and OKC for number seven. With the Jazz up 3-1 though, and having won these last two so comprehensively, the possibility of a game six feels optimistic. Donovan Mitchell finished with 33 points – a reminder that he’s a ROOKIE – while Ingles scored 20 with five triples and Rubio had 13p/8a/6r. He didn’t shoot well but he ran the show in the middle Qs before Mitchell took over. Gobert had 16 points and 10 rebounds despite Adams not giving up a single foul. For OKC it was 32 points from George that led as Westbrook had 23 points and 14 rebounds but only 3 assists and Carmelo Anthony scored 11 points from 18 shots. Final 3pt numbers were 5/26 for 19.2%. Any ideas, call Billy Donovan.
Daily Thunder: “Steven Adams stayed out of foul trouble and pitched-in 8 points in the first quarter. He scored 1 point in the final three frames — a free throw in the fourth quarter. He wrapped up his night with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and a -19.”
SLAM DUNKS
Billy Donovan: “I think Steven wants to have a good career, wants to help the team, but I really think there's certain guys that winning overrides everything else. I don't think Steven ever views himself as being better than anybody, and I think Steven views, being part of a team, that it's his job and responsibility to bring happiness to the rest of the group.”
Hold up, before you leave gotta ask you to smack an ad for the TNC coffers, cheers