There were 16.1 seconds remaining in the game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers when Steven Adams supplied with the game-winning field goal. Cometh the moment, cometh the Funaki.

It had been a topsy-turvy contest in which Cleveland had started fast and were ahead for most of the first quarter, although Memphis chased them down to lead at the 1Q buzzer and then boosted out to an advantage of as many as 19 points in the second. However the twists continued between two of the most exciting young teams in the league as the Cavs surged back and as we approached the decisive stages it was yet anybody’s game. There’d be nine lead changes in the fourth quarter. Evan Mobley would hit a shot then Ja Morant would respond. Desmond Bane or Jaren Jackson would bury one then it would be Darius Garland’s turn.

A couple of Morant free throws with a minute remaining had closed the Grizz within one point. Cavs leading 114-113. Garland missed on the next possession, tossing up a long three, but Mobley grabbed the offensive board to extend the play. Garland was able to back up and take the clock down under thirty seconds as he drove to the rim with Jackson guarding him at the perimeter. Desmond Bane stepped out of the way and Steven Adams stepped into the way... but it was Jackson’s quick recovery and insane length that allowed him to reach over and slap that thing out of bounds. Yet another brilliant defensive play from JJJ.

3.2 seconds remained on the shot clock for the Cavs to work with... but nobody could get free and they coughed it up via a five-second violation. Didn’t launch the inbounds pass soon enough. Therefore Memphis had the ball with the opportunity to take the lead. Ja Morant carried that thing the length of the floor, accelerating into a sprint with the basket in sight. Morant missed. But Steven Adams was there lurking to tip in the rebound...

Cleveland still had time for one final shot but with no timeouts they had to hurry. Garland faked a three and handed it off to Caris LeVert, who couldn’t shake Bane so he shifted it back. Garland had to launch it with less than three seconds on the clock and Dillon Brooks got a hand up for the block. Never gave him a moment’s peace on that possession and the block took us to the buzzer.

Two mad defensive plays bookmarking Steven Adams with the scoring heroics. The Grizzlies won it 115-114 to extend their winning streak to a franchise-record tying 11 games in a row. And didn’t they bloody love it.

Ah but that begs the question: was this Steven Adams’ first game-winning bucket in the NBA? Taylor Jenkins assumed so based on what Adams told him in the heat of the moment but then it didn’t sound like either of them were very sure.

This proved surprisingly annoying to research, mostly because of the flimsy definition of what a ‘game-winner’ actually means. The buzzer-beating efforts are easy to categorise but what about a shot like Adams made here where the other team still had another possession? It’s a game-winner, sure, but it’s a slippery slope. A go-ahead bucket followed by the player’s team adding further points, is that a game-winner? Like, does it have to the final scoring play of the game? And how far back on the clock do we have to go before we’re taking the piss? Imagine if someone hits a triple to give his team the lead with two minutes left and nobody else makes a bucket the rest of the way... game-winner?

So in that light, let’s start by branching out into wider clutch time performance. These are the numbers that Steven Adams has served up over the course of his entire career in the final minute of games when the lead is five points of less for either team. Close games, in other words. Here we goooo...

The buzziest thing right off the bat is how rarely the Grizzlies have been involved in those situations. They tend to win a lot of their games by blowouts, meaning Adams often doesn’t have to play in the fourth quarter at all let alone in the final minute. However his OKC teams did get into it a whole lot more to provide us with a healthy career sample.

Very few shot attempts for the man himself, only 14 FGA across 111 minutes of basketball. Even by his own unselfish standards that’s extremely low... but then of course it is because he’s not a guy for whom coaches are going to draw up very many plays. We’re talking about the most important phase of the game – it’s first option scorers all the way if it can be helped. Adams is there for screen setting and rebounding. Sometimes, against smaller line-ups for example, he might not be on the floor at all. His free throw shenanigans also compromise his status when his team are up late and the other side are looking to foul. Or if they’re down and need a three-pointer of their own (although not necessarily because Adams’ screens are an automatic space-creator and his presence on the court has the best impact on teammates’ three-point percentage of anyone on his team).

But, tell ya what, 10/14 for 71% shooting in the final minute of games in clutch situations is pretty excellent. Can’t argue with the stats. Particularly as his only misses all came in the same season – he hasn’t missed a clutch bucket in the final minute of a game since 2017. Yeah go on then, how d’ya like them apples?

Curiously, those four misses both came in pairs. There was a game against the Phoenix Suns in which Adams missed a tip-in then also couldn’t convert on an inbounds lob with 1.4 remaining. The latter would have been a game-winner had he converted it. Instead the Thunder went on to win 113-108 in overtime with Russell Westbrook getting a 51-point triple-double... so that probably worked out for the best.

Then there was an overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers later in the same season where Adams grabbed an o-board inside the last fifteen seconds down by four, had it blocked as he went back up, then regathered and missed the second effort.

The other thing to say is that a high proportion of these attempts came via offensive rebounds. There were a couple of hand-offs from Russell Westbrook mixed in there plus that last play lob in the Phoenix game. Paul George popped one over to him under the rim once. But 9/14 of those last minute clutch shots all happened because the man who would eventually evolve into the best offensive rebounder in the entire NBA was hunting those second-chance opportunities.

Back to the topic at hand... were any of these shots game-winners? Well that missed from the lob pass versus Phoenix would have been if he’d made it. No dice there. There was a game against the LA Lakers in 2016-17 in which Adams scored twice inside the final minute to take his team from three points down to one point up. A dime from Westbrook with 43 seconds remaining and then, after a Larry Nance Jr missed hook shot, a lay-up from an offensive rebound with 14 seconds on the clock (following up after Westbrook had missed on the drive). That had game-winner potential... until Nick Young nailed a three with five seconds to go. Westbrook then missed a pull-up at the buzzer.

Later on in that same season, Steve-o threw down a dunk at the rim (Westbrook assist) with 39 seconds to go to restore the Thunder’s lead against the San Antonio Spurs. Unfortunately the Spurs then scored the last six points to claim it 100-95.

Moving on to 2018-19 and a put-back from a Russ miss gave OKC the lead against Minnesota with 53 seconds left. But a lot can happen in 53 seconds and the Timberwolves ended up winning that bad boy. However he did get some clutch-time revenge against the Wolves the following season. Adams’ tying bucket with 53 seconds left in the fourth was important but it was not the main act. The Thunder went on to win that one in overtime and the reason they got there was this legendary assist to Dennis Schröder...

Yeah, you remember that one, don’t you? It’s not his only clutch-time assist (he has six of them, this the most recent). However it’s definitely the best.

Hold on though, there was one other instance. Gotta go all the way back to the 2015-16 season when the Thunder played the Clippers and after Westbrook had tied things up with 1:18 remaining, both teams missed a shot for the lead before the Clips turned it over and then Russ missed another attempt... only this time he had Steven Adams trailing to tip it home. 27 seconds left. Austin Rivers then missed at the rim with four seconds on the clock and that was that. The first, and until this week the only, game-winner in Steven Adams’ career. Check it out at about nine seconds into this sneaky collection of research material...

Sorry to Taylor Jenkins but you’ve been spreading misinformation there, son. Not that anyone’s gonna blame you for not knowing/remembering.

Those stats and examples are only from the regular season. Spreading our wings into the playoffs, there have been two more examples of Adams getting up a clutch field goal attempt – both tip-ins, both made, both against the Houston Rockets. In game three of the 2017 first round series, Adams mopped up the scraps after Westbrook had missed a three to give the Thunder the decisive lead – with James Harden and Russell Westbrook trading free throws over the remaining 35 seconds. Can’t really call-it a game-winner for that reason but still a massive bucket. It was the only game they’d win that series, already 2-0 down and going on to lose 4-1.

The second example was in game three of the 2020 first round series. A quick bucket against a spread out defence with Chris Paul nursing the overload in the paint for the assist. Got the game back within one before a Shai-Gilgeous Alexander three for the lead. They ended up going to overtime where OKC trounced them. But Houston had the last laugh when they carried on to win the series in game seven.

Of course, there might have been another game-winner had his fingers been a little less sticky back in the first round of the 2016 playoffs. The Thunder were playing the Dallas Mavericks and a pair of missed free throws from Raymond Felton gave them the chance to win it on the final possession. Kevin Durant was blocked up close. Russell Westbrook rebounded but couldn’t score. Steven Adams then swooped in and swished that sucker home... but his release came a fraction of a second after the final buzzer so the shot didn’t count. Dallas won it 85-84.

Don’t freak, that was the only game Dallas won in that series as the Thunder marched past them and then past the San Antonio Spurs to make it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. There they were beaten in seven by the Golden State Warriors. Steven Adams got kicked in the nuts by Draymond Green. Klay Thompson produced one of the all-time great shooting performances in game six. Kevin Durant then signed with the Dubs in the offseason as he hit free agency. It’s all in the history books.

Unlike the game-winner that wasn’t from Steve-o way back in round one, although that’s exactly how he wanted it. Flush the dunny and move on...

But wait there’s more. Those are all of his game-winning field goals. You may not believe this... but he did once win a game at the free throw line and it wasn’t all that long ago either. We’re talking about his last season in Oklahoma City, it was a December fixture against the Chicago Bulls. Chris Paul inspired a hefty fourth quarter comeback although Zach LaVine had kept the Bulls in the contest down the stretch. Steven Adams was fouled with four seconds on the clock in a tied game, the replay booth upholding the call, and that sent this 55% free throw shooter to the line with the chance to potentially win it.

He made the first. He missed the second. But then he also got his own rebound which was even better than a made FT as it ended up with Chris Paul at the line with one second on the clock, CP3 burying both for a 109-106 lead. Zach LaVine launched a fifty-footer on the buzzer in a final desperate attempt to force overtime but it wasn’t close. A free throw and an offensive rebound doing the trick for OKC – Steven Adams’ biggest strength and greatest weakness combining to uphold the forces of good.

Naturally he also had a banger of a post-game quote about his exploits because he’s always got a banger of a post-game quote about his exploits as long as someone’s brave enough to ask.

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