Kiwi Steve in the NBA – April 29
The Spurs it is. Just as the Red Woman foresaw it, Oklahoma City and San Antonio will meet in the Western Conference semi-finals. The Spurs got there by sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies 4-0, the Thunder by comfortably seeing off the Dallas Mavericks 4-1.
But make no mistake that the Spurs are going to be a very different story. A much healthier team and a much better team even if the Mavs were at full strength. Although in some ways there are some parallels, as the Mavs sort of copied the Spurs way of playing slower and defensively minded… just with a much worse cast. LaMarcus Aldridge will pop long twos like other teams don’t even attempt. Kawhi Leonard can score from all over. Tim Duncan and Boris Diaw bring an inside presence but also a stretch forward capability. Then you have an array of shooters around them, not to mention the playmaking genius of Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, even in 2016. This is a team that won 67 games without even trying sometimes.
Having been overwhelming favourites against the Mavericks the Thunder are now outsiders. Let’s not forget that a loss may mean the end of Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City as well. Probably not… but maybe.
Bleacher Report: Thunder Enter Series vs. Spurs with Pressure to Win NBA Title at All-Time High
Hoops Habit: “At the 5, however, is where 22-year-old Steven Adams will need to prove himself. Tim Duncan is no longer the focal point of the Spurs’ offense or defense, but you can never count out a wily veteran like this, especially when pitted against a relatively inexperienced opponent. That being said, Adams fulfilled his role as agitator relatively well against Duncan in the regular season. Adams was excellent in the first round, averaging 9.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while supplying physicality on the interior, but he probably benefitted a bit from facing a Zaza Pachulia–Salah Mejri–David Lee frontcourt trio. He won’t have that same luxury against an all-time great like Duncan, but there’s never been a better time for Adams to bust through that ceiling.”
Box Scores
at DAL, G3 (W 131-102): 23 MINS, 4 PTS (2/4 FG), 6 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2 PF
at DAL, G4 (W 119-108): 25 MINS, 14 PTS (5/7 FG, 4/6 FT), 8 REB, 2 AST, 1 TO, 2 PF
vs DAL, G5 (W 118-104): 38 MINS, 15 PTS (5/8 FG, 5/9 FT), 10 REB, 1 AST, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 4 PF
So a week ago we were coming off a shock Dallas victory in game two. Series tied at 1-1. Those undermanned Mavs sticking around despite being held together by sticky tape and blue tack. But it didn’t last.
Game three saw things return to relative parity. Parity in that Kevin Durant was back to his usual self and the Thunder were way too good. This might have been the worst game of the series, Andre Roberson hit a three to make it 3-0 and the Mavericks were never again level. They held zero leads. Durant was the sparkplug as he bounced back from the worst playoff game of his career – when he shot 7/33 – to make his first seven field goals in just nine attempts. He scored 20 in the first half.
Dallas teased something with a 12-3 run to make it a 10 point game at the half but then the Thunder hit back with an 11-2 kicker to the third quarter to immediately douse any flames there. And yet flames there most certainly were. Even in what was easily his least involved game of these playoffs, Steven Adams was a large part of one of the main talking points…
It was the first major one of a number of confrontations across the five games. Adams clearly struck Ray in the face but almost certainly accidental, not that Felton saw it that way. Jab with the elbow, double technical assessed. Unlucky for Steve, really, all he did was stand his ground against a player significantly shorter than him. In a normal circumstance that arms is gonna be at chest level of a fellow big – you can see how that comes to happen. Neither player held any beef after the game (that they acknowledged) but the biff would be a huge part of the last two games.
Ray Felton: "Just because I'm 6-1 I ain't backing down from nothing. I'm not gonna let anybody hit me in my face and let that go. But whatever - it's over with now. I'm not gonna dwell on it. On to the next game. It happens. Games get chippy. Everybody fighting for something. Gets emotional, trash talking or whatever goes back and forth. That's all in the game."
Welcome to Loud City: “Steven Adams saw a bit less time tonight, and the Mavericks were much more successful near the rim as a result. But as the low score of Game 2 would indicate, we really don't need defense to beat the Mavericks. Not much of an offensive role for Adams either, with the Mavs clogging the paint with all their might. But I'm confident that Adams will be key in the next round against the Spurs, especially considering the Spurs aren't as stocked at center.”
Adams flipped in the first points of game four but for the initial stages it looked like Dallas were getting the slow, steady game they wanted. Long shot clocks and all that. Deron Williams only lasted 89 seconds on his return from injury before he left to be ruled out for the series but a full minute of scoreless basketball in the middle of the first kept it at 11-11 and very tense. Then Steve made a layup. What really broke it open though, surprisingly, was the Thunder’s bench. In came those dudes for the last few of the quarter and they just bossed. Enes Kanter saved his bet for later but had a few moments, while Russ and Durant were complimented by about two minutes of perfect basketball from Dion Freakin’ Waiters. In the space of the last 99 seconds of the first, Waiters scored 7 points with an assist, a rebound and a block. 33-18 to OKC and they had a lead they’d never lose.
A number of times in the third quarter especially, that lead dropped as low as seven points. Ray Felton continued his solid play but that was nothing compared to Enes Kanter’s closer’s job in the final Q. That dude, for the second game in a row, set a personal playoff high as he scored 28 points on an incredible 12 of 13 shooting night. A cheeky six boards in there too.
Kiwi Steve set a good-looking box score as well, chiming in with his 14 points and 8 rebs.
WTLC: “Steven Adams perhaps wasn't as effective at protecting the rim tonight as he was in the past. But the Mavericks weren't really driving the ball while Adams was in the game, and Pachulia wasn't really looked to as an option. That speaks volumes to Adams ability, and Carlisle's avoidance of Adams on offense.
I really appreciated Adams' increased scoring while Pachulia was in the game. Adams had 12 14 points tonight, nearly all of them coming while Pachulia was in the game. Adams worked the pick and roll perfectly. But Adams also filled the lane whenever Westbrook or KD could draw a double-team, and was always ready for the pass. I also admired Adams ability to grab the rebound, kick it out, and reset. Much better vision than we give him credit for.”
What really made headlines this game though was the boilovers that kept on happening. After Rick Carlisle had complained about physical “non-basketball physical escalations” not getting called after last game, the refs seemed to be on the lookout.
Yet funnily enough, in a series that became increasingly testy and physical, Adams didn’t have a whole lot to do with that. There was his non-beef with Ray Felton which neither really carried on, although Steve did take a controversial charge call on Felton the following one, dropping the lil dude to the floor, but aside from that it was his teammates getting in on the petty stuff. Like Anthony Morrow not giving the ball back for a Dallas inbounds as he sat on the bench. Or Russell Westbrook’s chirping away and a few shots of frustration from Serge Ibaka and Kevin Durant. On the Dallas side, Dirk Nowitzki is never one to let a missed call go unnoticed, while dudes like Justin Anderson and Salah Mejri, a couple rookies who didn’t really get their chances ‘til the back third of the season, were all about bringing the hard stuff themselves.
That Morrow play was a weird one. He was sitting on the bench and the ball fell to him and he played keepaway, not giving it back for the restart. Barea (who was awful in G4 after missing G3 with injury, kept scoreless on 0/7 shooting) went over to complain, Morrow pushed him, Westbrook and Mejri got involved. Inexplicably Morrow escaped with only a delay of game warning while Russ and Salah got T’d up. Later on Russ hurled an expletive at a Dallas fan that earned him a fine. Serge Ibaka got a tech for an elbow in garbage time and Kevin Durant, well… he was ejected for striking down on Anderson’s head.
Kevin Durant via ESPN.com: "I don't believe they're trying to hurt us, and we're not trying to hurt them," Durant said, also emphasizing that he wasn't trying to hurt Justin Anderson when he swung his arm across the Dallas guard's head. "We're going to do some talking. We're going to do some shoving here and there because that's how competitive both teams are."
Then for some reason, with his team on the brink of elimination, Mavs owner Mark Cuban went and said some things before game five that strongly suggested that Russell Westbrook was not a superstar. Those things were taken out of context, what he was alluding to was that Durant was the dude you want taking the last shot in a tied game, but it was weird all the same. Russ has this thing about playing against adversity. He then proceeded to play his best game of the series.
For the Mavs, the writing was long since on the wall. Nowitzki, Harris and Barea were all able to play through injury but Salah Mejri was ruled out (he tried his best to convince the coach to let him play) and David Lee also re-joined a growing list. Hey, this one wasn’t expected to go seven. Westbrook scored 13 points in the first quarter as the Thunder shot out to a lead they’d never lose. 35 points they scored all up, 35-20 after 1Q.
Thing is, the underhanded Mavs never went away. They chipped away, the Thunder pushed back, they chipped away again. Steven Adams is usually left to play defensive anchor in the first quarters of games as his superstars set the tone but here he accounted for 8 points as he played the entire first. He was going to come out for Kanter with a few minutes left but drew a foul and had to stay on to shoot the free throws. 8 points with 4 rebounds, an assist and a block. Top stuff.
The Thunder’s defence got sloppy in the second. They were sloppy for a lot of the game, actually, it’s just that they always had too much power for the Mavs to resist. But fast-forward to the fourth and with their season on the line, the Mavs did make a couple runs. They closed it to a three point deficit at one stage, around seven minutes left, both Nowitzki and Barea had threes to tie it but each missed. Russ scored another 10 in the fourth, while Kiwi Steve plucked on offensive board with 3:02 on the clock to complete a double-double. 15 & 10 he had in the best game of his series.
ESPN.com: “Adams' 15 points were a career playoff high. It was just his second playoff double-double in 23 career playoff games.”
Thunder Digest: “Along with the two superstars, the supporting cast came up huge. Steven Adams had possibly the greatest playoff performance of his young career with 15 points and 10 rebounds. There were periods of the game where Dallas was actually ruining the Thunder’s night crashing the boards, but when Adams was in his energy and tenacity led to extended Oklahoma City possessions.”
WTLC: “Steven Adams was hacked at least once tonight, and it certainly didn't work. Carlisle used the tactic when the Mavs got to within a possession of OKC in the second quarter.
Overall, Steven Adams got a ton of time due to Kanter's injury. 38 minutes is more than Adams has played in a single game all year. So it's not surprising that Adams racked up 15 points tonight All of Adams shots were within four feet of the rim. Defensively, Adams was a bit disappointing on the whole, and could have communicated better with his teammate on a couple of possessions. But Adams was really locking down the interior late in the game. And, don't forget, I pretty much hold Adams to a higher defensive standard than everyone else. Adams is easily the Thunder's most important defender.”
The Thunder held out to take it 118-104, advancing in five games. Durant chipped in with 33 points of his own. But this one wasn’t over until we’d had one last bit of biffo. A loose ball, Westbrook dives on it and Justin Anderson goes flying in to rip it away. Pretty much dropping an elbow like a pro-wrestler might. Westbrook was furious at the jump ball call, he was taken off and sat on the bench to a huge ovation but then had to come back to contest the jumper. He didn’t bother, standing there not even looking at Anderson as the rookie won the toss-up.
From Tim MacMahon & ESPN.com: “The NBA announced that Mavericks rookie Justin Anderson has been assessed a flagrant 2 foul upon review of a play with 27.2 seconds remaining in Game 5. Anderson elbowed Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook in the mouth while they were fighting for a loose ball on the floor.”
After OKC dropped game two, they seemed to get the wake-up call they needed. Defensively it wasn’t always where they needed to be but the points flowed and while both teams got sucked into the physical stuff too often, the result was pretty magnanimous. The next series may not be quite that way, but we’ll look backwards before we look forwards.
Daily Thunder: “The Thunder put Steven Adams on Dirk for really the first time in the series. Maybe as a little warmup for LaMarcus Aldridge? Because if Adams can guard Aldridge, that allows the -Thunder a lot of different lineup options.”
Royce Young: “In this series, Enes Kanter was destructive in Games 3 and 4 on the road. Dion Waiters was solid throughout. Steven Adams continued his breakout as a top-tier, two-way big.”
Two really good stories about Steven Adams now. First off, those champs at NewsOK had one on the Thunder backcourt. Then another from USA Today about Adams in particular and his character off the court.
And have a quick read of this if you will, Thunderous Intentions’ 2015-16 player report card for Steven Adams. He gets a B+ overall, with praise on both sides of the ball and plenty of optimism for the future:
“When Adams has played a few more seasons, his defense could develop to the point that he is the best defensive center from the Southern Hemisphere, potentially passing Andrew Bogut.”