Kiwi Steve in the NBA #10: Happy Human Holiday
BOX SCORES
vs ATLANTA HAWKS (W 120-117):
34 MIN | 16 PTS (6/9 FG, 4/6 FT) | 10 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 2 TO | 3 PF
at UTAH JAZZ (W 103-89):
32 MINS | 12 PTS (5/9 FG, 2/4 FT) | 9 REB | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 1 PF
vs HOUSTON ROCKETS (W 112-107):
39 MINS | 15 PTS (7/9 FG, 1/1 FT) | 10 REB | 1 STL | 3 BLK | 1 PF
vs TORONTO RAPTORS (W 124-107):
23 MINS | 18 PTS (8/9 FG, 2/3 FT) | 9 REB | 2 AST | 4 STL | 1 TO | 5 PF
NEXT WEEK
vs MILWAUKEE BUCKS, Saturday at 2.00pm (NZT)
vs DALLAS MAVERICKS, Monday at 1.00pm (NZT)
at LOS ANGELES LAKERS, Thursday at 4.30pm (NZT)
at LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS, Friday at 4.30pm (NZT)
vs ATLANTA HAWKS (W 120-117)
Sitting at 12-14 not too long ago, the Thunder seemed to wanna take two steps back for every step forward. There hasn’t been too much complaining about these jokers since, the reason being that they’ve been eating Ws, rolling through victories, and all it took was Russell Westbrook returning to MVP standards!
Okay, that’s not sustainable in the long term. But against the Hawks it was Russ first, second and third. The Hawks hit some tough shots early in this one to keep it even at 28-all out of the opening quarter. All good there as long as Steven Adams is all over it and he scored the first three points of the game, though if it weren’t for Mason Plumlee’s block and a missed free throw he mighta had more. Ah well, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony soon assumed the scoring burden and then OKC went on a 21-6 run with Adams on the bench to start the second. Sweet as, blowing this one open.
The lead got as high as 16 points and by half-time the Thunder were well in control against the lottery-destined Hawks. A couple buckets for Adams after the break helped things, Westbrook was dishing dimes all over the show.
Yet Marco Belinelli in particular kept chipping away for the ATL. They closed it up to six points before Kent Bazemore dunked to give the Hawks their first lead since late in the first quarter. Better get Big Steve back in there then and let Russell go to work around those screens. An and-one from Russ had already pulled it back from 94-90 to 94-93 and Paul George hit a pull-up straight after Adams’ return to pad the regained lead, a feat aided by a couple free throws from Steve. When Melo hit a three, they were up seven again with less than six minutes left.
Still Atlanta wouldn’t go away. Bazemore, John Collins and Ersan Ilyasova all made important hoops, while Funaki tipped in a Melo miss with 43 seconds left for some clutch points, extending it to a two-possession game again. Paul George missed a crucial free throw and Melo fouled Ilyasova who tied it up from the line at 117-all, 11 seconds left in the game.
No worries, champ. Just give it to Rusty Buckets.
27 points for Belinelli with 5 assists while Ilyasova added 22 (4/5 from deep) and Malcolm Delaney scored 20 off the bench. However Westbrook was the hero here, scoring 30 points with 17 assists and 7 rebounds. Best of all he shot 12/17. Paul George missed a few but still chipped in with 17 points and 3 steals while Melo was 8/19 for 24 points. 16 points for Kiwi Steve, with 10 boards for another double-double. 7 of those rebounds were at the offensive end.
And, erm… ouch. Not this again.
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS (B)
“The Big Kiwi had the typical Big Kiwi game, minus one key factor. Adams had 16 points and 10 rebounds (7 offensive) while leading the charge that held the Hawks to 27 total boards. As the anchor of the Thunder defense, however, Adams has to take just as much blame as George and Roberson for OKC giving up 117 points to the 7-25 Hawks. The communication on their defensive rotations were poor because Adams failed to call out Atlanta screens, cuts and rubs on time. There’s a good chance I’m being too hard on him and the rest of the starters. Go back and watch how dominant the Thunder were in the second quarter compared to the rest of the game and I think you’ll understand more where I’m coming from.”
at UTAH JAZZ (W 103-89)
That last win pushed the Thunder’s home record up to 12-4, which was extra tasty considering they had a four game home-stand on the menu after this trip to Utah to face their old buddies The Jazz. Beat ‘em last week now they got to do it all over again on the road.
We’re still talking about a Jazz team without Rudy Gobert though. Donovan Mitchell was back and looking wild as he dropped 29 points – he’s got more 20+ scoring games than any other rookie – but other than that dude it was as relatively comfortable as road wins get. Doesn’t matter about the second night of a back to back when OKC’s stars are playing this well. Melo missed some shots but still hit the odd timely one while Russ continued on his scoring form from the game-winner the night before and PG13 was top quality at both ends.
Mitchell made sure things stayed close after Oklahoma City went up by nine mid-1Q and it was still only 47-43 after Utah edged the second quarter with some close in points. But they could never get the outside shot going, the Jazz shot 6/26 as a team from 3pt. Joe Ingles was 1/5 from deep. So once OKC made the necessary adjustments they ran away with it. A 9-2 run early in the third was overcome by the home team, as Utah got it back to 54-52. By the end of the frame the Thunder were up by 12 and they weren’t troubled again. Utah’s final lead of the game came less than four minutes into the opening quarter. Easy does it, then.
27p/10r/10a for Westbrook, who completed the triple-double with a timely alley-oop to Steven Adams with 14 seconds left in the fourth (you could tell the Thunder were winning because Adams got three shots in over the last three minutes and only one was a tip-back). Chuck in 26 points and 6 steals for Paul George, who was a team-best +13 on the field as well. Melo scored 16 (6/18 FGs) and Steve chucked down 12 points of the best stuff.
Steven Adams: “It’s always good getting those second chance points, trying to save the possession. Obviously there’s a bit of luck, statistics, whatever you want to use, but the main thing is that if you run your offense properly and execute it well, and take the shots where people know where the shots are going to be taken from, that definitely helps a lot.”
vs HOUSTON ROCKETS (W 112-107)
Iiiiiit’s Christmas! Again!? Umm… sort of. This was a Christmas Day game for the Thunder but of course we commoners back in Aotearoa all watched it on Boxing Day. Which, for you fellow NBA nuts, is a bit of a Xmas tradition. Chuck on the basketball as you work through a few leftovers from the day before, check the score in the cricket during timeouts, hype it all up. Lovely way to spend a day… and this year even featured some Kiwi Steve.
There are easier teams to be playing over the festive period than the Houston Rockets, granted. These buggers had already won 25 games, topping the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference until the Dubs also won on Christmas. James Harden was coming off consecutive 51-point games. How do you spell MVP again…? But the Rockets lost both those games to the two LA franchises, snapping a 14-game win streak. Meanwhile the Thunder seem to be postponing the usual two steps back. Hmm. Chris Paul’s latest injury hasn’t helped.
That hot streak from Russ seemed to chill right off as he missed all six of his field goal attempts in the first quarter, going scoreless. Albeit, he did flip five assists before being spared the humiliation by Ray Felton’s subbing in. Despite that the Thunder scored the first seven points of this thing and were up 14-7 with 8:52 remaining in the first before they started to cool off and only managed to double that total in more than twice as much time, trailing 31-28 at the end of the first. And the reason they were able to score so well to begin and stay so close ‘til the buzzer? They call him Steven Adams.
That was all in the first. Obviously Adams was in a hurry to get home for Christmas dinner because he shot 6/8 in the 1Q for 12 points and 6 rebounds, one of the finest statistical frames of his career. Seeing Adams come out hot in the first is nothing new but here he was carrying them through their main man’s offensive struggles. The usual trend is that he gets less involved with ball in hand as the game goes on and the Big Three start getting all their shots up, so safe to say he kept things ticking until then.
By the way, Adams is averaging 5.1 points on 66.7% shooting with 2.9 rebounds in first quarters this season. His overall numbers are 13.7p/8.9r at 63.6% shooting, well shy of the 20.4p/11.6r he’d be putting up if his 1Q productions (were allowed to) continued through the rest of the game.
That can be frustrating sometimes but on Christmas Day in Oklahoma City it was exactly what the team needed. Adams only scored another 3 points all game, only made another 4 rebounds. But he played large minutes in battling with Clint Capela and helped lay it down on the defensive end alongside the always impressive Paul George and Andre Roberson there. Those two in particular, they were able to combine on James Harden to where he may have scored 29 points but he only shot 7/18 and 3/11 from 3pt range. This is a dude bordering on 40% from deep this season and he missed eight of them on Xmas. As a team the Rockets only hit 12/37 from deep – slowly becoming a strength of the Thunder’s, that.
Some Westbrook buckets late in the second gave OKC a 58-57 lead at the break which took them to the dreaded third quarter… where they proceeded to drop 30 points. Leaning heavy on the OK3 there but all goods while they’re scoring like that. The game was tied at 88-88 after three but Oklahoma City had gotten through their weak quarter without letting it slide. Then, after going almost the first four minutes of the fourth without a field goal, Westbrook did what Westbrook does after rebounding Adams’ block on Capela. He tied it up with the and-one.
The Thunder were giving away too many fouls to edge too far ahead, Ray Felton copped Eric Gordon for three of them, yet they were also hitting shots. Even some Hack-A-Dre only slowed them down, rather than taking the wheels off. James Harden whiffed on a three trying to draw a foul that never came with 27 seconds left, trying to tie it up, then Roberson finished the layup on the feed from Westbrook after he was credited with that block on the Harden three. That made it 112-107 and OKC had gotten it done in the crunch on Christmas.
Rob Mahoney/Sports Illustrated: “Yet whenever a play seemed to be teetering on the edge, Andre Roberson or Paul George would be there to steady it. Steven Adams seemed forever caught between multiple responsibilities, but balanced them masterfully. No defense can close out perfectly against the Rockets for an entire game, but the Thunder—bigs and smalls alike—kept it reasonable and forced specialists to put the ball on the floor.”
29 points and 14 assists for Harden, while Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza each scored 20 points and Capela added 19p & 10r. Only got 8 points off the bench though and they couldn’t stop the 54.4% shooting Thunder. 31 points and 11 assists for Westbrook while Anthony scored 20 off 12 shots and Paul George had 24 pts with four triples. 15 more for Steve as well. Russ, PG & Melo shot 16/22 in the second half.
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS (A+)
“We can rest easy tonight Thunder Nation. The world is well-aware that Steven Adams is a better center than Clint Capela. Capela’s numbers look similar to the Big Kiwi’s but a big pat of that has to do with the two differing systems. Adams notched SEVEN offensive rebounds – those second chance opportunities were a big reason why the Thunder ultimately pulled this game. The big concern from this game is how Billy Donovan wants to utilize Adams in pick & roll coverage. Tonight he had the 24-year old hedge up, but that allowed Capela to roam free to the paint for easy dunks and alley-oops. When the Thunder rotated to guard Capela it left an open three-point shooter in the corner. Luckily they have over a half a season left to experiment.”
vs TORONTO RAPTORS (W 124-107)
You’ve heard this all before but the Thunder really do look like a corner may have been turned. Melo’s taking more catch-and-shoots, Roberson’s getting a few hoops, Russ is finding the right balance alongside his new teammates and the defence continues to be insanely good. Settle on some of that, just know that the offence has been on a killer pace over the five-game win streak that they hit this one up on and that made this clash against the in-form Raptors a rather fascinating one.
Before you even knew it, OKC were up 16-4 here. Melo with 6 quick points alongside some great defensive pressure from the usual candidates leading to turnovers, while Adams got on the board with a slick as hell post move on Jonas Valanciunas. Then a goaltend on Serge Ibaka gave him a couple more and he’d finish a nice vertical one-hander later on as well. Then a badass mid-air and-one situation from a Russ lob. He sunk the free throw, meaning 9 early points on 4/4 shooting. Ka-ching. A couple offensive boards and two steals as well.
However the Raptors were able to get all their starters involved and hit a few trebles as they reeled OKC back in before a surge from their second unit, including a buzzer beater from CJ Miles, had them up 38-32 at the end of the first quarter. Toronto finished the frame on a 17-3 run from the literal moment that Westbrook, Anthony and Adams were subbed out.
Kiwi Steve leads the league in offensive rebounds per game, he also leads the league in pusharound assists. If a Thunder player gets into some beef, Adams will be there in no time to help break it up with his intimidating (but calm, always calm) presence. So when Russ and Jonas got into it (weight divisions mean nothing to Russ), look who came to help…
Double tech on Westbrook and Valanciunas, if you were wondering. Just as there was a double foul call later on as Adams and Valanciunas clashed under the hoop. A bollocks double foul too, since all Stevie did was get body slammed to the deck. It was his third personal though and only midway through the second quarter. Out he went… and Jonas got his third a few mins later to join him, to the cheers of the crowd. (There was a funny moment early in the second half where Adams casually threw up a shot after Melo had been fouled and the ball fell to him after the whistle. Then JV went out of his way to try block it from going in, just because).
Both teams started on fire offensively and that was always gonna slow down eventually. Hence how they Thunder were able to get back on top of this game, largely thanks to Westbrook and friends being able to get to the free throw line – Kyle Lowry’s dumb foul on Jerami Grant on the last possession of the half taking it up to 15/21 FTs for OKC, who led 66-63. 24 points already for Rusty Buckets, Adams with 10 despite only playing 11 minutes.
Adams picked up a fourth foul early in the 3Q, which made things even tougher on him. Still he was able to muscle up for a powerful rebound and a pretty mean steal reaching out into the passing lane. Four steals already for him. That chipped in on the effort stocks to help OKC start the half on a 15-2 run.
The Raptors had CJ Miles draining threes but the Thunder had Paul George doing the same thing and while Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan were shooting 6/22 in the first three quarters it was always gonna be hard for Toronto to keep pace. Ever so slightly OKC edged further ahead and Adams returned to a 108-94 game with 8:06 to play.
And having been so limited in his time on the court, Adams did his best to make up for some of that with a trio of impressive buckets and a few more rebounds… but nothing more impressive than this.
It ended at 124-107, with Miles scoring 20 for Toronto but Lowry’s 13p/10a kinda spoiled by 3/10 shooting and DeRozan’s 15 points needing 16 shots (4/16 FG). Valanciunas scored 16 points but only got 2 rebounds. On the other side Paul George topped with 33 points (7/10 from deep) and Westbrook was close behind with his 30p/13a/8r. Adams’ 18p & 9r were pretty great as well and even greater considering how much time he was off for.
SLAM DUNKS
VOTE KIWI STEVE INTO THE ALL STAR GAME! HE LEADS THE LEAGUE IN OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS PER GAME AND HE BLOODY DESERVES IT! DON’T LET ZAZA PACHULIA GET ALL THE PATRIOTIC VOTES!
SB Nation: “The shots Anthony and George are sacrificing have opened opportunities for Steven Adams, who’s having a breakout year. Going from 7.6 attempts last month to 10.3 tries in December, Adams has scored 16 points per night in 11 games, up from 10 points in November. Unlike the contested jumpers Anthony and George often settle for, Adams is almost exclusively dunking or finishing layups. That’s why he’s shooting 66 percent from the field. Secretly, Adams is one of OKC’s biggest offensive weapons despite his inability to create off the dribble. He’s one of the league’s best offensive rebounders (averaging six per game this month), so he’s able to create for himself off others’ misses.”
USA Today: “Since 1993, there have been just four players (Elton Brand, Antawn Jamison, Chris Webber, Horace Grant) to average at least four offensive rebounds per game but ten or fewer total rebounds per game. Why has Adams emerged at such a historic pace on this end of the glass? His team has taken 86.4 shots per game, which is the third-most in the Western Conference. But their field goal percentage (44.3 percent) is also Bottom 5 in the West. Oklahoma City leads all teams in offensive rebound chances per game (32.4) this year, which has helped Adams pull down the most offensive rebounds per game (5.1) this season. As his teammates miss shots, he has bailed them out over and over again by grabbing an important board.”
Fred Katz/Norman Transcript: “Adams has been a factor in annoying ball handlers, even when he's not directly guarding them. He’s become one of the NBA’s steadiest pick-and-roll defenders and somehow manages to disrupt passing lines while also keeping dribblers and rollers away from the paint, a brand of multitasking few big men can execute. Donovan, like Adams, credits the funneling for why OKC has gotten into passing lanes so easily. The Thunder lead the NBA in both steals and deflections per game thanks to George, Roberson, Westbrook and other long defenders like forwards Jerami Grant and Josh Huestis. George, meanwhile, leads all individuals in those two categories, too.”
You know what to do. Smack an ad to support the TNC Takeover, it’s free and easy to do so no dramas on your part and it’ll help us keep churning this stuff out.