BOX SCORES

vs MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (W 111-107):

32 MINS | 27 PTS (11/11 FG, 5/5 FT) | 6 REB | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PF

vs SAN ANTONIO SPURS (W 90-87):

33 MINS | 19 PTS (8/13 FG, 3/6 FG) | 10 REB | 1 AST | 3 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 1 PF

vs UTAH JAZZ (W 100-94):

33 MINS | 20 PTS (9/10 FG, 2/3 FT) | 9 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 2 TO | 3 PF

NEXT WEEK

at BROOKLYN NETS (in Mexico City!), Friday at 4.00pm (NZT)

at MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES, Sunday at 3.00pm (NZT)

vs CHARLOTTE HORNETS, Tuesday at 2.00pm (NZT)

at INDIANA PACERS, Thursday at 1.00pm (NZT)

vs MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (W 111-107)

Once again, just as this team seems to hit its new rock bottom they then whip out a fantastic win to shut everyone up, this time with a Steven Adams performance for the ages. A new career-best scoring mark, achieved with perfect efficiency. Dude didn’t even miss a shot. Didn’t even miss a flippin’ free throw.

What a magical sight, aye? And while that was obviously the best of his performances this week, it was also a sign of things to come as for whatever reason he suddenly just couldn’t miss a shot. He was already one of the top dudes in the league for field goal percentage and now this. See, all they needed was to unleash the kiwi in the team and here they are winning three straight and looking good. It was that simple…

Eh, okay, that’s a very favourable way to look at things. But game also showed the Thunder doing something that they’ve struggled to do this season: they won a close game. When Russell Westbrook was storming towards the MVP he was winning them games all on his own with his clutch play. This time that’s been a real problem for them, so to see OKC come out and bomb it for 42 first quarter points, shooting 56%... sure, that was great. When that lead got all the way up to 21 points, sure that was also great. But hot starts have been common with this team. It’s closing them out that’s been the problem.

Something that’s not so common? This majestic eurosteppin’ finish from Steve. Maaaate. Just check how much Westbrook loved it too, giving it the quick jig off the benches!

Paul George knew what was up, he had himself a bit of a game as well by the way. And the combo he teased with Adams in the first few games has never looked better than it did on this occasion, George dished more than a couple of his nine assists to Kiwi Steve.

Adams had one or two lucky ones in there, like that one shot that seemed to fumble out of his hands only to loop up into the net, but a perfect shooting night doesn’t come without some hugely impressive play. Thing is, he was in some foul trouble too. Cost him a little time to add a few more buckets to the total while his team, having scored 42 points in the first, only added 43 in the next two quarters combined. It was a familiar feeling as a big lead felt to be slipping away.

Cut forward to the final minute of play and that lead was only three points. OKC had the ball and Westbrook, as he tends to do, flipped up a three pointer to all but kill it. But he missed… only for Kiwi Steve to get it back and throw it down! Massive basket there and the Thunder managed to hold on for the win. Free throws did it from there.

Daily Thunder: “Simply put — Steven Adams was electric tonight. He scored a career-high 27 points on 11/11 shooting — and also went 5/5 from the free throw line. He logged just 32 minutes due to foul trouble, but was beyond effective offensively all night. More importantly, he avoided getting that sixth foul late in the game — coming up with the putback score that pushed the Thunder lead to two possessions with less than 30 seconds remaining. Big night for the Kiwi.”

So Kiwi Steve set a new PB with 27 points but he didn’t top it with Paul George scoring 36 with 9 assists. Only 15 points for Russ who also had 9 rebs and 14 assists while for Minny both Towns and Wiggins had 23 adn Butler scored 22.

Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS – A

“What a night for the Big Kiwi. His 27 points came on a perfect night from both the floor and the free throw line: 11-11 and 5-5 respectively. Adams took advantage of Karl-Anthony Towns’ lack of awareness on the defensive end, finding holes in their interior all night. He ultimately posted the Thunder’s best +/- of the night with a +18. The only thing keeping Adams from getting an A+ is Adams’ aforementioned post-game comments to Lesley McCaslin.”

Interlude: Hey check out TNC’s Patreon page, why not? Easy to sign up for and if you become a Patron then we’ll slip you some cool stuff now and then.

vs SAN ANTONIO SPURS (W 90-87)

After a happy victory last time, here was a blatant chance to build a streak. The Spurs were in the middle of a rough period of games and were already without LaMarcus Aldridge, Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker and Rudy Gay when Manu Ginobili was rested, Pau Gasol barely played and Kyle Anderson was ruled out with injury in the third quarter. This is what they call in the business a scheduled loss.

Yet… it almost wasn’t. Despite all the hardships for the Spurs, this one went down to the wire amidst some terrible games from Carmelo Anthony and Paul George. Melo only scored 9 points in his 31 minute while George upped him with a mere 8 from 2/17 shooting. Yikes. Luckily there was still Russell Westbrook, who was a rebound shy of a triple double, to win this thing… along with that big fella with the moustache, who is apparently the best centre in the NBA now? That might be a stretch but damn he’s playing well.

While George was coughing up blood on offense, at least he was still up there in his defensive player of the year form at the other end. The Thunder kept the Spurs to 40.8% shooting in this contest and that was completely necessary given what they were doing themselves. Having said that, they were 54-43 up at the break. PG was scoreless and Melo only had three… but Adams had 17 points on 7/10 shooting in that first half. Theeee man!

As for those three missed shots, well we can only assume he’d been injured or something – maybe an inadvertent elbow to the noggin or another kick in the nuts – because this bloke never misses shots any more…

The Spurs briefly took the lead in the fourth but then proceeded to go scoreless for four and a half minutes as OKC went on an 8-0 run and… this was ugly. 14-14 in the fourth, haha. Steve re-entered the game in the middle of that SAS drought and then sat for Jerami Grant with about a minute left as Billy Donovan looked to match the Spurs’ more mobile unit. Only five mins in the fourth for Adams. Both teams missed late shots, including threes that would’ve tied it from Davis Bertans and Brandon Paul, and the Thunder escaped with another close W.

It was 22p/9r/10a for Rusty, who had a TD but it was later amended when a rebound was taken off him. you already know about Melo and PG but Andre Roberson added a handy 9 points on 4/4 FG while Grant scored 9 pts off the bench. Dejounte Murray scored 16 with 11 reb for SAS while Bertans added 16 off the bench and Joffrey Lauvergne, briefly a Thunder player last season, added 12.

ESPN: “Adams followed his 27-point game against Minnesota on 11-for-11 shooting by scoring 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting. He entered the game ranked fourth in the NBA in field goal percentage at 64.1 percent. "He's been great all year," Westbrook said. "He's done a good job of just rolling down the paint and using his size."”

Daily Thunder: “Steven Adams kept his hot streak rolling. He had 19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and a block against the Spurs — wrapping up his night at plus-13 on 8/13 shooting. The double-double was his sixth of the season. Since going 3/10 from the floor against Orlando last week, Adams is shooting 19/24 over the last two games. His continued development around the rim — coupled with a growing comfort level with Paul George — has him playing some of the best basketball of his career.”

Adams had eight points when he sat in the first, with OKC leading 14-8. Meaning he matched San Antonio for points in those first 7:40. He then played the whole second quarter, which is something Billy D has been trying out (a few different ways to stagger his starters), and added another nine points in that frame.

So where did all the points go in the second half? It didn’t help that he missed two shots and back to back free throws in the 3Q, that’s six points left on the table there. But this is also a common trend as the big three tend to put up shots in the back end, which has been suggested is part of the reason why they’ve lost some of those leads – too much iso play from the main men. Adams also just didn’t play that much in the 2H though. Jerami Grant got a lot of time for matchup reasons – remember there was no Pau Gasol in the second half here, after Adams had bossed him round in the first. End product of that was Steve was a team-best +13 while on the court.

Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS – A+

“For the second game in a row Steven Adams recorded a positive double-digit +/-. He recorded his sixth double-double of the season – fun fact: the Thunder are 4-2 in those games. Pau Gasol was no match for the Big Kiwi, hence why the Spurs best offensive weapon only played 16 minutes. Adams made up for his defensive performance on Friday by solidifying the Thunder’s defense down low. He disrupted Spurs passing lanes to the paint all night, finishing with three steals.”

vs UTAH JAZZ (W 100-94)

ESPN/Associated Press: “With all the excitement about the Oklahoma City Thunder's new Big Three this season, Steven Adams had become a bit of an afterthought.Not anymore. The 7-foot center had 20 points and nine rebounds to support Russell Westbrook's triple-double, and the Thunder defeated the Utah Jazz 100-94 on Tuesday night.The Thunder have won three straight, and Adams' offensive play has been critical. During the streak, he has averaged 22 points and 8.3 rebounds and made 28 of 34 shots from the field.

"That's good, mate," the New Zealander said. "Good stuff."”

Who can say it better than that?

We’re talking far from a sublime team performance, however. The Jazz came to town with Rudy Gobert back in the team and plenty more firepower than they often get credit for. A crap away record, sure. But this is the kind of team that OKC has had worries with this year – they already lost one in Utah to these jokers. True to form then, a couple Joe Ingles threes gave Utah a nice early boost.

A couple dunks for Steve did some damage but the OK3 didn’t have a field goal between them until Westbrook polished a layup almost seven minutes into it. Free throws were keeping them in it before an 11-4 run by the Jazz to close the quarter stretched it.

Russ came back in in the second and sparked some much needed offence, working a bit of the two-man game with Steve as well. Still, the Thunder were held to just 39 points in the first half – definitely not what we usually see from them to open games. OKC made just one triple in the half and none of the famous trio were shooting well at all.

So in the third it got worse, points coming a little too easy for the Jazz despite some Adams responses soon after the resumption. Hell, he scored seven of Oklahoma City’s first nine points in the frame, although he did get himself blocked by The French Rejection, Monsieur Gobert. Then he subbed out and the lead shot up to 17 points for Utah, hardly an ideal platform for a victory, right? Ha, that’s what you think.

Down by 12 with a quarter to go, suddenly the Thunder figured it all out. Roberson played some monster defence to help limit rookie Donovan Mitchell who was absolutely balling while George and Anthony added a combined 19 4Q points and Russ had 6p/5r/4a in the final frame alone. Oh and Steve tipped one back with 43 seconds left to build a five-point lead and away we go. OKC won it with a 32-14 fourth quarter. Feels like a corner might have been turned…

Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS – A+

“I could go on and on about Steven Adams every game, but I would be saying the same things over and over. As always, the Big Kiwi was too much to handle on the glass, he found the right angles for easy buckets when rolling to the basket, and disrupted Utah’s ability to score at the rim. The story is in the two center’s respective stat lines though:

Adams: 20 points, 9-10 shooting, 9 rebounds (6 offensive), 1 steal, 3 fouls

Gobert: 5 points, 1-2 shooting, 6 rebounds (1 offensive), 1 steal, 1 block, 5 fouls

Pure domination.”

Ingles scored 16 but struggled from deep with 4/11 numbers after hitting his first couple. Mitchell was the main man for Utah with 31 points but Westbrook wasn’t to be denied his TD this time with 34p/13r/14a while George had 21 to go with Adams’ 21 and Melo scored 14.

Ben Rohrbach/Yahoo: “Without George and Anthony on the roster last season, Adams was still getting about two-thirds of his shots with the nearest defender at least two feet away from him and converting them at a 60 percent clip, according to NBA.com/stats, which is a testament to Westbrook’s greatness. With PG13 and Melo, though, he’s now getting roughly three-quarters of his shots away from tight coverage and shooting 70 percent on those attempts.”

SLAM DUNKS

Berry Tramel/The Oklahoman: “Adams has not turned into a funhouse of different shots. He’s not Karl-Anthony Towns.  Adams has become much more aggressive, more confident in his 8-foot flip shot, more determined to up with the ball after he gets it in the paint. But Donovan has to play some psychological games. In those three breakout games by Adams, Carmelo took 36 shots. That’s more than Adams’ 34, but not much more. It appears that in recent games Carmelo is making more of an effort to keep the offense flowing and not relying on isolation and ball stoppage.”

Ben Rohrbach/Yahoo: “Over the last three games, Oklahoma City is scoring 116.7 points per 100 possessions in 98 minutes with Adams on the floor. In 46 minutes with him on the bench, that number drops to 70.3 points per 100 possessions. (Good lord.)”

SLAM Online: “My role? I don’t know, I really haven’t given it much thought,” Thunder big man Steven Adams says. “I think the way I play is just my normal mindset. To be honest I’m just happy to be involved.”

Adams, though, is more than just involved. He’s essential to everything his Thunder do. Playing center is one of the most difficult positions to occupy in today’s up-tempo, space-and-pace League, and Adams deftly shuttles between old-school brute and new-school dancer as well as any big man in the NBA. He deploys his 7-foot, 235-pound frame as a weapon for laying screens and on the offensive glass, two areas where he is among the best in the League. He’ll bang with a bruiser one possession, then glide with a guard on another and still never complain about a lack of post-up looks.

“My focus each game is mainly to set screens to make sure our defense is set,” Adams says. “Any type of scoring that happens is a bonus.”

Christmas Shopping

One thing that the Thunder (and most NBA teams) are superb at is their community work and it’s a tradition of theirs to head down to Target and buy presents for local kids. They get a budget but that doesn’t always matter – Ray Felton just started paying for stuff out of his own wallet. It’s a really cool tradition and one that’s now ten years in the happening.

Merry squires, chuck a quick slap on an ad if you wanna contribute to the TNC Revolution Fund. Easy as one of those cheeky layups and as free as Steven Adams on the roll to the rim.