Kiwi Steve in the NBA #5: So, What, This OKC Team Is Good Now Or Something?
Alright, it’s time to get back on the Steven Adams beat for real now. It’s been a strange old couple months as the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise adjusted to life without Russell Westbrook for the first time ever and adjusting to losing a guy who’d had such a record usage rate was always going to require some time. The consolation here was that we could just sit back and enjoy Steven Adams in a more prominent role... except injuries meant his contributions were a shadow of what we’re used to. Strange old couple months.
But that ain’t the case any longer. The Thunder are kinda good now, not sure if you heard.
Having begun things with an 11-14 run, a solid team capable of staying close in a lot of games but perhaps lacking the precision to turn a close defeat into a win (eight of those 14 defeats were by five points or less), they’ve since gone on an absolute bloody tear to surge up into the playoff positions and everything. An overtime win over Sean Marks’ Brooklyn Nets (as I’m patriotically obliged to call them) means the Thunder have won their past 12 games. That includes wins over the Clippers, Raptors, Mavericks, and Spurs.
And let’s not overlook the wider context. The Western Conference has a couple superb teams and a couple clunkers but in the middle it’s a right old slugfest. Eighth seed as it stands is the 15-20 San Antonio Spurs... six wins behind the seventh seed Thunder. The Spurs will make a run eventually because they’re the Spurs and they never miss the playoffs but the Trail Blazers, Kings, and Timberwolves have all been less than anticipated and sit below San Antonio on the standings. Despite it all the Thunder can make the playoffs here. Keep up at the rate they’re going and they will.
Don’t even worry about whether this is sustainable or not either. OKC aren’t outliers, they’re a solid defensive team (and a great three-point defensive team... though partly in relation to them being a terrible shooting team from range - 29th in attempts and 25th in percentage) and a pretty useful offensive team... nothing majorly skewed or inconsistent that’ll even out over time. They play hard, they’ve got a very good starting five as we already knew they would, they’re now pretty healthy, and a few of the young fellas on that bench have elevated their games to match as well as Dennis Schröder having a fantastic sixth-man year averaging 18.5 points on 46.7% shooting with 3.7 assists per game to boot. Plus it really cannot be emphasised enough that this team is EXTREMELY well coached. Billy Donovan did a lot of deferring to his star player(s) the last couple seasons, just as Scott Brooks did before him, but this season it’s been his turn to shine and he’s showing exactly what he’s capable of.
The main reason for the excellence of the past 3-4 weeks has been Chris Paul though. His contract might be a bit of a disaster but his talent ain’t a problem and despite the constant trade chatter he’s embraced this leadership/mentor role with this team from day one.
Across these last twelve games...
Chris Paul: 18.8 PTS | 49.7 FG% | 41.1 3P% | 6.8 REB | 6.8 AST | 1.3 STL
The thing with that is he’s putting up his worst usage percentage in years, the complete opposite of their last superstar point guard, and it’s not uncommon for CP3 to only take a handful of shots in the first three quarters. But then come the fourth he’ll suddenly take over with his masterful midrange game and abracadabra. Don’t sleep on Steven Adams’ high-screen game in setting CP3 up with those either. Case and point for all of the above...
With Chris Paul doing all of that, bearing in mind that his psychic passing ability is arguably his greatest attribute, Coach Donovan has been able to settle on a devastating closing lineup that features Schröder sliding in for starter Terrance Ferguson, a third guard on the court alongside top scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (who has exceeded expectations even for a guy with big expectations), and Danilo Gallinari shooting better than 39% on a career high nine triples per game. That quartet is assisted grogeously by a healthy Steven Adams to grab the rebounds, set the screens, and put back a few misses all while playing top notch defence. That five-man lineup has a +77 plus-minus in 108 minutes together. Those crunch time struggles of the first month or two have suddenly become a major positive.
The question now becomes whether they’re willing to see this season out considering they are still technically neck-deep in a roster rebuild here. One that’s been advanced by the way they’re tracking but Dan Gallinari is a free agent after the season and they could easily get something back for him at the trade deadline, plenty of contenders will want a sharp shooting power forward like that. Chris Paul and Steven Adams’ contracts make them tougher sells but they might get some interest from elsewhere. There are plenty of choices for Sam Presti as Thunder GM these days and it’ll be curious to see how far they wanna take it. Hey, maybe Gallinari will even stay and re-sign? Who knows? One thing you can’t deny is that this team is loving what they’re doing. Just look how much fun they’re having!
KIWI STEVE, HOW ARE YA?
It’s been a few weeks since the last one of these updates but over that time the upward trends of Adams’ game have gone to a whole new level. He’s hauling in rebounds for fun right now – across his last 12 games he’s bagged 65% of his contested rebounds which is the top mark in the entire league in that time. He’s also maintaining a heftier role in the offence and seems by now to have mostly shrugged off his unofficial minutes restriction. Which is all leading to beautiful basketball.
His last three games he’s hauled in 49 total rebounds – the only time in his career that he’s had at least 14 rebounds in three straight games. He’s still a mile up on his best ever season for assists, leaping by more than a full assist per game on last year which in turn was a career high itself. We’ve already looked at his passing in past editions this season and it might get another look in the future but a few other aspects deserve a focus too. Since the start of December he’s shot 62.4% from the free throw line. That’s up to 71.4% in four games so far in January and that mythical 70% mark is about where big men no longer have to worry about them.
Plus he’s a sneaky bastard on the boards...
WHICH MAKES IT AS GOOD A TIME AS ANY TO MENTION THIS
SUIT UP
What is this strange alternate world in which we find ourselves in which Steven Adams can be seen wearing a suit and proper shoes? Looking like he walked right in offa the set of Peaky Blinders with that cap too. Well, friends, it all starts with Marvin Gaye...
Literally it did. When Chris Paul was with the 2008 USA Olympic team – the Redeem Team – coach Mike Krzyzewski played the whole group a clip of Marvin Gaye singing the national anthem at the 1983 NBA All Stars game. It’s been a video that CP has come back to and shared several times over the years since, including at an informal Thunder gathering at his house in the offseason. Inspired by Gaye’s “impeccable double-breasted pinstripe suit”, CP3 and a few of his mates who happen to be prestigious designers arranged for Paul to get something similar for himself on opening night... which then spun out into something else entirely. CP3 has always been a gift-giver, dishing out extravagant items for his teammates. This year he decided to gift everybody a custom-made suit. So he did.
Paul got his lads to come to the Thunder practice facility in October and get measuring. Players were heavily involved in the designs, making suggestions and picking their preferences, and a few weeks later the finished products were handed out to a rapturous reception. And for the home game against the Memphis Grizzlies a few weeks back they all strolled out in them as they arrived at the arena.
Quite the look for Steven Adams. He’s a little more comfortable rocking up to games in shorts or sweats, maybe that camo jacket of his if it’s cold. By his own admission the last time he wore a suit was Russell Westbrook’s OKC Hall of Fame ceremony. And in his own words the next time he wears one will be: “Probably my funeral, mate”.
Brace yourselves though... there might even be a sequel...
WELCOME TO... THE LOWE POST PODCAST
BOX SCORES
at SACRAMENTO KINGS (L 94-93):
28 MIN | 12 PTS (5/10 FG, 2/5 FT) | 10 REB (5 OFF) | 4 AST | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 1 PF
at DENVER NUGGETS (L 110-102):
31 MIN | 18 PTS (9/15 FG, 0/2 FT) | 14 REB (6 OFF) | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PF
vs CHICAGO BULLS (W 109-106):
28 MIN | 9 PTS (4/8 FG, 1/2 FT) | 11 REB (6 OFF) | 1 AST | 1 BLK | 4 TO | 1 PF
vs MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (W 126-122):
30 MIN | 13 PTS (6/7 FG, 1/4 FT) | 10 REB (3 OFF) | 5 AST | 3 TO | 2 PF
vs PHOENIX SUNS (W 126-108):
26 MIN | 10 PTS (5/6 FG) | 9 REB (3 OFF) | 2 AST | 2 BLK | 3 TO | 2 PF
vs LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (W 118-112):
31 MIN | 20 PTS (10/15 FG, 0/2 FT) | 17 REB (6 OFF) | 2 AST | 3 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PF
vs MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (L 110-97):
28 MIN | 16 PTS (7/10 FG, 2/4 FT) | 6 REB (2 OFF) | 4 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 3 P
at CHARLOTTE HORNETS (W 104-102):
34 MIN | 14 PTS (6/9 FG, 2/4 FT) | 12 REB (4 OFF) | 3 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PF
at TORONTO RAPTORS (W 98-97):
29 MIN | 9 PTS (2/7 FG, 5/6 FT) | 6 REB (4 OFF) | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO
vs DALLAS MAVERICKS (W 106-101):
25 MIN | 10 PTS (4/7 FG, 2/4 FT) | 11 REB (4 OFF) | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 TO | 5 PF
at SAN ANTONIO SPURS (W 109-103):
30 MIN | 14 PTS (5/8 FG, 4/6 FT) | 9 REB (4 OFF) | 3 AST | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PF
at CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (W 124-117):
30 MIN | 10 PTS (2/7 FG, 6/7 FT) | 16 REB (8 OFF) | 4 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 1 PF
at PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (L 120-113):
35 MIN | 24 PTS (9/14 FG, 6/8 FT) | 15 REB (9 OFF) | 1 AST | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 1 PF
at BROOKLYN NETS (W 111-103 OT):
36 MIN | 10 PTS (3/5 FG, 4/7 FT) | 18 REB (4 OFF) | 3 AST | 2 STL | 2 TO
THE SCHEDULE
vs HOUSTON ROCKETS, Friday at 3.30pm (NZT)
vs LOS ANGELES LAKERS, Sunday at 2pm (NZT)
at MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES, Tuesday at 2pm (NZT)
vs TORONTO RAPTORS, Thursday at 2pm (NZT)
vs MIAMI HEAT, Saturday at 2pm (NZT)
SLAM DUNKS
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Keep cool but care