There’s nothing quite like the start of a new season and Steven Adams sure had plenty to be excited about as he got his new campaign underway. So did the rest of the Thunder team, really. Plenty of dudes in there about to get the opportunities of their life playing alongside Russell Westbrook and in the absence of Serge Ibaka and Kevin Durant. Who had Russ in the sweepstakes for the last starter remaining from the 2012 Finals at OKC?

But the Thunder had to wait a day longer than some teams to start their season, getting underway in Philly on the first day of full fixtures while a few lucky teams got to tip things off 24 hours earlier. LeBron James got his ring and then quickly put on a clinic showing how he won it in the first place. Damian Lillard dropped 39 on the Utah Jazz to show that he’s ready for his close-up now. And then, getting as much hype as both of those games, the San Antonio Spurs went and thumped the Super Warriors 129-100. The team that started 24-0 last time and has since GOTTEN EVEN BETTER were thoroughly and comprehensively defeated in their first attempt.

No love was lost between Thunder fans and the Warriors organisation. Coming back from 3-1 down to win the Western Conference and then poaching OKC’s best player in Kevin Durant, that’ll piss a few people off for sure. But was Russell Westbrook watching to see the enemy picked apart? Hell nah. He played a bit of cards, spoke to his wife, ate some dinner and made sure he was all kinds of clean…

Steven Adams meanwhile? Nope he didn’t watch the Warriors either. He was busy mining through his cartoon collection. Specialty: Japanese anime:

BOX SCORES

at PHI (W 103-97): 36 MINS | 16 PTS (7/16 FG 2/2 FT) | 5 REB | 1 AST | 3 STL | 2 TO | 4 PF

vs PHO (W 113-110): 40 MINS | 9 PTS (3/8 FG, 3/3/ FT) | 10 REB | 1 STL | 6 TO | 2 PF

vs LAL (W 113-96): 30 MINS | 14 PTS (6/12 FG, 2/2 FT) | 12 REB | 2 AST | 3 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PF

NEXT WEEK

at Los Angeles Clippers, 3.30pm Thursday (NZT)

at Golden State Warriors, 3.30pm Friday (!)

vs Minnesota Timberwolves, 11.00am Sunday

vs Miami Heat, 2.00pm Tuesday

at PHILADELPHIA 76ers

And so it all tipped off for OKC with a trip to Philly. Take a quick glance, you’ll see that the first three games here really weren’t that tough for the Thunder so it’s no surprise that they rolled to a 3-0 start, however the real insights lie in the little stuff.

For Steven Adams as much as anyone. Like, we sort of know what to expect from Russell Westbrook and there are a few other lads with stuff to prove but so much depends on Adams showing that the player he was in the playoffs is the player he can be for the whole season now. This from a dude whose career averages for points and rebounds hover around six per game. 8.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in 2015-16, chances are we’re gonna see a big difference this time, especially with the points totals.

Which was the case in this opener here. From the start you could see that Russ was doing his best to get everybody involved from the get-go, though it didn’t always click. Adams missing an alley-oop dunk, for one thing. There were missed shots and there was also a big threat down the other end with a few 76ers really making a show of their debuts, like Sergio Rodriguez who’d bag 10 points and 9 rebounds as well as Joel Embiid, finally making  first NBA appearance and quickly settling into a brutal one vs one with Kiwi Steve – Embiid scored 20 points with 7 boards, shooting 6/16 in only 22 mins.

The 76ers sped out to a 10-2 lead and even at the end of the first Philly were still ahead by one. At half-time it was level before the home team again shaded the third, however Westbrook got busy and ensured the Thunder came away with the W against a team that only won 10 games all last season. 32 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists. Maaaate.

Odd game though. OKC was always in touch but barely in front, and their biggest lead was the one at the final buzzer. Disappointing for the Thunder was seeing Vic Oladipo struggle with a pretty rubbish 25% from the field for his 10 points. Missed all 5 threes he took. But Enes Kanter got his off the bench with 17p/12r and Ersan Ilyasova, who some had tabbed to start but that role ended up with Domantis Sabonis, scored 12 off the bench too.

For Steve what was most noticeable was how much more he was used. 16 shots in the game was far beyond what we’re used to from him and there’s definitely a deliberate attempt to get him shooting from further out. He’s got that little one-handed floater that he’s been working on. Not his best night shooting as you could tell he was short on mid-season form (good as he was in pre-season, he also missed time with a sore ankle).

Billy Donovan: “If we’re generating shots for [Adams] in and around the basket, even though he didn’t shoot a great percentage, I think that’s a great thing for us. That was really a positive, the fact that he took [16] shots.”

Fred Katz/Norman Transcript: “It's been a distinct change of styles from years past. Never before has the Thunder offense relied on Adams quite like this. In fact, he's never used a greater percentage of his team's possessions in a 30-plus minute performance than he did against the Sixers. Adams showed he was capable of creating offense for himself during the games that didn’t count. Wednesday’s performance was the first piece of evidence that it wasn’t a ploy.”

Oh, and this happened:

What you miss there is Steven Adams walking over and telling the bloke that ain’t okay. They chucked him out soon after and now he’s a meme. Dunno if that makes it worth it or not.

Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: Steven Adams | B+

“Without Adams’ defense the Thunder would have lost tonight. You’re going to hear alllllll about how impressive Joel Embiid was, but he was held to 6-16 shooting on the night. Just like we thought, Embiid was frustrated because he finally had met an NBA defender his size. Adams finished the night with three steals; he didn’t have any blocks but Adams long arms altered countless Philly shots. On the offensive end Adams showcased his ability to slide into open rim runs whenever his man overhelped. The only “concern” is that Adams only had five rebounds on the night. Enes Kanter and Russell Westbrook took a few boards away, so it’s not too big of an issue.”

Royce Young/Daily Thunder: “Steven Adams was beastly. He had a great first half, and finished with 16 points on 7-16 shooting, plus five rebounds. And as Donovan pointed out, he took 16 shots, which is very encouraging. Adams himself was pretty disappointed with missing as many as he did, but Adams flashed some seriously improved skills, including a sky hook in the first half. His defense on Joel Embiid was quite good, with Adams staying completely disciplined on Embiid’s array of fakes and moves. Adams is going to turn into a star this season. Get ready.”

vs PHOENIX SUNS

Back home now for a couple games in Oklahoma against a couple teams that also didn’t come close to the playoffs last season. In fact each are easing in new head coaches after all that. First was the Phoenix Suns, a team with plenty of very young and raw talent as well as a couple older, slower veterans, the type of team that is far from a shoe-in to click. Then again, if it weren’t for Russell Westbrook then some people would say the same thing about this Thunder team.

Except… it is for Russell Westbrook. Quietly huge in the opener, against Phoenix he was very loudly immense. He had a 51 point triple double here. You did not read that wrong. 51 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. He was in a class of his own, 39 of those points came in the second half & OT.

See, the Thunder dug themselves into a hole and would need extra time to get fully out of it. After the first quarter they were down 40-25 with the Suns shooting 16/23 from the field. Way beyond the line that reads unacceptable. They did keep them to 5/26 in the second though, wheeling the sucker back in their direction.

Not the best from Steve, who had to deal with Tyson Chandler and his savvy veteran nature. Six turnovers are too many for anyone who isn’t a primary ball handler. Russ is one of those, the numbers are massive though he did it with volume. 23 points in the third quarter and some crucial buckets late on – but couldn’t get it done in the final minute after Devin Booker had tied the game shooting a clutch jumper over the top of Kiwi Steve’s reaching arm and to overtime it went.

Key play alert: Down 108-106 and Stevie does a bit of this, sinking the free throw as well for the lead, which they’d lose to an Eric Bledsoe runner... but a Eurostepping Westbrook got it back. Boom.

Westbrook wasn’t happy with his 17/44 shooting and he wasn’t happy with some of his passing but he’d done enough to haul them into a victory. They won’t get away with this against a better team, fair to say. They did get away with it here though.

Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: Steven Adams | B-

“Adams was not the offensive force we have grown accustomed to the last three games (including the preseason). A large majority of that is because the guards dominated the ball most of the night, and the Big Kiwi only ended up with eight shots. However his six offensive rebounds played a huge part in the Thunder’s second chance opportunities. A big cause for concern are his six turnovers; Adams has to be stronger with the ball when he is fed in the post. For the second night in a row, the 23-year old finished with 0 blocks. Yeah Adams does a great job of altering opponents’ attempts, but it would be nice to see him convert some into blocks. On a side note, the pick & roll with Russell Westbrook could be deadly, but Billy Donovan needs to figure out the best position on the court to utilize the play.”

Kiwi Steve on RW’s night: “It was good, mate. Standard.”

vs LOS ANGELES LAKERS

And then the Lakers came to town, the new look 2016-17 Lakers. No Kobe Bryant but all sorts of D’Angelo Russell, Jerome Randle and Brandon Ingram. They shocked a few people in beating the Houston Rockets in their first game so, like the other two Thunder opponents so far, they weren’t about to be push overs.

Then again, who on that Lakers team was out there doing this? Timmy Mozgov?

Or this. Bro, how good is this pass!?!

Fair to say this was the best of the three games they’ve put together so far as a team. Defence was good, offence was almost as good. Westbrook wasn’t about to take another 44 shots, he even criticised himself for that after the Suns game, instead he was dishing and diming all over on his was to a 33p/12r/16a performance. He made five triples as well, not usually his strong suit.

Best for us was that we saw some of the best of what the Russ/Steve combo has to offer. The lob passes for one thing, the screens as well, but then also note the play towards the end with the Lakers trying to mount a comeback and Adams pokes the ball away as Russell looks to feed it, putting Westbrook with a free lane to the hoop and you can already guess what happens next.

Adams was better shooting the ball, his first game at 50% FG, and he also logged is first double-double of the season. Oladipo scored 20 so that pressure was eased, while for LAL Russell and Randle both also scored 20. Another interesting points, Adams is yet to miss a free throw this season. 7/7 from the charity stripe, not too shabby at all there, lad.

A couple of Oladipo FTs gave the Thunder the lead back with over nine minutes remaining in the second and although the Lakers got as close as five again, Nick Young defying expectations with a triple midway through the final Q, that was as close as they’d get. Adams even got a little more rest than usual, only the 30 minutes despite zero foul trouble – which was in part thanks to some wonderful play by Enes Kanter who’d bag 16 points (8/11 FG) in only 22 mins.

Again, you cannot talk about the Thunder without going all in on Russell Westbrook this season. His triple double here meant he became the first dude since Magic Johnson so have two in the first three games and Elias Sports makes it that he’s the first player ever to log 100 points, 30 rebounds and 30 assists in the first three games of a season. Hey, Adams could have a 15p/15r a night campaign and still be living in the shadows. Which he’d probably be fine with. Ridiculously, Westbrook assisted on 73% of OKC made field goals while he was on the court.

Steven Adams: "The biggest part was we had Russ. Russ did an amazing job of just controlling us as players, and then we got everything we wanted because he was scoring the basket, and obviously, they had to overhelp."

JA Sherman/WTLC: “Steven Adams got back on track tonight after tussling with the great Tyson Chandler, who did much to slow down Adams’ performance on Friday night. Adams is at his best when he’s getting in and out of the high PnR quickly, which both opens up lanes for him to catch lobs as well as allows Westbrook to turn the corner and either attack or find shooters on the weak side.”

Royce Young/Daily Thunder: “Steven Adams had his best statistical game (14 and 12), but he fumbled away a lot of passes. His hands are a strength of his, but he’s getting stripped and not making clean catches on tight pocket passes.”

Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: Steven Adams | A-

“The Thunder started tonight’s game with three straight pick and rolls with Adams and Russell Westbrook. Adams scored six straight points because the Lakers and Timofey Mozgov had no answer to the play. Billy Donovan called for the play a few more times throughout the night, but I would love to see even more of that play. The Big Kiwi recorded his first double-double of the season, finishing the night with 14 points and 12 rebounds. But it was on the defensive end where Adams made his biggest contribution. The 23-year old finished the night with three steals and two blocks and only two personal fouls. Active hands out of your rim protector is a must, and his ability to stay active without fouling is crucial for Adams to stay on the court.”

ODDS & ENDS

Kendrick Perkins on Vertical Pod: "Even with Steven Adams, man, he was just the best. I mean, we competed for minutes when I was there, we competed for the spot. He won the spot. He deserved it. But after all was said and done he always reached out to me. He asked me how to play post defence, he asked me different things."

Oh and apparently he’s about to get paid some. But we’ll save all this for another time.