Kiwi Steve in the NBA #2: Old Friends
BOX SCORES
at LAC (W 85-83):
31 MINS | 2 PTS (1/3 FG) | 11 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 3 TO | 5 PF
at GSW (L 122-96):
24 MINS | 11 PTS (5/7 FG, 1/2 FT) | 4 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 3 PF
vs MIN (W 112-92):
28 MINS | 14 PTS (6/7 FG, 2/2 FT) | 8 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK | 3 TO | 1 PF
vs MIA (W 97-85):
29 MINS | 6 PTS (3/5 FG) | 6 REB | 3 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 3 PF
NEXT WEEK
vs Toronto Raptors, Thursday 2.00pm (all NZT)
vs Los Angeles Clippers, Saturday 2.00pm
vs Orlando Magic, Monday 1.00pm
at Detroit Pistons, Tuesday 2.00pm
at LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
One of the big differences for Steven Adams now is that he no longer has Serge Ibaka beside him as a defensive lynchpin. Instead he’s working with rookie Domantas Sabonis and while that dude has shown he’s got a mind for playing some D – especially defending up and down, he’s had some trouble with other power forwards – he’s also raw and three quick fouls meant he was out of this game very soon, messing with the rotations a bit.
So the game went back and forth. The entire way, always back and forth. Given that both teams lingered around the 40% mark shooting, you can tell it was a gritty game. For the Clippers that meant trying to find ways to score without their usual guys running away with things. Blake Griffin was 7/21, Jamal Crawford 3/11 and J.J. Reddick 3/12. Chris Paul was solid but this game became more a matter of shutting down the opposition first.
It worked too, apart from a guy called Westbrook. Vic Oladipo only scored 9 points and he was the Thunder’s second top scorer. Lucky that first was Russell Westbrook and he bagged 35 all up, shooting 14/30 and missing all seven 3pt attempts. It got to the point where it had to be him… so it was him.
Probably because Russ was focussing more on his scoring here, there wasn’t a lot for Adams to work with on offence. Just the three field goal attempts. But he also bagged 11 rebounds which reflects a crucial defensive contribution. DeAndre Jordan only had 6 boards against him. He’d had 39 in his first three games before this one and would haul in 21 the following game in Minnesota. The Spurs are the only other team who’ve kept DeAndre to single figure rebounds since (8).
Time ticking down, Westbrook with the ball in his hands and a two-point lead. Luc Mbah a Moute is on him and as he steps up he shows Russ just a little too much space to the outside. Westbrook takes the hint and as he cuts to his left, in comes Steven Adams with a hard screen to keep that pocket of space. Up goes Russ, boom. Two points and the Thunder lead 85-81 with 19 second remaining. It then took LAC too long to get their next shot off and although Russ missed two free throws, that iced all the time they needed to. A big victory for OKC, their first against a genuine top team.
Westbrook had 35 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. On the other side Chris Paul was an assist short of a triple double but Blake Griffin only scored 14, being shut out in the final quarter.
Also of note, this game was the debut of Jerami Grant after he was traded for Ersan Ilyasova with the Philly 76ers. A bit more athleticism, possibly a little more scoring too and a younger player to fit on a young team. Trades in a power forward for a small forward which helps plenty with their rotational flexibility. Sly little move, pretty good one too.
At GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Ah yes, the big one. The game that we’d all been looking forward to where Kevin Durant first met his old teammates. Nationally televised and all that. This was a major game of basketball alright, not the least of reasons also being that undefeated tag the Thunder took into it. Speaking of tags, you reckon they were still on this outfit of Westbrook’s? Coz given KD’s proclivities for photography himself there’s no way that this dashing vest wasn’t bought specifically for the occasion.
That the Thunder played the night before wasn’t the best for them, especially after that tight one vs LAC. But as they’ve tended to do this season, OKC started hot. Stevie with a couple quick finishes, bookmarking a KD three just to announce himself, and the Thunder led 18-9 and 29-19. Russell Westbrook doing some stuff as he tends to do. When Jerami Grant dunked on KD there were definitely some rumblings from the away fans.
Adams and Westbrook checked out with 2:50 to go in the first. Each of them had already scored 7, while Russ had 4 assists too. But the problem with playing the Warriors is that they have so many stunning scorers that they can stagger the lineup so there’s never not one out there. Durant got the gig against the Thunder bench first and he just torched them. Horrifying stuff. When Russ returned they were down by 6. When Steve came back in they were down 9. OKC were outscored by 26 points in the second quarter and it was never again close.
Despite a hot start, Adams didn’t get to cash in on the stats. He was out for the entirety of the fourth quarter. Thing is, Stevie was a +7 while on the court. The damage was begun against the bench and from there the hole was too deep and the Warriors were rolling too hard.
For example: Kevin Durant had 39 points, shooting 15 of 24 and making 7 three pointers.
ESPN Statto: “Durant’s 39 points matched the most by a player facing his former team for the first time. Danny Ainge and Stephon Marbury also did it.”
It wasn’t all comfort and swish for KD, he did have to deal with a vocal tirade from Enes Kanter. Good for him that he had Kiwi Steve to say shut up bro because when a dude’s on his way to 39 points against ya, there’s only so much trash you can talk.
Apparently what Kanter said was: “Why didn’t you do that in the playoffs?” Haha, fair play then.
The answer was four. He played four minutes, in fact not even that. Three minutes and twenty eight seconds.
Tim Bontemps/Washington Post: “That doesn’t mean there aren’t relationships forged and bonds created. Unprompted Monday during the Warriors’ shoot-around, Durant was observed celebrating the extensions Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo signed with the Thunder before that night’s deadline for rookie contract extensions.”
Daily Thunder: “Adams started the game really well, abusing the Warriors weak frontline. Then he got in foul trouble and played limited minutes in the first half. He only got 24 total, and scored 11 points on 5-7 shooting in that run.”
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS // B+
“Just like we thought, the Warriors had no answer for Steven Adams. Even after scoring 9 points in the first six minutes, the Thunder refused to feed the Big Kiwi. Adams took one more shot THE ENTIRE GAME after that scoring barrage; if the Thunder want to be a great team they have to move the ball and utilize the disadvantages on the court. Adams was one of two Thunder players to record a positive +/-, outscoring the Warriors by seven when he was on the court. He had two blocks and two steals, reinforcing the idea that he is the most versatile defensive center in the league. I just don’t understand why they went away from Adams after he made the Hammerhead Shark (Zaza Pachulia) look like a third-stringer to start the game.”
vs MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
When you take a huge setback, emotionally and also on the scoreboard, the best thing is to bounce back as quickly as possible. Playing the T-Wolves at home certainly gave them the opportunity. See, as much hype as the young Wolves are getting they also haven’t quite figured it out with Ricky Rubio injured. Young players, aye? It takes time. Although arguably the Thunder are almost as inexperienced themselves – except they have Russell Westbrook, an established MVP candidate.
- Ages of the Minny starters: 21, 22, 20, 21, 26
- Ages of OKC starters: 24, 24, 27, 23, 20
But the 20 year old on the Wolves is a fella named Karl-Anthony Towns and he is completely brilliant. Easily the toughest primary assignment that Adams has dealt with this season (Warriors excluded coz they don’t even have a real centre) and the reason for that is some killer range. DeAndre Jordan is tough but he's a similar styled player to Steve, lots of post and above the rim stuff, whereas Towns shot 3/4 from 3pt range in this game. He scored 33 points on 20 shots and he flashed all sorts of different looks and skills in the process. And Towns didn’t even play the fourth quarter.
Towns and Adams started the scoring in this one. Statistically it was probably Stevie’s best performance of yet, though because of the eventual margin of victory he didn’t have to play the fourth either so the numbers lagged slightly on what they could have been. 14 points and 8 boards though, that’s quality.
Towns scored 25 of his points in the first half and Minny trailed 59-53 at HT. With nobody else really helping him out on the points side of things, he almost single-handedly kept the game close into the third quarter but then a Westbrook triple began an 11-0 Thunder run and by the end of the third it was a 21 point lead. They took care of things from there. Russ scored 28 with 8 assists, Kanter also bounced back with 20p & 10r off the bench. Wiggins and LaVine were a combined 4 of 19 despite averaging 45 points a game between them until then. When you watch Andre Roberson clanking jump shots, remember that the previous sentence was largely his doing and that’s why he’s in this team.
Some guy from the crowd hit a half-court shot for a whole bunch of money at the break. It was pretty cool. Also, the Thunder went on a 13-0 run after it. Coincidence?
vs MIAMI HEAT
A bit of a scare here when Adams quickly left to the locker room in the first quarter with what appeared a hand injury. He’s had one of those before and given that any time he shows a hint of pain people assume it must be serious, there were a few hushed whispers in the arena from frightened Thunder fans. But all goods, guys, Stevie was fine.
See, here he was after he came back out with a monster bit of strapping on the hand, clearly having a laugh about it too.
And here he is being the man despite that hefty bandaging:
Crisis averted then, the Thunder shot out to a nice early lead and… well, they held it throughout. The first action of the game was Adams winning the tip-off ahead of Hassan Whiteside, the Heat centre who is pretty much the leader of the team now that Dwyane Wade is gone. Lots on that dude’s shoulders so not the best for him when he’s being called for an offensive foul the first time he really gets to go up against Kiwi Steve. Both of those two centres recently signed fat new contracts, sweet as.
OKC were up 16-8 when Adams left. He was replaced by Enes Kanter and the Turkish E went on and did amazing offensive things. He’d score 24 points in this one, 12/14 shooting with 10 rebounds. Yeah not bad from him. Russell Westbrook was off his game somewhat, missing something like nine shots in a row at one stage, but this time is was defence that won the show. Adams was brilliant on Whiteside, as was Andre Roberson on damn near anyone. Both had three steals, while Adams did had a couple comprehensive blocks of his old teammate Dion Waiters.
The Thunder opened the third quarter by quickly heading on a 20-0 run, which always helps things. They were already up at the break and even after Dragic and Whiteside closed that HT lead to four points with the first couple buckets of the 3Q they were in a good place. But yeah, 55-51 soon became 75-51 and from there it was OKC’s to lose. They spread the points out over the streak too, with Russ scoring 8, Sabonis 6, Oladipo 4 and Adams 2. Teamwork, bruh.
Adams checked out with 3:47 left in the third but this time he did check back in to help close things out. Probably because Hassan Whiteside had re-entered. Shame he wasn’t on the court to restrain ol’ Enes this time around, he picked up a double tech in an exchange with Josh Richardson late on in the third. That dude’s got some trash talk about him. The Thunder kept Miami to 14 points in the third frame and they won this won with room to spare despite a bit of garbage time scoring from the MIA bench.
How well did Steve do on Hassan Whiteside? Well, it wasn’t all him but he was HW’s primary defender and the fella was kept to 2/8 shooting in his 31 minutes… he’d been shooting 59% before this game. He was kept to 5 points for the game… he’s been averaging 20. He still managed 12 rebounds which is a lot closer to his 14 per game through the first five but the story tells itself from all that. Miami as a team were under 37% from the field.
Russ: "Steven did a good job of buckling down, using his size, using his ability to be able to use his body and his strength to match."
Thunderous Intentions Player Grades: STEVEN ADAMS // A-
“Steven Adams is going to average two steals a year at the center position. A center hasn’t done that since David Robinson. The guy before him? Hakeem Olajuwon. Adams was a large part of the center combination who basically shut down Hassan Whiteside tonight. His hands are always so active he’s bound to tip a few passes a game. The Big Kiwi also added two blocks tonight, including one on Dion Waiters that was eerily similar to pro players blocking little kids at their basketball camps. I’m not kidding. The only thing knocking Adams tonight was the offensive end, but he was also being guarded by a DPOY candidate in Whiteside. What Adams was able to do though was keep Whiteside active all night, ensuring lanes for the rest of his teammates. He finished the night with six points on 3-5 shooting.”
Believe it or not, this is now the best start to a season in Thunder history.
ODDS & ENDS
Little weird that USA Today including Kiwi Steve on this list, given he’s easily the lowest scorer of the lot but whatever. Nice of them all the same (and funny what a big contract will do for a reputation):
Oh look, Steven Adams came in at 36 in ESPN’s #NBARank for 2016. Not bad at all, lad. Snuck in just ahead of Rudy Gobert too.
Daily Thunder Week in Review: “Steven Adams - Adams as a passer is in its infancy, but I’m starting to believe that Adams has progressed. Sure, he’s only averaging an assist per game, but many of his assists have been excellent, especially that blind dish to Andre Roberson for the slam. If Adams can develop into a reliable passer out of the post, watch out world.”
A Steven Adams story from Fred Katz/Norman Transcript:
“Enes Kanter had his best performance of the young season during Monday's win over the Heat, but the actions he inspired on the bench may have been most memorable.
Kanter went for 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting, and, at one point in the second half, was working Miami big man Willie Reed particularly effectively. After a hard foul from Reed sent the game into a timeout, Westbrook emerged from the bench intensely cheering on Kanter.
"Keeping working his ass, E!" he screamed repeatedly. "Keep working his ass!"
The moment was not lost on fellow Stache Brother Steven Adams, who decided to assume the persona of Westbrook as Kanter and the rest of his on-court teammates walked toward the bench for the timeout.
Adams stood up behind Westbrook, started flailing his arms and lifting his knees as if he was doing a high-knees drill.
"Keep working his ass!" he mimicked Westbrook.
Kanter laughed and walked by both of them.”