Kiwi Steve in the NBA #5: Resurgence
BOX SCORES
at LAL (L 111-109):
31 MINS | 20 PTS (9/13 FG, 2/2 FT) | 6 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 1 PF
at SAC (L 116-101):
28 MINS | 11 PTS (4/7 FG, 3/4 FT) | 4 REB | 2 BLK | 3 PF
at DEN (W 132-129):
30 MINS | 7 PTS (3/7 FG, 1/2 FT) | 6 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 1 TO | 5 PF
vs DET (W 106-88):
29 MINS | 16 PTS (7/9 FG, 2/5 FT) | 9 REB | 1 STL | 2 TO | 1 PF
at NYK (W 112-103):
32 MINS | 14 PTS (7/11 FG) | 10 REB | 1 TO | 2 PF
vs WAS (W 126-115):
28 MINS | 12 PTS (3/6 FG, 6/10 FT) | 6 REB | 1 TO | 1 PF
NEXT WEEK
vs New Orleans Pelicans, 1.00pm Monday (NZT)
at Atlanta Hawks, 1.30pm Tuesday (NZT)
vs Houston Texans, 2.00pm Saturday (NZT)
at LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Coming into this one against Walton’s Baby Lakers, Kiwi Steve was in need of a performance. The hand had been ailing him and his performances simply weren’t where they needed to be. This is a Thunder team that can no longer rely on Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka’s scoring and rebounding and God knows Russ can’t do it all. They need Steven Adams to be chipping in. Victor Oladipo too, though he’s new so he’s got more excuses.
Adams didn’t have a single rebound until near the end of the third quarter here. That’s not the best, for a starting NBA centre. However unlike in the last couple weeks he was able to chip away with points. Down 29-16 after the first, the Thunder came back to tie it in the second and would’ve had the lead at HT but for Nick Young hitting a buzzer beater. Yeah, remember that one.
The Lakers were up by double figures in the final quarter, up by 18 with a little over four minutes remaining. That sounds like a sure thing victory from there but that was when Westbrook took over for good. 17 of his 34 points came in the last eight minutes of the game.
Down by a point with less than 20 seconds to go, Russell Westbrook goes around an Adams screen on the right edge and cuts back square for the floater at the free throw line. No good, ah shite… BUT THERE’S STEVEN ADAMS WITH THE REBOUND AND THE HOLLYWOOD FINISH! Maaaaate. That is most definitely where it’s at, son.
Problem was they left 13.9 seconds for the Lakers to respond.
Told ya so. And then Nick Young, the artist once known as Swaggy P who now prefers to be called Uncle P which is somehow even worse, went on ahead and did this for the win:
The Thunder still had a couple more seconds to respond, but Westbrook missed from 31 feet and that was that. Russ still scored 34 points with 8 rebounds and 13 assists but he also logged 8 turnovers and shot 13/30 for the game. Frustrating. Oladipo only scored 14 while Sabonis and Roberson had 8 between them. Lauvergne had 12 off the bench, Kanter had 10. If Oladipo isn’t able to score 18+ in games and Sabonis and Roberson aren’t really scorers at all themselves, that means that there’s a burden on Kiwi Steve to do more than he’s been doing and be a genuine scoring option.
In this game he was that. 20 points is a new career high for him and he did so shooting 9/13 which was great – especially since he rebounded two of those misses at once before scoring on the third. Putting back those offensive boards and being a menace in the post. If you scroll down twitter you can still find a few Lakers fans moaning about his travels and that’s a clear sign something was working… and also a response to Billy Donovan saying that Young travelled on his winner. Eh, they didn’t call it so yeah.
Even got himself on the daily highlights train:
Thunder Digest: “It seems Westbrook got plenty of help on offense when you look at the box score, which is pretty accurate outside of the small scoring drought the second unit had early in the second quarter. Steven Adams was great tonight finishing with 20 points and six rebounds. Victor Oladipo came on in the fourth quarter, scoring eight of his 14 total points in the last quarter.”
Daily Thunder: “Adams scored a career high tonight with 20 points, at least something positive came from tonight.”
at SACRAMENTO KINGS
Things started alright, that’s for sure. A couple quick buckets for Steve getting his hands on the ball early. It’s a thing they did in those playoffs last season, seems to work pretty well forcing the issue inside early on.
But there’s nothing easy about playing DeMarcus Cousins, a guy who once nearly punched Adams in the back of the head. As such, this was a stinker. Stevie muscled up as he could but Cousins has too many ways to score and he feasted on his way to 36 points (14/28 shooting).
SAC’s Kosta Koufos: “DeMarcus is one of the best, if not the best center in the game. He can do it all, shoot the 3, post up, put it on the floor. You name it, he can do it.”
No kidding, this ain’t easy to defend. A dude that size spinning on a dime and then finishing easy on the turn. Adams is playing for a physical contest and Cousins reads it and blows by him.
Perhaps indicative of that, Adams was a team-low -19 plus/minus on the court and he’s usually amongst the very top of them for the Thunder. In fact even after this game, his season +/- stood at +67 which was just outside the top 30 in the NBA (Russ’ was at +89). Add those 19 points back on and he’d have been in the top 20. Bear in mind the top eight all play for the Clippers or Warriors.
It was close through the first half but the Kings scored 36 in the third and pulled away from there. Darren Collison made a few shots in the last frame while the OKC bench did next to nothing and the team was down at 28% from deep, 42% from the field. If they’d made a few more shots then Russ coulda had another trip-dub, but he ended with 31p/11r/9a, one assist short. So it goes. Adams scored 11, Oladipo 18 (from 15 shots). The defeat meant the Thunder had dropped seven of nine and three in a row.
at DENVER NUGGETS
Which all left the Thunder in a bit of a worry. Gotta start winning games again, gotta get Stevie’s performances back up at the level he teased in the Lakers game. So when he’s dropping the first points of the game that seems like a decent start. He banked another to have OKC up 8-2 on a hot start. That was more than he’d score for the entire rest of the game though. Wilson Chandler blocked him soon after he missed another couple shots in the first as well, the bulk majority of his offensive output coming in the opening frame.
A reason for that was fouls. Three of them in the first half meant he was playing on eggshells for the first time in a while – he’s working towards a career low in fouls per 36 mins (6.1 in 2013-14 / 4.5 in 2014-15 / 4.0 in 2015-16 / 2.9 in 2016-17).
Close game too. Russ took a back seat preferring to stoke his 17 assists instead while Oladipo stepped up where Adams didn’t, scoring 26 and shooting well over 50%. Joffrey Lauvergne continued a strong trend off the bench from him too, the Frenchman scoring 15 points with Kanter and Morrow also getting to double figures from outside the starting five. But with Westbrook only having scored 12 points through the first three quarters, the Nuggets managed to find a bit of breathing room in a game that had otherwise been within eight points the entire time.
From 1:33 to go in the third until 9:11 in the fourth, the Thunder were scoreless and that saw Denver push out to a 95-84 lead, a 9-0 run. Just like that Lakers game, OKC trailed by 11 points with less than four minutes to go. Cue Westbrook with 17 4Q points, making four free throws in the last 30 seconds to put OKC up 122-119 with nine second to play. Which was when Steven Adams did something silly…
To overtime we went… where Russ added seven more points and Steve padded his stats some more with three bonus boards and a trip to the free throw line (where he split the bill). 7p/6r looks much better than 6p/3a after all. And most important was a valuable win against a team they should be beating.
Yooooo, ref!
Naturally, Westbrook had a triple-double too.
Daily Thunder: “It really appeared the Thunder came in with a mind to feature Adams a bit more. And still, he only took seven shots. I am as big an Adams advocate as anyone, and foul trouble hurt him tonight, but 7 and 5 from him isn’t very good.”
vs DETROIT PISTONS
If the Boogie Cousins matchup is a brutal one for Adams (and the Nurkic/Jokic one too, apparently) then a go up against Andre Drummond is more in his wheelhouse. Drumm is a superb player but an old fashioned centre who defends the rim and doesn’t shoot with a lot of range. Adams can guard outside the paint if he has to but it’s another thing to worry about. Against the Pistons last time he was embarrassed a little when Aaron Baynes, the dirty Aussie, had a blinder filling in for Drummond. This time AD was back and SA near his best.
Drummond had 10p/8r, Adams had 16p/9r in fewer minutes. But the game wasn’t won there, it was won with Russell Westbrook logging his 44th career triple-double (although he only scored 18 points following eight straight with 30+) and with the Pistons shooting 1 of 19 from 3pt. Tobias Harris was the lone wolf to make a triple. Perimeter defence that good, you wanna look towards Andre Roberson – although Russ was pretty zoned in himself which isn’t always the case.
As they tend to do in their better performances, the Thunder shot out to a double-digit first quarter lead and they managed to nurse that for pretty much the rest of the game. Kanter scored 12 off the bench but it was Anthony Morrow who top scored with 21, shooting 8/12 FG. He’s often been passed over because he’s a dude that shoots threes and nothing else but this team actually needs more reliable three point shooters and one of the major trends of the last week, particularly the winning run that the Thunder are now on, has been the added minutes for Morrow off the bench. He’s earning those mins too, scoring 14 in the game against the Knicks that followed. Oladipo also scored 18 and this was a mercifully casual win for OKC.
So let’s have a watch of some Adams highlights:
Ah look and the lad got himself on TV, mate:
ESPN: “Surprisingly, Adams outscored and outrebounded his counterpart, Andre Drummond, who finished with just 10 points and eight boards in 36 minutes. Adams' stingy defense undoubtedly played a part in some of Drummond's struggles, and the Thunder big man's success on that end of the floor should continue to garner him around 30 minutes per game, with backup Enes Kanter representing no serious threat to his playing time.”
Welcome to Loud City: “A big reason why OKC got out to their early lead is because the Thunder did a great job establishing Adams as a scoring option early, which eventually opened up the shooting lanes for Morrow, Oladipo, and others from long range. Adams finished the first half with a game-high 14 points and even though he only finished with 16, his attentive production is clearly a harbinger of OKC’s offensive balance. Hopefully it is a sign of things to come, not the least of which would be a healthier Funaki.”
WTLC Player Grades: Steven Adams: A
“The “Kiwi Warrior’s” early intensity provided OKC with an imperative competitive advantage. In total, Adams finished with a near double-double effort of 16 points and nine rebounds. However, most importantly, in 29 minutes Adams held All-Star Andre Drummond to just ten points and eight rebounds.”
Daily Thunder: “Adams always seems to get up for games against Drummond. Tonight he had 16 points and 9 rebounds compared to 10 points and 8 rebounds for Drummond. This may be blasphemous, but I think Adams is more athletic version of Kendrick Perkins, in that he does great against athletic brutes. Just look back at the games he’s played against Drummond, DeAndre Jordan, and Marc Gasol. He either dominates or keeps them at bay. The thing that separates Adams and Perkins, though, is that Adams can step out and defend a wing if need be.”
at NEW YORK KNICKS
Another player earning improved minutes is Enes Kanter, who scored 27 in 28 mins in this one in New York. It was always gonna be normal for Billy Donovan to work around his rotations in the early stages but seeing Kanter and Adams share the court a bit more was cool. Keep doing this, Billy.
And Steve! Double figure scoring for the second straight game, he’d make it three in a row next game - first time he’s done that all season. He spent time banging up against Joakim Noah who only scored 2 points.
Noah: “We got manhandled. That's tough. Russ definitely puts a lot of pressure on the bigs when he's going downhill like that. At the end of the day it's always tough knowing that we lost the game on the glass.”
Yup, OKC bagged 16 more rebounds than the Knicks did, including 17 on the offensive end – Steve had four of those and Russ five.
But while that putback tied things at 7-all, Courtney Lee responded with a triple and the dynamic duo of Kristaps Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony went to work as the Knicks led this game for the next 16:43 of the match, the Thunder eventually getting over the hump as Adams and Kanter combined for six straight late in the first half and OKC controlled the scoreboard for the entire second half after that.
Russ Watch: 27 PTS | 18 REB | 14 AST
Derrick Rose scored 30 for NYK but Melo’s 18 came from 4/19 shooting. Porzingis added 21.
WTLC Player Grades: Steven Adams: A-
“Adams brought both physicality and excellent pick-and-roll execution to the table vs. New York. Statistically, the pride of New Zealand netted a double-double (14 pts, 10 rbs) effort while compiling the second-highest NetRtg (+8.7) among Thunder players to log 30-plus minutes. The rough and rugged 23-year-old is beginning to make GM Sam Presti’s decision to offer an extension appear sage.”
Daily Thunder: “Steven Adams is looking more like the player we thought he’d be this season. Post-ups, better in the pick-and-roll, better rebounding.”
vs WASHINGTON WIZARDS
And now we finish a difficult week’s schedule (five games in a row in different time zones) with a home stand vs Washington, a team that’s been having more than a few issues despite the play of John Wall at PG. If Steven Adams is an international centre with a fun personality, Marcin Gortat is like the amazing alter ego of that. Those two got battling, it was an entertaining watch.
The first focus was on Westbrook getting the four rebounds that’d guarantee he’d become the first man since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double into December. Lock it in, he was done within the first quarter. But ah… not the best shooting night for him. He was missing layups and everything and it wasn’t until the bench started staggering in that OKC were able to establish themselves. Adams too, he missed his first shot and was called for a travel a spell later. However from trailing 13-10 with five to go in the first to leading 32-19 at the buzzer, they did alright. Morrow and Kanter continuing their resurgence.
Then they flexed, pushing the lead to as many as 16 although they let it slip somewhat towards HT. Adams still wasn’t getting his shots to drop but he was drawing fouls instead and as we all know he’s now a sniper from the free throw line. More on that later. Kiwi Steve added six points and 3 boards in the third quarter, however the Wiz still managed to overhaul the deficit, going into the last Q with things all tied. Bloody hell.
Time for Russ to come to the rescue. In a game they should have been able to wrap up earlier, suddenly the Thunder were trailing by a couple possessions late on and that was enough for Westbrook to chuck the cape on. Driving dunks, tip back shots, the scoreboard tightening right up. And then the dagger, a step back three with eight seconds remaining. He’d outscore the Wizards 14-10 on his own in overtime. The highlights are top notch:
Russ ended with 35p/14r/11a. That’s four TDs in a row, if you were wondering. Incredibly that’s not even the first time he’s achieved that in his career.
Enes Kanter saying what everyone else was thinking: “I gotta start boxing him [Westbrook] out. He's not leaving any rebounds for the bigs.”
Bradley Beal scored 31 for Washington, Oladipo added 25 for the Thunder. All five OKC starters made at least 10 points.by the way, the coach of the Wizards this season? Scott Brooks. Awesome to see both Westbrook and Adams sharing smiles and shakes with him after the game was over – he did a lot for both of them when he was with OKC. Adams briefly left this game after copping an elbow to the eye but swiftly he returned good to go.
Oh yes and the free throw improvements. After a bunch more trips to the line this week where he missed a few and eased on the nosebleeds of shooting >85%. He’s now looking at a 78% mark which is still a ridiculously big rise from where he’d been before. There are bigs who spend all their careers failing to make the adjustments he’s made in a few months. What’s the secret? Serbian jabs to the ribs, apparently…
Thunderous Intentions: “Steven Adams was forced to check out for a little bit in the first half after taking an elbow to the eye. The big guy would finish with 12 points on 3-6 shooting from the floor, and 6-10 from the line, which was a surprisingly bad night for him from the charity stripe this year, as he’s shot over 80% on free throws thus far.”
ODDS & ENDS
Not quite the cover of Rolling Stone (or Sports Illustrated) but for a bballer, it’s pretty bloody close!
Support the Otago Daily Times. They (like the Niche Cache) are a fully independent media branch in NZ and that’s a rare thing. No mainstream pandering, no clickbait stupidity, just keeping it 100 all the time. To do that as a print outlet as well is outstanding. Keep people like them in business.
Bingo anybody?
And to finish, it’s Enes Kanter in a car with Steven Adams driving and singing a song about friendship: