Kiwi Steve in the NBA #7: Point Scorer

BOX SCORES

vs HOUSTON ROCKETS (L 102-99):

29 MINS | 24 PTS (8/9 FG, 8/9 FT) | 10 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 4 TO | 2 PF

vs BOSTON CELTICS (W 99-96):

32 MINS | 16 PTS (7/8 FG, 2/5 FT) | 8 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK

at PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (L 114-95):

26 MINS | 14 PTS (6/10 FG, 2/3 FT) | 4 REB | 1 AST | 4 STL | 4 TO

at UTAH JAZZ (L 109-89):

28 MINS | 10 PTS (4/7 FG, 2/2 FT) | 5 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 3 PF

NEXT WEEK

vs PHOENIX SUNS, Sunday 11.00am (NZT)

vs ATLANTA HAWKS, Tuesday 2.00pm (NZT)

at NEW ORLEANS PELICANS, Thursday 2.00pm (NZT)

vs HOUSTON ROCKETS (L 102-99)

This was a fun one. Russell Westbrook in the middle of all his triple-doubles in a row and up against the only bloke who seems to be able to challenge him for TDs in James Harden. Oh and his arch nemesis Patrick Beverley as well. Plus Steven Adams, which is always worth the price of admission around these parts.

First play of the game they gave Steve the ball in the post, do ya work son. He missed the layup. That was his lot for a few more minutes, though soon enough he was plucking an offensive board and putting the bugger back for points and that got him going. There was a missed free throw which he got away with thanks to a lane violation, nailing it at the second attempt and he’d end up missing only one outta nine from the line for the day. Ka-chang!

There’s been a bit of talk about the way that Westbrook takes rebounds away from the big men, last week Adams and one or two other were quoted in a few places saying the usual things about how they don’t care, whatever helps the team win, etc. So it was funny late in the second where Adams and Russ both went for a defensive board and Stevie, presumably not noticing the smaller dude, out-jumped his team leader in a genuine contest between two lads on the same team, realised who he was up against then literally handed him the ball in his lap.

This was a huge half for Adams. He and Westbrook got that lob-dunk to go a few times and Stevie was able to get to the free throw line as well. When the buzzer went for half-time oranges, Adams had himself 17 points and 9 rebounds. That alone makes for one of his best games of the season and there was a whole other half to play. He was the top scorer in the game at this point.

NewsOK: “That made for an easy lob to Steven Adams. Four of his career-high 24 points came off lob passes from Westbrook that have been so successful for the Thunder, but rarely seen as of late. Until Friday night. Adams said with all the attention on Westbrook, no one was on the weak side of Houston’s defense to ‘hammer him’.”

He’d finish with 24 and 10. Those next seven points came within the first seven minutes of the third, his last rebound a minute later. Problem was when he checked out with 2:31 left in that frame, the Rockets were still up by 12 points. It was a nine-point game at half-time and they couldn’t close that gap. Billy Donovan had a different idea in mind for the fourth and we wouldn’t see Steve again until there were 17 seconds left and that was just for the rebounding. For the most part they rolled with Westbrook/Oladipo/Roberson along with two of the three from Morrow, Kanter and even Jerami Grant, himself getting heaps of reps as a small ball centre, believe it or not. The Rockets are a crap defensive team so all offence was decided to be their best chance.

Thunder Digest: “Steven Adams was a nice bright spot on the offensive end, where he put up career high 24 points. He did not see much playing time in the fourth quarter, though, since Billy Donovan ultimately decided to go super small with Jerami Grant at center. It was a good move by Donovan, as that was when Oklahoma City rallied back halfway through the fourth quarter to make it a game.”

To be fair, it nearly worked. Three separate occasions down the stretch Westbrook scored to close the lead to a single point. Every time the Rockets replied but with the game winding down, six seconds left, Russ had a shot from three that woulda tied it up. Guarded by his buddy Beverley on five fouls… but he missed. Rockets won.

Patrick Beverley: “He's a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really good player. We were fortunate to come up with a stop.”

No kidding, Russ had yet another TD with 27p/10r/10a… though he missed all seven of his triples and shot 8 of 25 from the field. James Harden missed his own trip-dub by a single rebound and he also shot like a chump (6 of 23). The difference was that Harden had a couple more playmaking teammates around him – Eric Gordon kept up his hot form with 17 points off the bench. Also, Russ’ late almost-heroics robbed Adams of the first ever game in his career where he would’ve top scored.

ESPN: “Steven Adams' 17 points in the first half were a career high for a half. He finished with a career-best 24.”

WTLC Player Grades: “Steven Adams: B

Oddly, Adams’ career-best 24-point showing was of the dual-edged sword variety we’ve become accustomed to beholding from Stache Bro. Enes Kanter. While Adams offered 24 points, ten rebounds, and a block in 29 minutes, the Kiwi also turned the ball over four times and suffered a team-low NETRTG of -16.3.”

vs BOSTON CELTICS (W 99-96)

The streak is over. On a brisk Portland night, Russell Westbrook’s seven straight triple-doubles were officially logged as a completed stat as he could only muster a mere 6 assists to go with his 12 rebounds and 37 points. What a sucker.

But way more important to him will be that he scored a bunch of second half points and led the team to a victory. Although it didn’t start that way. The Celtics more or less bossed the first half even if it didn’t completely show on the scoreboard. Well, on the offensive side. Defensively it certainly did as they kept the Thunder to their lowest scoring half of the season, 43-39 the Celts led it at the half. Bear in mind that there was no Isaiah Thomas for Boston, although by the end of the first that was cancelled out sort of by Victor Oladipo spraining his wrist. He’d leave the game and he hasn’t been seen on a basketball court since. Not too good.

Unlike the previous game, Adams did bugger all in the first half in terms of scoring. Two points was the extent of it. He made up for that with a quick six points to begin the third, which was countered by the Celtics pushing the lead all the way out 13 points. That was Al Horford there with a three footer with three and a half left in the quarter. Thanks to Westbrook and a hint of Kanter, it was only 71-67 at the end of the third.

Russ did his thing in the final frame, soaring the Thunder ahead and holding on for a tight victory. Kanter scored 14 to go with Russ and Steve’s work while for Boston it was 19 for Horford and 18 for Jae Crowder that led the way. Could probably use that leading scorer of theirs that was out injured, aye?

Welcome to Loud City: “Semaj Christon's made free throw briefly knotted the game at 71 before Boston went on a 9-2 run. Undaunted, a Westbrook three-pointer tied the contest at 92 with 2:49 remaining. A Steven Adams ATO block and subsequent Horford turnover granted OKC a pristine opportunity to seize the advantage. And seize the advantage Oklahoma City did. With 30.6 remaining, Russell Westbrook hoisted the Thunder ahead 96-94. From that point a tenacious Thunder defense closed the show.”

ESPN: “Adams has made 15 of 17 field goal attempts and 10 of 14 free throws over the past two games, with averages of 20 points and nine rebounds.”

Daily Thunder: “Steven Adams and Enes Kanter are so efficient at scoring. Adams is currently fifth in the NBA in FG% and Kanter is sixth. Tonight Adams had 16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Kanter had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. The efficiency of effectiveness of these two bigs helps balance Westbrook’s reckless style of play.”

NewsOK: “And Adams’ recent performance offers reason to think his offense is going to continue to improve. That power hook is starting to become a major weapon. The Westbrook-to-Adams lob passes are stunningly effective. Adams’ footwork and power after offensive rebounds are impressive. His five-foot flip shot is accurate. Adams’ foul shooting has gone from unacceptable to solid. If Adams continues to get better offensively, the Thunder’s success rate goes up and fast.”

at PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (L 114-95)

This one was a blowout, although not until the second quarter. In fact against a team that was coming off a tight loss to the Clippers which marked four straight defeats, OKC led for most of the first. Stevie missed his first shot and then got called up for kicking the ball 12 seconds later. Next time he touched the ball it was finishing through contact for the and-one.

There were seven seconds left in the first quarter when Allen Crabbe gave the Blazers their first lead. Typically the Thunder were up by six when Westbrook checked out. The bench promptly gave it away. When he re-entered the game with 8:41 left in the second they were suddenly down by seven and watching Mo Harkless drop a couple of free throws to extend that. Damian Lillard’s fellows went on to outscored OKC 35-21 in the quarter and when Oklahoma City couldn’t bring that back in the third they sat the starters for the fourth.

Thunder Digest: “Really the lone bright spot for the Thunder was Steven Adams. The Kiwi finished with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. His ability to post up gave Oklahoma City some scoring ability, but eventually the lead was just too big to rely on that tonight.”

Daily Thunder: “The Blazers backcourt of Lillard and McCollum aren’t known for their defense, and though Oladipo’s slashing abilities would be missed, the Thunder were relying on Westbrook to penetrate and score or create plays with Adams and Kanter.  They saw some success with Adams (6-10, 14 points), but the with the Thunder shooting poorly (37.9% from the field, 29.6% from 3) the Blazers eventually were able to back off and clog the paint.”

This was another game where the Thunder allowed the others to outshoot them by a mile. 53.8% shooting for the Blazers, 37.9% for OKC. Russ had a mere 20 points. Adams had 14. Grant had 11 and that was it for the OKC double figure scorers. Four of the five Portland starters scored at least 15 points with Mason Plumlee topping with 18 of them. Evan Turner and Allan Crabbe also had decent scoring from the bench. Westbrook got pretty thoroughly booed during the game after he threw the ball into the seats in frustration.

Mason Plumlee: “Every time they made a 3 or they had two baskets in a row, we would get right back on defence, we would get a good shot on offense so we didn't let anything get out of control. We didn't let anything snowball.”

Hey but Steven had four steals, which was sweet. And he nearly hit a buzzer beater too the cheeky lad:

at UTAH JAZZ (L 109-89)

The Jazz are good, they know how to play basketball. Great defence and increasingly good shooters. That makes them a tough matchup for most teams out there, not in the least the Thunder. The Jazz took the lead nice and early, shot 58.3% for the game and kept the Thunder to 36.6% as they completely dominated a game that the Thunder didn’t hold a single lead in. Never once.

Yeah, that’s the way it went. Rodney Hood returned from injury to score 25 points shooting 5/9 from deep. Although Enes Kanter added 19 points off the bench, it was mostly all done from a safe distance behind. Adams scored 10 points with 5 rebounds. Westbrook shot 7/25 for 27 points with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Two games in a row without a TD, uh oh.

It’s hard to go into details when Adams didn’t do a whole lot. He blocked Dante Exum, the Aussie, which was cool, though he didn’t find his scoring touch until they were already behind. He had a couple looks too but up against Rudy Gobert, his 2013 draft comrade and one of the premier rim protectors in the league, he was a bit ineffective. Just a bit...

Billy Donovan: “I know Gobert is a great rim protector, but I thought we had some shots around the basket that we normally could have made. I thought that bled into our struggles scoring.”

Semaj Christon did do this, however:

But yeah, while they got close in the second, the Jazz went on a 15-6 run for a 14 point HT lead. Missing Victor Oladipo again was a big problem. Russ can’t do the scoring all by himself.

Russell Westbrook: “Honestly, people with this triple-double thing, is kind of getting on my nerves. People think if I don't get it, it's like a big thing. When I do get it, it's a thing. If I get it, I get it. If I don't, I don't. It is what it is. I really don't care, not for the hundredth time. I don't care. All I care about is winning.”

Thunderous Intentions: “This season the Thunder are shooting 71.2% good enough for third worst in the league. This even after their usual hack-a-Shaq candidate, Steven Adams, improved his free throw shooting from 58.2% last season to 74.4% this season.”

ODDS & ENDS

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Written by Nick Robinson On Tagged ,