Kiwi Steve in the NBA #9: Festivities
BOX SCORES
at BOSTON CELTICS (W 117-112):
29 MINS | 8 PTS (4/6 FG, 0/2 FT) | 11 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO
vs MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (W112-100):
29 MINS | 22 PTS (9/12 FG, 4/4 FT) | 6 REB | 1 AST | 2 STL | 2 TO | 3 PF
at MIAMI HEAT (W 106-94):
23 MINS | 15 PTS (7/20 FG, 1/1 FT) | 8 REB | 1 AST | 2 BLK | 4 TP | 5 PF
at MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (L 114-80):
27 MINS | 6 PTS (1/9 FG, 4/8 FT) | 15 REB | 2 AST | 2 BLK | 3 TO | 2 PF
vs LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (W 114-88):
29 MINS | 11 PTS (4/5 FG, 3/5 FT) | 5 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 PF
NEXT WEEK
at MILWAUKEE BUCKS, 1.00pm Tuesday (NZT)
at CHARLOTTE HORNETS, 1.00pm Thursday (NZT)
at HOUSTON ROCKETS, 2.00pm Friday (NZT)
vs DENVER NUGGETS, 2.00pm Sunday (NZT)
at BOSTON CELTICS (W 117-112)
These Kiwi Steve things tend to be carjacked by Russell Westbrook because anything Thunder related starts and ends with Russell Westbrook, if we’re being truthful. This one was all about Russ, with Steve putting up tidy enough figures of 8 pts/11 rebs but playing very much a supporting role.
But he did do this. RUN IT STRAIGHT, BRO!
Westbrook scored the last 7 points in the first half to ensure they took the lead into the break despite trailing the Celtics for all but 65 seconds across the first two frames. Then when Boston tied things up again in the fourth, Russ made back on a three-point play before sinking some deep triples to take his numbers through to 45 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Huge stuff from him, especially since he didn’t even make a field goal until the second quarter.
Welcome to Loud City: “With 1:40 remaining in the half, an authoritative Steven Adams dunk tied the contest at 51. After each team traded made three-point baskets, a pair of gliding Westbrook drives gave Oklahoma City a well-earned 58-54 halftime buffer.”
Enes Kanter added 20 and so did Domantas Sabonis, while for the Celtics it was Isaiah Thomas with 34 (plus 10 assists) and Al Horford with 23 that led the scoring. OKC made 51.3% of their field goals in this one, an exciting and competitive contest which ended up being yet another chapter in the Westbrook Story. It’d be nice to say a bunch more about how great Adams played but he’d be the first to tell you that the most important thing was a road win against one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. No small feat, that.
vs MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (W112-100)
Things are a little bit special on Christmas Day, these are regular season games but for whatever reason they sparkle that tiny but more. Probably because we get to watch them well-fed for once, dunno. The Thunder would always have been favourites against the Timberwolves but for the first half it was a mighty close thing.
Having scored 40+ in three straight games, Westbrook had 17 in the first two quarters, though with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins making hoops they only held an 8 point lead for all that. They were down for a lot of the first and although they swung it back with a 34 point second, the Wolves looked like they were prepared to take them all the way… which is silly because the Wolves have been notorious for crumbling in the second half of games this season. The Thunder stretched things out in the third and claimed a solid win for their troubles.
But it wasn’t Russ doing the damage, it was the Stache Bros! Well, sort of. Westbrook was still assisting on damn near everything but shout out to Xmas miracles because between them the moustachioed ones shot 17 of 22 for 42 points.
Adams had 22 of those and he scored 12 in the third. But yeah, don’t go giving him all the praise.
Kiwi Steve: “It was cool. It's cool just getting layups and stuff. It was all Russ. I just finished it off. Can't take credit for that one.”
NewsOK: “Adams had three offensive rebounds in the first two minutes and five total in the first quarter. He and Enes Kanter finished with 11 combined, more than the entire Heat team (9).”
A 12 point victory in the end, Towns had 26 and Wiggins 23 but Westbrook had 31 (only 7 rebounds though, no TD) and with OKC popping at 51.2% from the field they were a length too good.
ESPN.com: Towns kept Minnesota ticking in the first half with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting. Adams put up more resistance after the break, and Towns had 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting in the second half.
"With those players, you just have to make them take the shots that you want," Adams said. "If he makes it, you've just got to live with it. He's pretty much got the whole repertoire -- drives, put it on the ground, 3s, whatever. So as long as you just try to keep him within a box, and that's the lowest percentage shot he can get, that's what you have to live with."
Shot bro. Merry Christmas.
at MIAMI HEAT (W 106-94)
You know what’s a good way to win games in this league? Get in front nice and early and keep it that way throughout. Midway through the first quarter the game was tied at 10-10. Westbrook had the ball, looking to create something around the Steven Adams screen, he drew the attention of two defenders and flipped the ball back to Steve who had a clear lane to the hoop for the comprehensive dunk. The next possession Stevie picks up the defensive board and hits Russ on the run at the top of their defensive key, the man goes all the way for the coast to coast layup, count it and the foul. Boom.
By the end of the first they were up by 14 points. Westbrook was two rebounds shy of a first half triple double and the lead hardly ever dipped under double figures, although they didn’t exactly blow it out either. Just trading blows for three quarters at an arm’s length. Let’s be honest, the game was over from the moment that Steven Adams went and did this to Hassan Whiteside, getting the piggyback ride…
Westbrook: “I thought our team did a great job of focusing in on what we do as a team and came out and put our foot down early.”
For real, though. they outscored the Heat 58-32 in the paint and Westbrook somehow ended up with 17 rebounds, all of them defensive. This is against a team whose best player is their old fashioned centre, Mr Whiteside. Adams scored 15 points with 8 boards, Kanter scored 19 points with 8 boards. Hassan Whiteside… 12 points and 8 boards.
Westbrook again: “They just used their strength. Steven does an amazing job and Enes ... those guys do an amazing job.”
Thunder Digest: “Steven Adams scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 23 minutes. Adams had eight points and five rebounds after the first quarter, all offensive, but foul trouble kept him on the bench for most of the second half.”
Daily Thunder: “The Thunder are pretty good, and Russell Westbrook very well might actually be the NBA’s best current player. Add in the fact that Steven Adams just abuses Hassan Whiteside, and this game became quite simple.”
This, by the way, was Westbrook’s 15th trip-dub of the season and the 20th of his career to come within three quarters. 29 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists for that dude, still reeling them in all the way to the finish despite the lead.
at MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (L 114-80)
They don’t all go golden, especially on the road where the Thunder are barely above 50% (they’re 8-7 compared to 12-6 at home). Against a probable playoff team like the Grizzlies well that only makes it tougher. Weird from Memphis, a new coach and injuries… they were supposed to be fairly average but instead we’re seeing a career year from the always brilliant Marc Gasol and a broken back only keeps Mike Conley out a couple weeks (although a toe injury meant he missed this game). After this one they were only a half game down on OKC in the standings, the Thunder being another team keeping unexpected parity.
But the Thunder are doing it almost entirely on the back of Russell Westbrook. So when he goes an entire game without an assist that probably doesn’t bode well. Not that he wasn’t passing or anything, just that the rest of them were missing. Check out Stevie’s shooting stats: one made field goal from nine attempts. Bloody hell, those are bad numbers for a shooting guard, let alone a guy who normally makes his living in the paint shooting from a few feet out if that.
The one FG that he made was a tip-in from one of his misses too, at least he was resourceful.
Anyway, the Grizz seemed to lead for most of the first quarter but an angry Russ gave the Thunder a 18-17 lead at one point. They were down by six after the quarter though, Westbrook copping a technical foul for getting all fury-hyped and from the moment he checked out the Grizz went on a 10-3 run. The difference was 16 by half time. And although the Thunder did muster a slight comeback in the third, that was very quickly ended when this happened…
Russell Westbrook: “Honestly, it's crazy, man, especially to be ejected when I didn't do nothing. It was just crazy, especially for me because I don't feel I get the benefit of the doubt most of the time, especially throughout the game, with the refs.”
Yeah, they went on to lose by 34 points and the box score looks awful. Adams did bag a bunch of rebounds though, 15 of them. 8 offensive and 7 defensive. The most he’s had in any game this season by three although not a career high. Back in 2014-15 he had at least 15 boards four separate times, including a 20 rebound game against Washington. Definitely left a lot of points on the table though.
WTLC: “Enes Kanter was the lone bright spot, recording 19 points and 5 rebounds in 24 minutes. What was truly surprising however was his Stache Bro compadre Steven Adams, who struggled like we have seldom seen him struggle before. He finished an abysmal 6 points on 1-9 shooting and missed half his free throw attempts. He repeatedly was stuffed at the rim, as the Grizz defense was consistently ready for all of his moves and counter-moves. His 15 boards were more reflective of how many shots OKC missed than anything else.”
A large reason for that was former Defensive Player of the Year a certain Mr Marc Gasol. Who also scored 25 points with 8 boards and 5 blocks. The starters all got a bit of rest once Westbrook was tossed but Russ, with 6 of 19 FGs was the only one who made more than a single bucket. Enes Kanter scored 19 off the bench just to stave off a few unwanted records. Zach Randolph (21) and Troy Daniels (22) were also in the points for the Grizz.
Thunderous Intentions: “Memphis has two bigs, Gasol and Zach Randolph, who are simply better than Adams and Kanter. We all love the Stache Brothers in OKC, but the Bash Brothers are a better duo at this point in time. Adams and Kanter are younger and still improving, but Gasol is quietly the best center in the league and Randolph is a well-rounded bruiser.”
NewsOK: “On this play, Westbrook draws two defenders in the congested paint. Against Miami, the Westbrook-to-Adams pick-and-roll lob was executed without resistance three times, each time starting outside the lane. Memphis did a far better job than Miami of sagging back and packing the paint, which prevented Adams from getting momentum on his rolls to the rim. Thus, Westbrook’s lob attempt sails out of bounds.”
vs LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (W 114-88)
The good news here began with Victor Oladipo finally cleared to return to action after missing three weeks and nine games with a wrist injury. Plus they got the Clips on the end of a five game losing streak, the longest of the Doc Rivers era. No Blake Griffin, no Chris Paul. If ever they had a chance to beat the Clippers, this might have been it… although the game started with a Domantas Sabonis air-balled three so… yeah.
Eventually Sab got the Thunder on the board with a nice reverse finish at the hoop though it took almost three minutes which wasn’t the best on the home crowd, all standing until their team scored. Adams missed a flipper but scored his second effort for OKC’s first lead and an Oladipo three marked a 9-0 run.
How about the pass here, aye?
And, ah… after the first quarter they were up 33-14. Russ already had 6p-8r-6a and Adams had helped himself to a couple of points as well. Westbrook was honest to God on course for the fastest ever triple-double for a while there. He had his 10th assist with 4:33 to play in the second, he got his 10th point with 2:10 to play and then the cheeky 10th rebound came with 34 seconds left, Steven Adams very careful not to go reaching for that loose ball with Russ on the prowl. Meanwhile Brandon Bass was the only dude keeping the Clippers afloat. Alex Abrines hit a few triples as he’s increasingly been doing lately and it was 69-40 at the big break.
Russell Westbrook messed around a got a triple-double in 19 minutes and 18 seconds -the fastest triple-double of his career. pic.twitter.com/f4uLBVCBYt
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 1, 2017
This one was pretty much over by half-time, Adams checked out for good with 30-odd seconds left in the third quarter and Westbrook a couple minutes before that. Instead it was left to fellas like Enes Kanter to put the finishing touches to this painting, Kanter scored 23 to top for the game. He’s just continuing his hot form. Kanter scored at least 19 points in every game covered in this article. The Thunder did it pretty easy and Westbrook logged 17p/12r/14a in 29 minutes. Stevie played the same amount for his 11 points, shooting a tidy 4 of 5 (remember he missed his first too).
Although even from the bench, Russell managed to pick up a technical foul, meaning he’s only five away from a one match suspension. Yikes, that’s a scary prospect.
Also, there was a crowd proposal… and rumour has it there was a member of the Adams clan involved. Not a bad week for that lot, Steve with all of this and then Valerie with the small honour of having just been named a Dame.
Beautiful. Shout out to NZ’s First Family.
ODDS & ENDS
Does Steve have potential as a three point shooter? Anthony Morrow seems to think so (for some reason). Here’s what Fred Katz & The Norman Transcript had to say about that:
Thunder center Steven Adams hangs around the paint now, but Morrow believes that won’t be forever. Adams works on all aspects of his offensive game in practice — including jumpers — and Morrow has a feeling his starting center could be able to use that skill in games come the future.
“I think Steven’s gonna end up shooting 3s. He can shoot, dead serious,” Morrow said. “I feel like eventually in his career he’ll be able to step out and make 3s, especially corner 3s.”
The stretch 4 is already a fixture in today’s NBA. Especially this year, centers who shoot 3s are becoming particularly common. It’s something that will only grow as the sport evolves. Adams, who has sank one shot outside the paint this year, could be a part of that. But he’s not close yet.
“I watch him shoot,” Morrow said. “He don’t really believe in it yet, but I believe in it.”
DO IT!!!