Kiwi Steve in the NBA – April 7
With only four more games remaining in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s season, it’s almost a waiting game now. They will finish third in the Western Conference, that’s already confirmed by the time you read this. But in the middle of the West standings there’s a crazy hustle going on for places. With Golden State and San Antonio locked in for 1-2, and the Clippers unable to finish lower than fourth, the home teams in the first round of the West are all set. Yet there are five teams below them that could yet finish in basically any order.
On the day the Thunder beat the Nuggets, the Memphis Grizzlies rode some quality from Zach Randolph (Steve’s old buddy) to beat the Bulls and snap a six game losing streak that had threatened to take them from fifth to potentially ninth what with two games against Golden State still to play. That was huge for them, as was the Rockets’ win over this OKC team (spoiler below), seeing as that was the last proper tough game in their schedule. They play the Dallas Mavericks the day this article goes up with the winner going ahead of the loser. Enormous stuff there, not to mention the plight of the Portland Trail Blazers and their quest for the five seed in a season that was predicted to be all about rebuilding, or the defensive suffocators of the Utah Jazz, who just lost heartbreakingly to the San Antonio Spurs. Five teams caught in a continuous shuffle. The question is… which one does the Oklahoma City Thunder want to play?
The Thunder still have one game to play against the Trail Blazers so keep that in mind, but after that there’s a trip to Sacramento, a home game against the Lakers (Kobe’s second to last game, which we’re morally obligated to mention) and then away to San Antonio to close in what might turn out to be a complete farce. Seriously, we know the Spurs will rest guys and Billy Donovan has shown he’s not averse to that either (though he has said he’ll only do so for injuries).
Looking at the face of it, Houston are the toughest matchup. They proved as much this week which you’ll read about later in the piece, and when you add in the rivalry that’s grown between the two of them since James Harden was traded. There have been some real battles there. Chips on shoulders, the Thunder don’t care too much for those that leave them – ask Reggie Jackson. The regular season series was split two games apiece so despite the Thunder surely being favoured, they might be vulnerable to Harden and his late game onslaughts.
On the other hand, they would surely love to face Dallas. They swept them across four games and with the Mavs not offering much of a defensive threat (or very much at all in the paint either way), those games would likely turn into shootouts. Just what the Thunder and those shooters will enjoy. The opposite factors go for the Utah Jazz, a dominant interior team with a slow-paced defensive approach… and yet OKC swept them in four games as well. Enes Kanter’s old team, they don’t tend to score enough to roll with the Thunder.
Clearly none of the options are gonna be easy, what with it being playoff basketball and all, though on recent form the Memphis Grizzlies seem pretty enticing. They beat the Thunder once in three games this season but with a pile-up of injuries they’re almost literally limping to the finish line. No Marc Gasol, a huge blow there, the Grizz have played 28 different dudes in 2015-16. That’s an NBA record. Matt Barnes and Vince Carter (2016 edition) are carrying a lot of scoring weight. No team has ever made the playoffs before after using more than 23 players. The Thunder always seem to play the Grizzlies in the playoffs.
And then we have the Trail Blazers. Again, that series was 2-1 to the Thunder, though no team is ever safe against Dame Lillard. Even the Golden State Warriors know that.
But the only true way of judging these things is to take it back to the bro Steven Adams. Here are his 2015-16 numbers against each of them:
DAL – 3 Games, 14.2% Usage, 122 ORtg, 105 DRtg – 24.5 MIN/9.0 PTS/6.0 REB
HOU – 4 Games, 10.2% Usage, 120 ORtg, 108 DRtg – 25.2 MIN/6.0 PTS/6.3 REB
MEM – 3 Games, 17.0% Usage, 115 ORtg, 110 DRtg – 22.1 MIN/8.0 PTS/5.7 REB
POR – 3 Games, 16.8% Usage, 147 ORtg, 102 DRtg – 25.0 MIN/13.7 PTS/8.3 REB
UTA – 4 Games, 14.2% Usage, 122 ORtg, 103 DRtg – 25.5 MIN/8.5 PTS/5.3 REB
Fair to say Portland is the best option for Kiwi Steve. Holy crap that offensive rating! The only two teams that the Thunder average more points per 100 possessions against with Steve on the court are the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics. Hey and a quick squizz at the standings and where are the Blazers sitting? Sixth place.
Box Scores
- vs LAC (W 119-117): 30 MINS, 13 PTS (6/7 FG 1/3 FT), 6 REB, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 2 PF
- at HOU (L 118-110): 31 MINS, 6 PTS (3/8 FG, 0/2 FT), 9 REB, 3 AST, 2 BLK, 1 TO, 1 PF
- at DEN (W 124-102): 22 MINS, 5 PTS (2/5 FG, 1/1 FT), 3 REB, 1 AST, 1 TO, 4 PF
Last time the Thunder played the Clippers they blew a massive fourth quarter lead and thoroughly embarrassed themselves. This time they didn’t really have to worry. The Clippers aren’t catching the Thunder in third place and the Thunder certainly aren’t catching the Spurs in second so a couple days after OKC rested a couple starters in a loss to Detroit, the Clippers did the same. No Chris Paul, no DeAndre Jordan, no J.J. Reddick. Plus Blake Griffin was still suspended (and busy dealing with his very naked appearance on Broad City that week – hey, Blake can act, guys. You’ve seen him in all those Kia commercials). Meaning a starting five of Westbrook/Roberson/Durant/Ibaka/Adams was up against one of, erm, Austin Rivers/Jamal Crawford/Wesley Johnson/Luc Mbah a Moute/Cole Aldrich. So yeah, the Thunder made their first six field goal attempts and 12 of their first 13 to open up a double figure lead, which was cut to 37-30 after the first thanks to Jamal Crawford. Here’s some early Steve from that one:
So it was pretty weird when the Clippers kept on holding in there. Specifically through their long shooting, between Crawford and Rivers the pair went 12 of 17 from 3pt. they couldn’t rebound without Jordan but damn could they shoot. LAC overturned that 1Q deficit to be up by four at half time. In the second half they pushed that out to as many as nine. Going into the final quarter they were up 97-93, the Clippers supposed bench unit staying firm against OKC’s best.
Steve checked back in with a little under seven minutes remaining and OKC down by five – although smack in the middle of what would be a run of eight straight points for Kevin Durant. Austin Rivers tried to match him hoop for hoop but couldn’t stick and then OKC finally retook the lead on a dunk from Kiwi Steve. Westbrook with the dime, no doubt.
Adams pulled off a slick baseline spin move to earn a trip to the line after an offensive board, but he missed both with the Thunder down two. There was also a tipped pass that almost looped into his own basket and a turnover when he fumbled a poor pass out of bounds on offence. So it goes. But then with 26.9 seconds on the clock he was able to negotiate his way through traffic to rise up and tip in a missed Westbrook shot with the scores tied. The Thunder had just gotten a stop and they’d then get one more, Russ again rising for an insane defensive board. The springs on that man, honest to God. Timeout.
And Russ then ended it in the smartest possible way. 2.7 seconds on the clock, he took the inbounds on the cut and just threw it as high as he could. It came down roughly 2.8 seconds later. Game over, Thunder escape in a weird contest. Austin Rivers had a career-high 32 points while Westbrook had 26p/8r/11a/4s and Durant 31p/8r/5a. Have a peek at the entire last 43.5 seconds:
ESPN.com: No rebound was bigger than one by Adams that came after Westbrook took a well-guarded, fallaway 15-foot jumper that missed badly. Adams tipped it in to put Oklahoma City ahead.
"Just got lucky, mate," Adams said. "I made some awful plays beforehand, a couple of them. I was just happy to kind of make at least one good play in a big moment."
Kevin Durant summed it up succinctly: “Steven made a huge play”
Welcome to Loud City: “On the other end, Austin Rivers tried to cut to the rim while Steven Adams was guarding out high. But Adams saw Rivers cutting, and moved to intercept the pass. Westbrook pulled up around an Adams screen for his traditional mid-range cotton shot. Swish, game tied with 118 to go.”
“If I had to sum up that game ending sequence in one word, it'd be defense. Sure, the Thunder got a three to fall and had a miracle tip. But the offense was pretty darn uncreative, and the ball hardly moved at all. It was the work of OKC's role players, particularly Andre Roberson and Steven Adams, that won this game.”
“Thunder Wonder: Steven Adams, master of late game defensive stands”
Okay now, to Houston. There’s nothing left to play for but rhythm and combinations for the rest of the regular season as far as the Thunder go, but the Rockets were (and still are) waist-deep in a playoff scenario in which three doesn’t go into two. Houston came into this one with the very real risk of falling two games behind eighth place with a little over a week of games left.
The first sign that something was amiss was when Steven Adams lost the tip-off. Adams also committed an early turnover but he made up for that with a block on Donatas Motiejunas and in a sloppy opening few minutes it took Houston 2:43 to score their first points, though once James Harden got his touch he surged them into the lead.
It was odd from OKC. Just a certain lack of intensity against a desperate team, maybe understandable, but they weren’t getting rebounds and were missing shots and giving up turnovers. This from NewsOK:
“On one particular possession, Houston got six chances. Corey Brewer missed a 3 and got his own rebound. Then Dwight Howard missed a hook but Brewer got the rebound again. Then he missed a 3 but Howard chased it down. Then Terry missed a 3 but Brewer kept it alive with a tip. All the while, five scrambling Thunder defenders completed zero successful boxouts. And finally, mercilessly, Howard corralled Houston's fifth offensive rebound of the possession and slammed in a dunk.”
Still, they outscored Houston by six in the second and then Durant scored 13 points in the third to send them into the fourth quarter with a two point lead.
Within twenty seconds K.J. McDaniels sunk a three to end that. Through some typical Durant/Westbrooking, OKC got up as many as six, yet Steven Adams checked back in with 8:18 left and a 95-93 deficit. A driving Westbrook layup had them up by five with 5:50 remaining. You get the idea, it was a see-saw.
Except that here’s the thing: remember those fourth quarter problems the Thunder were having after the All Star break? Yeah, they might not be finished with them.
Thunder Point Differentials Pre-Houston 4Q:
1st Quarter: +232
2nd Quarter: +107
3rd Quarter: +208
4th Quarter: -2
The last half of the final quarter here was nothing but a mess. The turnovers came thick and fast, there was even a shot clock violation in there. James Harden went wild with his team’s playoff future potentially on the line but you can’t credit James for the defence as the Thunder couldn’t control the ball. Put it this way: it’s hard to win any game when you have 21 turnovers and give up 22 offensive rebounds and 20 more field goal attempts. Kevin Durant scored 33 and Russell Westbrook was an assist away from another triple double – which at least protected their unbeaten record in Russ TDs. But James Harden dropped 41 points as the Thunder were outscored 21-8 to finish the game. Make that -6 in PD in 4Qs. An NBA-leading 13th loss after leading into the fourth, although that stat might be a little misleading:
Stevie’s most memorable moment from that game might have been a good old fashioned flop on a slight nudge in the back from Dwight Howard. Playing that wind-up game as usual, Jeff Van Gundy in commentary: "Steven Adams should throw $5000 into the cookie jar for flopping like that". Howard sat for most of the fourth quarter and the Rockets were better off for it, by the looks. A couple weeks ago Adams made that media jab about stickum and DH12’s free throws. That’s a truly strange situation going on in Houston.
WTLC: “Dwight Howard was a total non-factor today. Talked to Clifford Ray on the sidelines at one point, and then joked around with fans during the game. 2 of 6, 5 fouls. Great defense by Adams to stop the Howard post ups.”
WTLC: “Steven Adams was 3 of 8, with 3 assists and 1 turnover. I really like Adams decision making, because he doesn't really waffle. It's either a shot, a pass, or a pivot. And he doesn't waste time. Tough going around the rim, but Capela was definitely fired up.”
WTLC: “Meanwhile, some Thunder players are getting straight up ignored on offense. Dion Waiters only took 3 shots in 25 minutes of action. The last two shots were during garbage time, so Waiters really only got 1 shot. Serge Ibaka was 3 of 10, but got his last shot attempt with 3:44 to go in the third quarter. Even Steven Adams, who had 10 attempts on the game, got no fourth quarter shots. The ball stopped moving efficiently for OKC.”
So after the various dramas of those two games, a visit to already-eliminated Denver was something of an anti-climax. Well, unless you wanted to see a 17th triple-double from Russell Westbrook. Nobody’s had that many since Magic Johnson in 1988-89 and Russ may yet add to that total in his last four games.
They also haven’t lost in any game he’s TD’d in so obviously they ragged on the Nuggets. After a tough first quarter, they outscored them by 15 in the second and 13 in the third, allowing them to run the bench in the fourth – which meant Denver closed the gap but this one was never in any doubt, not after a 23-2 run in the second quarter. By the way, resting guys in blowout fourth quarters also contributes to that disastrous 4Q PD from earlier. Just saying.
As far as Kiwi Steve goes, though, this was a fairly tough one. Just five points and three boards, a lot of that was down to only playing 22 minutes, rather than the 30-odd he’s been used to recently. A bunch of the starters sat in the fourth so that’s how it goes sometimes. But also the Nuggets, while they only have 32 wins, are a team with some quality big men. Jusuf Nurkic, for example. 21 year old Bosnian who’s been playing great recently and a guy that shares a lot of characteristics with Steven Adams.
Nurkic was injured for the first third of the season and took a few months to get into a groove after that. It’s only the past few weeks that he’s started to flash the potential he’s shown in the past. He had 6p & 5r against the Thunder, only shooting 1 of 5 to Steve and co.’s credit. Kenneth Faried already has a reputation as a beastly forward but he had a shocker (credit = Serge Ibaka), shooting 1 of 6 for 4 points and 2 rebounds. Probably the best performing of them was rookie centre Nikola Jokic (7 pts, 3/5 fg). Steve’s got a couple inches on the former second round pick (41st overall in 2014 – he stayed in Europe for a year after being drafted) and he did a commendable job of defence on him, helping keep the Serbian well under his March average of 11 points & 8.8 rebounds per game.
Not sure what’s up with Andre Roberson dunking on his own teammates Steve here. Get out of the way, Steve!
Read some words on the combination between Adams and Enes Kanter from earlier in the week. Very nice sentiments from their coach in there too.
Moustache Jokes of the Week:
Oh Kevin, you silly joker you. We’ll keep an eye out for the full interview in the coming days. There should be a few more Steve things coming through in the playoffs when the need for NBA content ramps up and the scale of focus shrinks. Adams is a guy that the journalists love to talk to, there’s always a quote in there.