There was a time when Steven Adams and Reggie Jackson were teammates. A time when they were showing up in ads together, working the pick and roll off the bench together. But then came a day Reggie was no longer on the Oklahoma City team and things have never been the same. He’s a Detroit player now, and the Pistons just beat the (undermanned) Thunder 88-82. Reggie Jackson… he very much seemed to enjoy it. His ex-teammates not so much.

Reggie Jackson made quite a thing about the win, very conspicuously celebrating on the court before the end of the game. He was traded from the Thunder last season and immediately drew a few shady comments from KD and Russ, which suggested he wasn’t the best liked player on the team. The dude had asked for that trade too, and in moving him on the Thunder were able to negotiate a three-way deal including the Utah Jazz – which is the origin story of Enes Kanter in OKC. Jackson later got a 5-year/$80m contract extension in Detroit.

ESPN: “In the first meeting this season between the Thunder and Pistons, Durant and Westbrook took veiled shots at Jackson. Westbrook replied, "Who?" when asked about his former teammate despite very clearly hearing the question, and Durant made it a point to list the Pistons' best players while leaving Jackson out.”

Reggie’s taken it personally every time he’s played the Thunder since and he made sure to rub this win in as the clock ticked down, especially after making a few clutch free throws. To be fair, he shot 4/15 for the game, hardly lights out, but credit where it’s due for the late clutch. Hey but he might wanna watch out next time they play because it seems Kiwi Steve is not at all happy. It’s pretty rare you see him talking like this, apparently taking things to heart:

Kiwi Steve and Reggie, no longer.

Sad really, we’ve come a long way since Steve taught Reggie the Eyebrows:

By the way, there were those that took it a whole lot worse than Mr Adams…

Box Scores

• vs UTA (W 113-91): 22 MINS, 14 PTS (7/11 FG), 7 REB, 1 STL, 1 TO
• vs SAS (111-92): 27 MINS, 9 PTS (4/5 FG, 1/2 FT), 6 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 3 TO, 3 PF
• at TOR (W 119-100): 28 MINS, 10 PTS (3/5 FG, 4/5 FT), 9 REB, 2 AST, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 5 PF
• at DET (L 88-82): 35 MINS, 7 PTS (3/6 FG, 1/2 FT), 5 REB, 1 AST, 3 STL, 3 BLK, 3 TO, 4 PF

Tipping off this week against Utah, it was a terrible game for the Thunder in which Russell Westbrook’s three game triple-double streak ended. Oh, they still won though. The Thunder got out to a double digit lead in the first half and were able to cruise home from there. Westbrook had 15p/7r/9a and probably would have added another TD had he not sat out the entire fourth quarter. Durant had 20 points with 9 assists.

Against a very good team, one rallying for the playoffs and likely to get there, the Thunder dealt them a dominating loss. Only one Utah starter hit double figures and combined they only added 34, their 18 total turnovers certainly didn’t help. Rookie Josh Huestis played his first ever NBA game for the Thunder, he was their first round pick in 2014 and has been playing D-League. Also, it was the Thunder’s 50th win of the season.

Thunderous Intentions: “Steven Adams had 14 points and 7 rebounds, showing nice touch in the post.”

Welcome to Loud City: “Offensively, Utah lacked options. The Thunder made a concerted effort to deny the Utah Jazz at the rim, led by Steven Adams. Adams was a real force out there, denying guard drives to the rim and big man rolls. The Jazz were able to get open shots for Lyles, but he only hit them half the time. And Derrick Favors went just 1 of 5 outside the paint. Adams played a huge role in shutting down them both.

Thunder Wonder: Steven Adams, defensive pillar”

Here you go, Steven Adams with a thumping finish. Boom.

Following that game there was a slice of good fortune. The Spurs on the wrong end of a back-to-back which, if you know Gregg Popovich, means restings. In this case injuries and fatigue meant that Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili, LaMarcus Aldridge and Tony Parker all sat out. Danny Green was the only regular starter to play. But look, it’s still the Spurs so they can out of the blocks quickly with their usual sharp passing and San Antonio were up 26-24 after the first quarter.

OKC were able to stem some of the second chance points they leaked early and despite a struggling bench (3 1H points), KD and Russ combined for 33 of their 48 points for a 48-44 half-time lead. However things settled more into the expected in the third. This is a superb starting five for the Thunder and they were always going to come out on top eventually. They won the third 35-19 and strutted their way home there on. Durant scored 31 with 10 boards, Westbrook 29 with 8 assists and Enes Kanter got going in the second half, working the pick and roll with Russ for 20 & 10. Pretty routine under the circumstances but a seventh straight win for OKC.

WTLC: “The game really opened up halfway through the third thanks to a two-minute sequence of play that saw KD hit two jumpers, an Andre Roberson three and dunks from Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka off Westbrook assists.”

Thunderous Intentions: “Steven Adams had his work cut out for him with San Antonio’s big man, Boban Marjanovic, getting a majority of the Spurs offense early in this game.”

Did he ever. If you haven’t witnessed the majesty of Boban on the basketball court, he’s like a particularly heavy giraffe in ballet shoes. It’s something else. Steve had his comedy routine ready when he was asked about playing him:

Coach Pop predicted that Boban would score 40 this game. He got nine, so… yeah. Close.

Daily Thunder: “Boban, man. Boban. I couldn’t get over how very large human being Steven Adams looked like a more normal size human being standing next to him.”

If that win lost a fair bit of shine by the fact that the Spurs more or less tanked it, then beating Toronto in Toronto was a big gauntlet throwing. And they did it in style, basting out of the gates to a 15-3 lead after five minutes. Okay, the Raptors dragged their way back into it – they even took the lead late in the second – but then an 11-0 run gave OKC parity again.

Part of the Raptors’ problem was Kyle Lowry only able to score 14 on 4/14 shooting. He seemed to have trouble most of the night and would need his right elbow drained after the game. With that disclaimer having been made now, here’s Steven Adams absolutely mashing one of his shots.

SWAT!

But hey, Steve had some gentle moments with Lowry too. There’s actually an unexpected connection between the two:

OKC’s lead got as high as 26 points. Kevin Durant scored 34 with 8 assists and 8 rebounds, extending his 20+ point streak to 60 games while falling narrowly short of a triple double. Russell Westbrook wouldn’t fall short of a triple double though. He had 26p/11r/12a on his way to an incredibly monstrous 16th TD. In those 16 games the Thunder are 16-0. Across the last 30 years of the NBA, only Magic Johnson (17) has more in a single season. An eighth win in a row, the Thunder averaging 117 points in that time.

WTLC: “At this point, you might be thinking that I'm forgetting about Steven Adams' big performance. Far from it. Adams had 10 points, mostly on extremely tough finishes around the rim. But Adams was also crucial on the defensive end, holding Jonas Valanciunas to just 5 of 13 on the night. Most of Valanciunas made baskets came in transition, or in switches with Ibaka. Adams was also critical at deterring numerous DeRozan and Lowry drives to the hoop. Heck, Adams even played a hand in slowing down Toronto's offense during their fourth quarter run.

Thunder Down Under: Steven Adams, all-time great rim protector and finisher”

Thunderous Intentions: “I can’t stress how much Steven Adams has improved offensively. His touch around the rim and in pick and roll situations has been fantastic as of late.”

That eight win streak came to an end as the Thunder stayed in the East to face the Detroit Pistons. The big news came before tip off when it was revealed that both Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka would be rested for the clash. So that’s roughly 40 points per game sitting on the sideline watching. And cheering, to be fair. Without them Russell Westbrook had a really tough night as the entire focus of the offence and while OKC were somehow able to stutter into half time with a narrow lead, they were something close to abysmal in the third and entered the final Q down 14. These were their scoring plays in the third:

• Steven Adams free throw
• Andre Roberson layup
• Nothing for 5:16…
• Two Russell Westbrook FTs
• Anthony Morrow jumper
• Cam Payne driving layup

Aaaand that was it.

Nine points all up. Not so flash. Westbrook would score 24 points but on 8/28 shooting. There were some nice defensive highlights for Steve, plus a few nice floaters (see below), although it was difficult for him to get free with some of the Pistons bodies inside (not in the least Andre Drummond, who had 13 points and 15 rebounds). Yet even without their top scorer and best defender (by reputation at least), the Thunder began the fourth with a 17-4 run to get themselves right back in the hunt.

It was cool to see Kanter and Adams share the floor down the stretch but despite having a few opportunities to draw it level they couldn’t get it done without Kevin Durant there. Kanter brought them within a point at 74-75 with five minutes to play, however leaking too many offensive rebounds meant they couldn’t keep the Pistons at bay. There was a crazy minute with the score at 82-77 to DET which included a missed Randy Foye three, a Steven Adams steal, a Randy Foye turnover, a Randy Foye block (good on ya Randy, stay involved), a missed Russ three, a Kanter offensive foul and then another Steven Adams steal. But even after Kanter dunked it to a one-possie game with 16 seconds left, Reggie Jackson – ex-Thunder lad – was able to make his free throws and a late Russ triple wasn’t enough. The second Adams steal was a huge play, diving on a loose ball and ripping it away, calling timeout – which was granted to the ire of Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy. Stan Van stormed the court to argue the ball was still loose while Adams got up hobbled from the effort. Ah, but the Pistons still won it, 88-82. They needed it more, the win shooting them up to seventh in the East.

WTLC: “Steven Adams had a couple of impressive baskets amongst the trees, including a turnaround on Drummond. But ultimately it was just for 6 points, and Westbrook had a lot of trouble finding him.

Thunder Wonder: Steven Adams, for handing Drummond relatively well”

Here’s another one of those pointless arguments over Adams or Kanter. Featuring the opening statement: “Enes Kanter and Steven Adams have a lot in common. Both grew up internationally…” Right, because Turkey and New Zealand are pretty much identical environments.

And how about asking this fella for an ice cream? In one of their semi-regular community outreach efforts, a bunch of Thunder players went around helping out local businesses and fast food joints, with Steve drawing the Braums straw. Looks right at home, doesn’t he?

Also, if you’ve got a couple minutes, check out the Sam Amick episode of the NewsOK Thunder Buddies podcast. Around the 30 minute mark they chat Kiwi Steve. Some nuggets:

• He ends his media talks with a friendly “salutations”.
• The beat writers pretty much fawn over him. They get pressured every day to interview him.
• He once asked a pregnant reporter when she was “dropping”.
• He is “beloved” by his teammates. Russell Westbrook loved him from the start.
• He entered the NBA being told how physical it was, so he over-prepared for that to find he’s usually the most physical player on the court.

Moustache Jokes of the Week: