Adams must step up for one-man OKC
All regular season Russell Westbrook has carried the Oklahoma City Thunder on his broad shoulders and taken them on a breathtaking ride during his historic, tripledouble-averaging, quite possibly MVP-earning charge to redemption and respectability.
Yes, Westbrook has shown, contrary to many predictions, there is life in OKC after Kevin Durant. But now he needs some help.
And New Zealand’s own Steven Adams stands at the head of the queue of Westbrook sidekicks who must deliver if the Thunder are to avoid becoming little more than a footnote to the true tale of the 2016-17 NBA season.
The Thunder, after finishing the regular season 47-35 and sixth in the West, meet the Houston Rockets (55-27, third) in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Or, if you’d prefer, Westbrook and James Harden go head to head in a battle between the two leading contenders for the league’s highly coveted MVP award (which, for all the discussion it has engendered, won’t be announced until June).
The series appeals as one of the sexiest of the first-round matchups around the league purely on the basis of its superstar matchup. What Westbrook (31.6 points, 10.4apg, 10.7rpg) and Harden (29.1ppg, 11.2apg, 8.1rpg) achieved during the regular season was nothing short of remarkable, and the debate has been heated and diverse on just which player has made the biggest imprint and deserves to hoist that MVP gong.
Westbrook, of course, became the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62 to average a triple-double for the entire season. That’s an accomplishment that has been 55 long years in the brewing and which many believed might never be achieved again.
The impossibly athletic, incredibly driven, hyper-criticised point guard also surpassed (by one) the Big O’s record for tripledoubles in a season, with 42.
It is no stretch to say that he single-handedly dragged the Thunder up off the deck in the wake of Durant’s shock departure to join the Golden State Warriors, and simply willed them back into the playoffs.
Harden’s season with the Rockets has been only marginally less spectacular (or more, if you’re on his side of the MVP debate). The Beard has racked up 22 tripledoubles himself as he has presided over a stunning improvement from the 41-41 campaign, and firstround playoff exit, of 2015-16.
There can be no doubt that the Thunder are up against it, with most picking them to be eliminated in five or six games against a foe that beat them three out of four in the regular season, and which is deadly from beyond the threepoint arc and in the paint, and almost steadfastly refuses to take any other kind of shots.
The Rockets know exactly who they are, and have embraced that persona. They run, they get the ball in Harden’s hands, and they either slash to the hoop, or they drive and ditch to a succession of spot-up long-range bombers. They do it very, very well.
To beat them Westbrook will need to be up at the level he’s occupied for almost the entirety of this season. That’s a given.
But with all the help Harden will have (think Trevor Ariza, Patrick Beverley, Ryan Anderson, Clint Capela, Eric Gordon, Lou Williams and Nene), Westbrook needs assistance.
Remember a year ago when Adams emerged during the San Antonio series and then through that captivating duel with the Warriors in the Western Conference finals as a breakout star for the Thunder?
There have been fleeting signs of that dominant big man through the 2016-17 regular season where his offence has improved greatly. But not enough as he’s been content to occupy a minor role as the main high screen-setter for Westbrook and the team’s chief interior defensive presence. The 23-yearold Kiwi has averaged 11.3 points (up 3.3 from last season) and 7.7 rebounds this season. Solid numbers. But eight single-figure outings in his last 13 games indicated a dropoff in offensive output over the last part.
Adams has to find a way to contribute while he’s on the court against a Rockets side who will go small at the drop of a hat. And not just in his bread-and-butter stuff.
He must look to score in the paint, either off the low-post catch or the screen and roll. And he must punish the Rockets on the boards with that indefatigable energy with which he has made his name.
Others too have to help. Enes Kanter off the bench. Victor Oladipo in the starting group. Taj Gibson must be the veteran presence he was for the Bulls. And defensive kingpin Andre Roberson has to find a way to punish the Rockets if they leave him open at the offensive end.
The Thunder’s margin for error in this series is negligible. It is time for Adams and friends to give Westbrook a helping hand.