Modest Adams gets lucky – 23 times

Basketball

Steven Adams might be fresh off one of the statistical gems of his NBA career, but the big Kiwi remains predictably unimpressed with himself.

‘‘I couldn’t care less,’’ Adams said after logging his first ever 20-20 game in the NBA and just the third in Oklahoma City Thunder history in Thursday’s 132-113 victory at the Sacramento Kings.

‘‘Honestly, it was just one of those nights. They did a hell of a job boxing out in certain areas and they were just coming my way – the bounces.

‘‘It was just one of those things. I wasn’t doing anything different than I normally do but they were just bouncing my way.’’

They sure were. Adams finished a standout game with 20 points and 23 rebounds.

He grabbed nine offensive boards and 14 off the defensive glass and went eight of 12 from the floor and four of four from the line.

It was a career high in rebounds for the 25-year-old New Zealander (beating his previous best of 20) as the Thunder improved to 20-10 for the season to take sole possession of second in the Western Conference.

The only other Thunder players to break the 20-20 plateau have been Serge Ibaka (2015) and fellow ‘Stache Brother’ Enes Kanter (2016). Adams now joins their exclusive little club.

Adams is averaging career-highs in points (16.2), rebounds (10.2), assists (1.6) and steals (1.4) this season.

But if Adams was reluctant to bathe in his own limelight, OKC superstar Russell Westbrook was only too pleased to praise his big man’s effort

‘‘He has been doing that all season,’’ Westbrook said.

‘‘It’s a guy that doesn’t talk about it but . . . there is nobody that’s going to stop him from doing what he is able to do every night – and he does it at a high level.’’

Kings centre Willie Cauley-Stein had a different slant on the feat, referencing the US$100 million fouryear contract Adams signed with the Thunder a couple of years back.

‘‘Y’all get paid $100 mill to rebound and block shots. Me looking in on that, that’s big time. Steven is a hell of a player, so me playing against him and he’s doing that, he gets $100 mill to do that,’’ said Cauley-Stein.

Meanwhile, Adams is about to take his exposure next level in the US as one of three NBA players to feature in a new Budweiser beer ad campaign entitled ‘‘Deck the Shelves with NBA Elves’’.

Along with LA Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma and New York Knicks guard Tim Hardaway Jr, Adams plays an oversized ‘‘Elf on the Shelf’’, encouraging people to drink water between their beers.