Adams’ best season finished
WELLINGTON: Kiwi centre Steven Adams has completed his fourth and most impressive season yet in the NBA.
Adams’ Oklahoma City Thunder lost game five of its Western Conference to the Houston Rockets 10599, clinching the bestofseven series for the home side, 41.
It ended a disappointing campaign for the Thunder, which reached the Western Conference finals a year ago but has not been the same threat this season without departed star forward Kevin Durant.
The Thunder qualified sixth for the playoffs and were not favoured to topple the thirdranked Rockets.
Adams played 39 minutes yesterday, scoring seven points and pulling down nine rebounds, the latter statistic eclipsed by only one player in the game, teammate Russell Westbrook, who scored 47 points.
Houston became the third team to qualify for conference semifinals after the defending champion the Cleveland Cavaliers and last year’s runnersup, the Golden State Warriors.
Adams (23) enjoyed his most productive season so far, particu larly offensively.
Playing 80 of 82 regular season games, he averaged 30 minutes per game.
His 11.3 average points lifted his career average to 7.5 per game. His rebounds (7.7 per game), assists (1.1) and steals (1.1) were up on previous seasons, but he was less effective with blocks (1.0) and gave away significantly more turnovers (1.8), reflecting his increased attacking role.
This season was the last of Adams’ rookie contract. In 201718, he will begin a fouryear $US100 million ($NZ144 million) contract extension.