THUNDERSTRUCK
Adams and OKC one win from NBA finals
Steven Adams emerged unscathed, though the same can’t be said for the Golden State Warriors after a stunning fourth game of the NBA’s Western Conference finals.
Adams and his Oklahoma City Thunder, behind a blazing performance from point guard Russell Westbrook, thumped the Warriors 118-94 in Oklahoma yesterday to take a 3-1 series lead.
New Zealand’s sportsman of the moment is now just one win from a first trip to the NBA Finals, and the defending champions must win three straight to avoid elimination on the back of their historic 73-win regular season.
Game five returns to Oakland tomorrow with the Warriors coming off back-to-back defeats for the first time this season. They also appear to be in some sort of disarray after their second straight heavy defeat at the hands of the longer, stronger, more adaptable Thunder.
Only nine of 232 teams in NBA playoff history have ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in a best-ofseven series.
What is more the Thunder are on some roll, having won seven of the last nine games against the two best regular season teams in the NBA (the San Antonio Spurs and Warriors). Their confidence, not to mention their pace, appears to be at an all-time high.
Apart from a minor ankle tweak that required a re-tape, Adams made it through yesterday’s game four more or less unscathed. Certainly he managed to dodge the below-the-belt hits that marred the two previous games, and were such a talking point coming into this one.
He played pretty well again, too, the 22-year-old New Zealander, even if his solid night’s work was overshadowed by two more destructive displays from the superstar duo of Westbrook and Kevin Durant and a career-high offensive display from defensive specialist Andre Roberson.
The Thunder had six players who scored in double-figures, five who posted seven-plus rebounds and a trio with four or more steals as they outplayed the Warriors for all but a spell in the third period when off-guard Klay Thompson ran off 19 straight points.
The Thunder had exploded via a 42-27 second period into a 72-53 halftime lead.
It equalled the record haul set last game and was the first time since the 1987 Lakers that a team had posted back-to-back 72-point halves in the NBA playoffs.
The Warriors closed to within six points on the back of Thompson’s third-quarter barrage, but the Thunder steadied to lead by a dozen (94-82) at the final break, and cruised to victory from there.
Westbrook was magnificent, outplaying MVP Steph Curry (a quiet 19 points on six-of-20 shooting) with his first triple-double of the playoffs. The explosive point guard had 36 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists and four steals, and was unstoppable when he wanted to be.
Durant chipped in with 26 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals as the Thunder defence forced 21 turnovers and grabbed 16 steals to set up a procession of fast-break opportunities.
Adams played his part splendidly. The big Kiwi, rated by Golden State coach Steve Kerr as now the best young centre in the league, shook off a rolled ankle to contribute 11 points (2 of 4 field goals, 7 of 8 free throws), seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block (on Curry, again) in 25 minutes. At one stage he found Roberson twice open under the hoop with pinpoint passes, including a one-handed baseball style delivery that made it on to everyone’s highlight reel.
‘‘We were able to weather the storm, stay together and not get emotionally frustrated,’’ a satisfied Adams said afterwards.
The same cannot be said of the Warriors who, Thompson’s 26 points apart, failed to fire once again. Draymond Green, the serial crotch-kicker who was so lucky to avoid suspension for his low-blow on Adams in game three, had a second straight horror game (six points, six turnovers, one-of-seven shooting) and the champions now have all sorts of soul-searching to get through ahead of game five.