Adams posing big problem in series
fell out of the Grizzlies’ rotation and didn’t play much in Memphis’ first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The 6-foot-11, 265-pound center from New Zealand then had to miss three playoff games while in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. He was available for Game 3 against the Warriors but played just six minutes in garbage time as Memphis head coach Taylor Jenkins continued to ride second-year center Xavier Tillman Sr. as his starter. With Adams effectively sidelined, the Warriors outrebounded Memphis 141-123 in the first three games combined and jumped to a 2-1 series lead.
Although the Warriors were able to win Game 4, thanks to a fourth-quarter rally led by Stephen Curry, Adams played just more than 27 minutes in his return to the starting lineup, finishing with 15 rebounds, and the Grizzlies snagged three more offensive rebounds than they did in Game 3 (10), which resulted in 15 second-chance points. Adams alone was responsible for six of those offensive rebounds.
Perhaps that’s when Jenkins and the Grizzlies came to a realization: Adams remains one of the best rebounders in the game, and Golden State just can’t keep him off the glass.
The Grizzlies were the No. 1 rebounding team in the NBA during the regular season. Adams’ re-emergence has helped them return to form after losing their identity in the first four games of this series. Memphis is a cumulative plus-45 with Adams on the floor over the past two games. Although the Warriors still enter Friday’s game with a 3-2 series lead, Adams’ physical presence is a problem in the paint. And his teammates are feeding off his energy.
“Part of it was their physicality,” said Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown said after the team’s blowout loss in Game 5. “We’ve had an alertness and an awareness when it came to hitting bodies, boxing people out early, and we didn’t have that tonight. There were too many times throughout the game their bigs, or even their wings, just kind of ran by us and we turn and look and they’re jumping over and coming up with the rebound.”
The Warriors’ lack of size — their tallest healthy players are 6-foot-9 Kevon Looney and Nemanja Bjelica — and lack of frontcourt depth have been a concern throughout the season. That didn’t stop them from finishing with the third-best record in the Western Conference during the regular season, or from making quick work of league MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets, or jumping to a 3-1 series lead in the Western Confernce semifinals.
But Golden State’s lack of size was a glaring weakness in Game 5, and it’s something that the Grizzlies will try to continue to expose in Game 6. With Gary Payton II out and the status of Otto Porter Jr. in the air, the situation might call for Looney to start in place of rookie Jonathan Kuminga on Friday so the Warriors can establish themselves on the glass early.
But a lineup change or strategy can’t be the only thing the Warriors try to revise. Adams and the Grizzlies simply wanted it more in Game 5. If the Warriors can’t match that energy at Chase Center on Friday, it could make for another big night for Memphis’ big man and friends.