The Aussies are not the only southern raiders who have made inroads into the NBA. New Zealander Steven Adams is making an impact as he has posted stats for the Oklahoma City Thunder that are at least equal to those of the highly touted Philadelphia 76er, Aussie Ben Simmons.
The season is young and so is Adams, but he has already posted three double-doubles (10 points, 10 rebounds), the most recent of which came when the OKC Thunder went to Milwaukee to play the Bucks and came away with a convincing 110 – 91 win.
Adams had 14 points and 11 rebounds in the game in 29 minutes of court time. He hit seven of his 10 shots from the field and there is no basketball coach in the world that does not love any player who makes more than half of his shot attempts. Adams also served up two assists and a steal, so he appears to have an all-round game that will enable him, barring injury, to be a frequent contributor to the Thunder as the team continues to adjust to life without Kevin Durant.
Adams does seem to enjoy tormenting Milwaukee. In the previous meeting between the two teams, this one in Oklahoma, he scored his season high of 20 points.
OKC is 4 – 3 to start the season after adding Paul George and Carmelo Anthony during the off-season. They still have Michael Westbrook and any team that can make that claim can enjoy success.
Westbrook lobbed a first quarter pass to Adams, who threw down a thunderous dunk. Westbrook nearly scored the triple-double (10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) by scoring 12 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists against the Bucks.
Adams hails from Rotorua and played college ball at the University of Pittsburgh. The Thunder selected him with the number 12 pick of the first round of the 2013 NBA draft. He played some pro ball for the Wellington Saints in 2011.