Steven Adams goes down with head injury; will OKC be ok?

In a tussle underneath the basket Sunday night, DeMarcus Cousins mustered the strength to knock Steven Adams to the ground.

So it turns out Steven Adams actually does feel pain. We know he can handle a few kicks to the cajones. We are 99% sure he was playing with some sort of hand injury at the beginning of the season. But a head injury is nothing to play around with.

Here’s what happened.

Let me be clear about something. I do not blame Boogie Cousins for this. Cousins was playing basketball, and basketball tends to get physical around the rim. Sure that’s a foul (that didn’t get called) but Cousins wasn’t trying to hurt Adams. So take your Boogie shade elsewhere.

Officially, Adams left the game and was being evaluated for concussion-like symptoms. As I type this, there has been no update on his condition. So what happens if he does in fact have a concussion? Well the second half gave us a few insights. And I don’t think it would be as bad as it first sounds.

Must Read: Player grades from first half of the season

The obvious move is pushing Enes Kanter to the starting lineup. Honestly, that may be a wash. What Kanter lacks on the defensive end is made up by his incredible offensive game. Some give him flack because he can only score on second-units, but the Big Turk dropped 29 points on 10-18 shooting in 32 minutes.

The problems would arise with the second unit Kanter just left. The bench runs their offense through Kanter, and they’ve been darn good now that Cameron Payne is back. 4 of the 5 positive +/- numbers came from the bench tonight; the other was Adams. But if Kanter is in the starting lineup, the bench loses their only playmaker.

So what do they do?

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Hope and pray that Adams will be okay. The Thunder played fine tonight without Adams (well besides the last few minutes) and even increased the lead to 17 points during the third quarter. But the defense was absolutely horrendous in the fourth quarter, giving up 39 points. Boogie scored 14 of his 31 in the fourth.

If Adams does in fact have a concussion it couldn’t come at worse timing; OKC has the Clippers tomorrow night and the Warriors on Wednesday. Adams proved to be an x-factor against the Warriors last season and Deandre Jordan is a matchup nightmare for any slow-footed center. Luckily those two games are the only two the rest of the week.

Check back with Thunderous Intentions for up-to-date information on Adams’ injury.