Five takeaways from a dominant Thunder season opener
By Tony Heim
The Warriors aren’t worried, but the Thunder have their attention
This game was a fantastic first showing, but we have to remember it was against the New York Knicks. Are we sure the defensive rotations can hold up when Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have the ball and not Ramon Sessions and Tim Hardaway Jr.? No. Is one game enough to 100% convince us Russ has evolved into an ultra-efficient offensive weapon? Heck no.
But it’s what we needed to see from a superior team looking to build championship-level chemistry in a season.
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Oklahoma City dominated New York like any elite team should at home. They started the game with a shot clock violation on defense and a Carmelo Anthony three on offense, effectively setting the tone from the start. And it went beyond the OK3.
Steven Adams finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks. That’s right, 5 steals. Adams didn’t allow for any easy post entries, and when he did New York didn’t get many open shots. The Big Kiwi has to be the anchor to this Thunder defense, and tonight he was.
As weird as it sounds, the Thunder will go as far as Steven Adams takes them. Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony provides the star power to beat Golden State – Oklahoma City just needs their glue guy, their Draymond Green, that brings everything together. At 7 foot 255 pounds and the quickness to occasionally handle guards on the perimeter, Adams potentially is that guy.
KD said it earlier in the offseason, well before the Carmelo acquisition. The Thunder had a Big Three in Russ, George and Adams. If Adams truly took a step into that echelon, the Golden State Warriors truly have a team to worry about out West.