OKC Thunder player grades: Historic night for Steven Adams as OK3 take down Kings

OKC Thunder Best Reserve:

Without Schroder and Felton this match could’ve been a nightmare given how well the Kings have played this season. The highlight from the reserve unit, however, was seeing how Nerlens Noel can affect a game with his length.

It’s a wonderful thing witnessing Noel working with Westbrook and George and the hope is he’ll find the same type of chemistry with Schroder moving forward. True his box score doesn’t seem that impressive (2 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks), but his presence was a factor at deterring the Kings from driving which allowed his teammates to defend the perimeter knowing they could trust him to protect the rim.

Best Opponent:

Dave Joerger isn’t wrong when he says Fox is on track to be a superstar. Although I’m cheating a little and giving Buddy Hield recognition as well this team is performing so well because of Fox and the leadership of his squad. I’ve been big on his since the draft (I know, I know I keep saying that but it’s true). He may be my favorite guilty pleasure to watch play outside of the OKC Thunder and Toronto Raptors.

Mark my words if Vlade Divac doesn’t do something silly to this team they will be contenders in the West sooner than later.

By night’s end, Fox registered 28 points, 12 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. An impressive and full stat line!

For his part, Hield was absolutely torching the Thunder from the perimeter connecting on 50 percent of his treys (7-14) and if not for Ferguson and the other Thunder players who addressed him at the arc this might’ve been a different story. At game end, he scored 37 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

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I wonder if Vivek Ranadivé sits in the Golden 1 Center telling all who’ll listen how he envisioned this. If you recall when they traded DeMarcus Cousins for Buddy, Ranadivé said Hield was the next Stephen Curry. I’m not sure he’s close to ascending to those heights just yet, but Buddy sure is a sniper!

Final Thoughts

• Solid win on a night when the OKC Thunder missing both backup point guards could’ve been disastrous.
• This is two games in a row where the Thunder have shot the ball well from the perimeter (40.6%). Let’s hope this is a trend that continues.
• The Thunder players who don’t necessarily get the spotlight like Terrance Ferguson, Nerlens Noel, and Jerami Grant are all key to the team performing well. The main takeaway of these players and this team however, is they all really like each other!
• It’s not surprising the OKC Thunder won the paint battle given all the offensive boards they collected but a 60-40 differential was impressive none-the-less.

The OKC Thunder are back in action this weekend playing a back to back set on Saturday and Sunday versus the Jazz (on road) and hosting the Timberwolves. For the full box score of tonight’s game, click this ESPN link. As always, be sure to check back for the Topic: Thunder postgame podcast and our key takeaways tomorrow.