Playoff P arrives early as OKC Thunder best Rockets in thriller – player grades

Generally, I cut Steven Adams some slack on a night when the box score doesn’t necessarily equate to what he’s delivering on the floor. But the truth is through most of this game we didn’t get the best of Adams particularly on the defensive end of the court. His counterpart (Capela) had 18 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Most concerning was Capela’s efficiency (8 of 10) which was only limited by his number of touches.

It does beg the question of whether Clint Capela is just a bad matchup for the Big Kiwi or perhaps our pinings that he may be playing hurt is accurate. That said, in a seven game series I’ll put my money on Adams each and every time. His line for the night was eight points, a valuable 13 rebounds  (eight on the offensive glass) plus an assist.